Monday, December 25th
Bangpra
1st Bil Richardson (17) 33 points
2nd Claus Birkthompson (14) 32 points
3rd Les Humphrey (26) 31 points
Near pins Alan Howard, Hubert Stiefenhofer, Witt Mann, & Keith Norman.
A group of fourteen golf tragics made their way to Bangpra for a Christmas Day game at the monkey course. The course was again in excellent condition with the greens very slick again. Not as busy as expected we had a good fast round and finished in a timely fashion.
Bil Richardson took the honours with a modest thirty-three points. Newcomer Claus Birkthompson was second one stroke adrift with Les Humphreyin his first game and sporting some new clubs taking third. Good to see all the near pins taken with one each going to Alan Howard, Hubert Stiefenhofer, Keith Norman, and Witt Mann.
Wednesday, December 27th
Treasure Hill
1st Kob Glover (15) 37 points
2nd Keith Norman (17) 33 points
3rd Geoff Atwell (23) 32 points
4th Niall Glover (16) 31 points
5th Greg Berry (17) 31 points
6th Alan Howard (16) 30 points
Near pins Colin Greig, Andy Cottrell, Greg Berry, & Adrian Tree.
Back to normal numbers again for today’s round at Treasure Hill where we were able to check in straight away and play all eighteen holes. A strange day in many ways with some of the lowest front nine scores ever recorded, some did recover on the back nine to add some respectability to their scores. As one group finished the front nine they noticed a local six-ball teeing off on the first, nothing unusual about that you may think except each player appeared to be playing two balls, quite how that works escapes me for the present but I am open to all possible explanations.
The course proved to be as tough as ever with only Kob Glover managing to post a respectable score of thirty-seven points. Keith Norman took second place a full four strokes back. Never out of the frame Geoff Atwell took third with thirty-two points. Niall Glover and Greg Berry finished in that order on countback with Alan Howard rounding out the winners list with thirty points. Near pins went to Greg Berry, Andy Cottrell, Colin Greig, and Adrian Tree.
Friday, December 29th
Greenwood
1st Ken Davidson (29) 39 points
2nd Bil Richardson (18) 39 points
3rd Brad Sobel (29) 38 points
4th Keith Norman (17) 36 points
5th Kevin LeBar (11) 34 points
6th Neil Griffin (28) 33 points
Near pins Andy Cottrell, Matt Jayina, & Jimmy Carr
The last game of the month and indeed the year was played at Greenwood, a favourite course of many. Another decent crowd to round out the year in ideal golfing conditions. As it turned out it was a day for the high handicappers with three of the top six in the high twenties.
King of the heap was Ken Davidson with thirty-nine points beating Bil Richardson on countback. Newcomer Brad Sobel took third with thirty-eight points off a twenty-nine handicap. Again Keith Norman was in the frame taking fourth with thirty-six points. Kevin LeBar and Neil Griffin filled the last two spots on the winner’s list. In a big field, it was surprising that one of the near pins was unclaimed, the other three went to Andy Cottrell, Matt Jayina, & Jimy Carr.
In a new monthly record, the golfer of the month went to Paul Smith with a monthly total of two-hundred and thirty-three points, I believe it was his fourth monthly winner for the year.
LOOKING BACK.
2023 has not been a kind year for the Bunker Boys with the Grim Reaper taking three of our members. PJ Redmond passed earlier in the year after a protracted struggle with health issues. Geoff Cox departed not more than a month ago dying in tragic circumstances in a road accident while Ken Elmore passed away about two weeks ago due to complications arising from radical surgery, all will be sorely missed.
On the touring front, we broke new ground with a visit to Ayutthaya where the golf courses are very good but no nightlife. We also made trips to Royal Hills, Kabin Buri, and Hua Hin. One feels the appetite for away trips is not what it used to be so we may need to be a bit creative in selecting alternate venues in the future to keep up interest.
We are somewhat disappointed that Fresh Digital has not delivered on its promise to have our new website up and running before Christmas, a bit of gentle arm twisting may be required to get this done as it will be a big resource for all members and nonmembers alike.
On the playing front, Paul Smith took the most golfer of the month trophies (4) Niall Glover played all but two games for the year, and Kob won the most near pins by a margin of twenty-two from her nearest rival.
We take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year and look forward to better times ahead.