Monday, February 24th
Greenwood C & A, Medal
1st Richard Baldotto (29) Net 65
2nd Sam Reid (11) Net 71
3rd Michael Brett (18) Net 71
4th Robby Watts (13) Net 71
5th Hubert Stiefenhofer (16) Net 72
6th Uwe Jurgensen (30) Net 74
Near pins Jimmy Carr, Hubert Stiefenhofer, Steve Downes, & Michael Brett.
The normally free-scoring Greenwood Course was quite a different beast today. Following heavy overnight rain and with a stiff breeze blowing, scoring was not the usual walk in the park and many struggled to return a decent card. A field of thirty-seven was on hand, a big number given we are approaching the end of high season.
As is often the case there is an exception to the norm and today it was the turn of Richard Baldotto who had a magnificent score of net sixty-six, people were left to ask, where did that come from? He may have picked up some tips from the ladies at Siam over the weekend. To mark the occasion Richard generously rang the bell back at the bar. A bit of a crush for the next place on the leaderboard with three players as listed locked on net seventy-one and separated on countback. The Germans rounded out the winners circle with Hubert in fifth and Uwe in sixth. All the near pins were taken as listed.
A very frustrating day for one group who had a walker in their midst, he was perhaps the slowest walker in the field, or any other field for that matter. Some walkers move along at a good pace and keep up with those in carts, however as a general rule walkers should be out last which was not the case today.
We are currently enjoying a bit of rain at times which is doing wonders for courses, fortunately so far the rain is falling at night, let’s hope it stays that way.
Wednesday, February 26th
Bangpakong Riverside Country Club.
1st Derek Riordan (25) 43 points
2nd Billy Shepley (8) 42 points
3rd Paul McDonald (20) 39 points
4th Willy Gourdin (10) 39 points
5th Michael Brett (17) 39 points
Near pins Steve Durey X 2, Jimmy Carr, & Brett Chan.
Bangpakong Riverside is a long way to travel to endure a five hour round of golf. We were put out behind the ubiquitous Thai five-ball and it seemed like we had to endure an hour on the course for each of them. Frustration reigned for many who are intolerant of slow play. One recalls a bit of appropriate philosophy, ” you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you feel about it”. Even after all this time playing at this venue we need to remind people that when they plug in the address into their navigation system, they need to specify Riverside, not just Bangpakong. A couple of people made that mistake and arrived late as it’s very difficult to get from one course to the other.
As always the course was in very fine condition with nothing to complain about, tees were good, fairways well grassed, bunkers well manicured, and greens good even speed, perfect for a high score as is normally the case.
A week of very fine scores for those in the winners circle continued with forty-three points from Derek Riordan topping the list of winners. After a run of mediocre scores, Billy Shepley found his form taking second place with a score of forty-two that would normally win. A group of three were locked together on thirty-nine points and separated on countback as listed.
Steve Durey made an unexpected return to the Bunker today and walked away with two near pins, the other two went to Jimmy Carr on the long seventh, and Brett Chan.
With one more game left, can anyone catch Keith Norman in the race for golfer of the month? Friday at Bangpra will reveal all.
After several months in our midst we bade farewell today to Keith and Neil Jones, we look forward to seeing them again later in the year.
Friday February 28th
Bangpra
1st Mike Milland (18) 38 points
2nd Roger Tuohy (13) 35 points
3rd Les Cobban (10) 34 points
4th Alan Sullivan (15) 34 points
5th Danny Miller (11) 33 points
6th Richard Baldotto (27) 33 points
Near pins Les Cobban, Alan Sullivan, Roger Tuohy, & Roland Davison
A most unusual day at Bangpra for the last game of the month. We arrived at the course with six fourballs only to find another unexpected player waiting in the foyer, so for convenience we put him out in the last group as a fiveball. All was well until the second tee when the marshal arrived to inform them that they could not play a fiveball on a course whose published policy is that they allow five and six balls so they split up into a three and two ball. This would not be an issue except that the next group after our last two ball was a Thai five ball, go figure.
As always Bangpra was in good order, the monkey mafia were out in force again, clearly the dogs were absent.
Scoring for the most part was mediocre, there is usually one to excel and today it was the turn of the great Dane Mike Milland who returned a very fine score of thirty-eight points. Roger Tuohy despite the disruption to his five ball had a decent score of thirty-five points. A countback to determine the next two places with Les Cobban taking third from Alan Sullivan. Another countback to decide the last two places with Danny Miller outpointing Richard Baldotto. Near pins were as listed
Missing the last two games of the month and with chasers breathing down his neck Keith Norman looked vulnerable in the chase for golfer of the month, none of the chasers were able to do the business so Keith deservedly was crowned golfer of the month for February in his absence.
Richard Baldotto, winner at Greenwood.
Derek Riordan, winner at Bangpakong Riverside.
Mike Milland, winner at Bangpra
Golfer of the month Keith Norman