Monday, January 13th
Navy N & W
1st Keith Norman (20) 39 points
2nd Ian Flannigan (22) 34 points
3rd Mark Hayward (16) 34 points
4th Steve Downes (5) 32 points
5th Witt Mann (13) 32 points
6th Robby Watts (13) 31 points
Near pins Steve Downes, Keith Norman, Garry Skelly, & Daryl Vernon.
A field of twenty-eight for the game at Plutaluang North and West. The course was very dry with lots of run on the fairways and the greens were very quick. Yet another slow round again today, the joy of high season golf !!!!. Cool conditions with a strong wind at times made for low scoring apart from the winner
Celebrating the Bristol Bears win over the weekend Keith Norman was cock a hoop today and it showed in his game where he also became cock of the walk with a winning score of thirty-nine points. A distance to find Ian Flannigan taking second on countback from Mark Hayward, both with thirty-four points, although it has to be said that Mark had an almighty collapse on the back nine having scored twenty-three points on the front. Steve Downes took fourth from Witt Mann on countback, Robby Watts got the final spot on the winners list with thirty-one points. Lost amongst all that was Neil Jones who was late submitting his card, otherwise with thirty-two points and a superior back nine would have claimed fourth place.
Daryl Vernon in his first game back got a very good near pin, the other three going to Steve Downes, Keith Norman, and Garry Skelly.
We were pleased to welcome a newcomer today, John Sykes, hopefully we will see more of him when we play in his locale in the Rayong area.
Wednesday, January 15th
The Vintage
1st Robby Watts (13) 45 points
2nd Craig Dows (10) 41 points
3rd Bil Richardson (20) 39 points
4th Ian Flannigan (22) 36 points
5th Colin Greig (13) 35 points
Near pins, Craig Dows, Jimmy Carr, & Stuart Stammers X 2.
The ninety minute drive up to the course is not to everyone’s liking but still we had a better than expected number of players for today’s game at The Vintage Course. We are very fortunate through connections to get preferred rates at this course so “go mile mait agut” to the very generous lady responsible. As always the course was in very fine condition, fairways were nicely grassed and the greens while fast ran true.
An extraordinary round from today’s winner, Robby Watts with a score of forty-five points off a thirteen handicap, no doubt a serious haircut to his handicap is imminent. Starting to come back into form after a long period of malaise, Crag Dows took second place with forty-one points and looks like he is tuning up nicely for the Memorial. Bil Richardson likewise hasn’t been shooting the light out lately but today he found form to take third place with thirty-nine points. Once again Ian Flannigan off a dubious handicap, significantly above his home handicap took fourth place with thirty-six points with Colin Greig rounding out the scoring with thirty-five points. Lord of the manor today on the par threes was Stuart Stammers taking two, one very close, the others went to Jimmy Carr and Craig Dows.
Very few if any complaints today about the long drive with just about everybody enjoying playing a superior course, it’s possible we may be back there again sooner rather than later. The staff at the course are always welcoming and make it a joy to play.
We are reliably informed that with much assistance from Les Humphreys, Gary Smith has now got his clubs back in Scotland and immediately put them into cold storage, at least they would have enjoyed the time here in a warmer climate. Lucky for Les, he checked beforehand to ensure there were no illicit substances stashed amongst them.
Friday January 17th
Emerald
1st Ian Flannigan (22) 36 points
2nd Steve Downes (5) 34 points
3rd Tony Robbins (26) 34 points
4th Alan Sullivan (14) 33 points
5th Michael Brett (18) 33 points
6th Uwe Jurgensen (29) 32 points
Near pins Alan Sullivan, Steve Evans, & Michael Brett.
A big step down in quality of course from Wednesday with our last game off the week at Emerald. The old adage “you get what you pay for” was very much in evidence today. We had to wait forty-minutes past our scheduled tee time before we could get away. By the time we reached the par three fifth at least four groups were assembled there resulting in one group pulling up stumps and retiring to the bar. Thereafter the pace of play sped up somewhat so we finally got finished in about four and a half hours, the joy of high season. To make matters worse the course was only in fair condition, the greens were very variable, some slow, some ok speed, but most were a bit bumpy.
Scoring was average at best, we expect a higher standard of scoring at this course. Consecutive thirty-six points rounds meant that Ian Flannigan was today’s winner. A countback for second where Steve Downes took it from Tony Robbins. Another countback to decide fourth where Alan Sullivan had the edge on Michael Brett, with Uwe Jurgensen taking the final spot in the winners circle. Remarkably nobody out of twenty-eight players was able to hit the par three fifth green, could it be because of all the waiting? Alan Sullivan, Steve Evans and Michael Brett got the other three. Back at the bar the drinks flowed freely with the new owner ringing the bell as well as the delinquent fund finding enough funds to shout also.
Winner at Plutaluang, Keith Norman.
Winner at The Vintage Robby Watts
Winner at The Emerald, Ian Flannigan.