Monday, January 20th
Treasure Hill
1st Alan Harris (10) 37 points
2nd Neil Griffin (30) 36 points
3rd Raleigh Gosney (23) 35 points
4th Les Cobban (11) 35 points
5th Alex Sala (23) 34 points
Near pins Raleigh Gosney, Ian Flannigan, Bil McMullin, & Colin Greig
As expected several members decided to skip the game at Treasure Hill today, a notoriously difficult course, as it turned out scoring was higher than expected. Charging eight hundred baht for compulsory carts is a major turn-off. The round began on the back nine with the course busy as is normal in high season.
The course was very dry with no rain for about twelve weeks by now, there was lots of run on the fairways and with some of the tees pushed forward the course played a bit easier than normal, the greens however were lightning fast which caught out a few people, probably the fastest so far this year.
In his first game of this holiday trip Alan Harris took first place with a very fine score of thirty-seven points. Just one back Neil Griffin took second place, his first placing for a few weeks although he is an irregular player. Raleigh Gosney took third on countback from Les Cobban. Alex Sala got the final spot on the podium with thirty-four points. Near pins were as listed.
After last week’s winning streak Ian Flannigan was nowhere to be seen, a serious cut in handicap putting him more in line with his home handicap was enough to see him finish down the field
Wednesday, January 22nd
Bangpra
1st Alan Howard (21) 40 points
2nd Paul Smith (6) 40 points
3rd Alan Harris (9) 35 points
4th Michael Brett (18) 32 points
5th Keith Norman (20) 32 points
Near pins Keith Norman, Phil Mashiter, & Paul Smith X 2.
The mid-week game was played at the Bangpra where the mischievous monkeys were out in force and up to their usual tricks, raiding golf carts and bags and stealing anything edible. The course whilst very dry and brown was in decent condition under the circumstances, the greens were back to their usual lightning fast state. A wind, strong at times blew all day which didn’t help.
Despite the course being crowded we were able to get away on time and finish within what would be considered an acceptable time for high season. Overall scoring was on the low side with the exception of the leading pair. Alan Howard had a day out with two four pointers and despite a fall off in the closing holes where he only got three points in the last two holes, he still did enough to take the honours with twenty one point on the back nine from Paul Smith who had twenty. Alan Harris continued on from where he left off on Monday taking third with thirty-five points. Without making a put all day Michael Brett managed to scrape into fourth place on countback from Keith Norman. The par threes were particularly difficult today, all over one hundred and eighty yards. Keith Norman and Phil Mashiter bagged one each with Paul Smith taking two.
Vouchers purchased at the course seem no cheaper than those purchased from the PSC and having to purchase in blocks of ten is a serious disincentive so in future we will review our options on that score.
Friday, January 24th
Greenwood A & B
1st Michael Brett (18) 38 points
2nd Greg Berry (16) 35 points
3rd Lee Dolphin (6) 35 points
4th Craig Dows (10) 34 points
5th Jay Babin (31) 32 points
6th Steve Evans (14) 32 points.
Near pins, Paul Smith, Hubert Stiefenhofer, Craig Dows, & Neil Griffin.
The ever popular Greenwood course was the venue for the last game of the week where once again we were allocated the A & B nines. An early tee time for the Bunker Boys of ten o clock proved popular as we were able to tee off immediately and finish in a timely manner with just about everybody back in Pattaya by 4.00 pm. Just as was the case on our last visit .some areas of the course were quite damp, in fact its fair to say some were even sodden, not sure what is happening with the irrigation system.
A field of twenty-six was on hand, a manageable number which meant nobody had to wait too long to tee off, in fact some may have preferred a bit more time on the practice area. Scoring was lower than expected, normally it is common to see scores of forty or more to win. Without doing anything other than steady golf Michael Brett took first place with thirty-eight points. Greg Berry edged out Lee Dolphin for second place on countback. Looking like he might shoot a good score with nineteen points on the front Craig Dows faded somewhat on the back taking fourth with thirty-four points, one of those days when the golfing gods were not on his side. Jay Babin took fifth on countback from Steve Evans. All the near pins were taken although the one to Neil Griffin was just about as far from the pin as it could be and stay on the green.
With the Memorial less than two weeks away people are busily organising groups for the team event
Alan Harris, winner at Treasure Hill
Alan Howard, winner at Bangpra.
Michael Brett, winner at Greenwood.