Monday, July 15th
Bangpra
The inevitable happened today when we got hit with some serious rain during the front nine at Bangpra. After several lucky escapes recently, today it came down very heavily for about an hour. On the resumption of play it was still drizzling and continued that way for most of the round. Only seven hardy souls braved the elements and finished the round, less than half the field so the game was declared null and void. This was unfortunate for those playing reasonably well despite the conditions and those with near pins.
The course was waterlogged in places as were the greens which made putting an even greater challenge than normal, Of those that did complete the round scores were modest. The rain was widespread covering virtually the whole state so it wouldn’t have mattered where we played today unless we had a very early start our game would have met a similar fate
Wednesday, July 17th
Pleasant Valley
1st Rob Folland (15) 35 points
2nd Kevin LaBar (13) 35 points
3rd Greg Berry (18) 34 points
Near pins Greg Berry, Kevin LaBar, Craig Dows, & Jon Dean.
Hardly a golf day goes bye recently when Rob Folland is not in the frame as he was again today. Impressive clean ball striking is the hallmark of his game coupled with a very decent putting game. Today he uncharacteristically missed a bag full of puts, otherwise he would easily have topped forty points, impressive given we played off the blue tees and there was no run whatsoever.
Kevin LaBar also had the same score but lost out on countback. Back from a stint in Welsh Wales Greg Berry took third place. A magnificent near pin also went to Greg on the eight, only inches away from a hole in one and just inside Rob Follands ball, also a very fine shot. Kevin LaBar, Jon Dean, and Craig Dows also secured near pins.
Our lead group clearly never looked behind them, otherwise they would have seen the second group waiting on every shot on every hole, what happened to the rule that if you hold up the following group on consecutive holes then you are obliged to let them play through.
Despite recent heavy rain the course was in very fine condition, we played pick, clean, and place, although it was hardly necessary.
As is often the case at this course there were several groups of five and more out on the course, luckily we were ahead of them, the most we have seen at the course was a group of thirteen, a bit crowded on the greens.
With the arrival of several regular visitors including Raleigh Gosney, John Webb, Michael Carroll, and Stuart Stammers our numbers will swell in the coming weeks. We are still waiting for a couple of Scotsmen i.e. Gary Smith and Jack Best to put in an appearance, Gary is now fully recovered from a bout of Dengue Fever but must have other interests to keep him occupied.
Friday, July 19th
Eastern Star
1st Hubert Stiefenhofer (19) 33 points
2nd Tony Robbins (23) 33 points
3rd Bob Doe (27) 32 points
Near pins. Near pins Craig Dows & Michael Brett X 2.
A grey cloudy day with occasional spitting rain was what we got today at Eastern Star for the last game of the week. Despite recent heavy rain the course was in remarkably good condition, with no need for pick, clean, and place, however the wind was up as usual making scoring just a bit more difficult.
A field of sixteen was just about right for this time of year. We were able to tee off ahead of schedule and finish in a respectable time, a pleasant change from Wednesday. Scores were once again on the low side with Hubert Stiefenhofer taking first place on countback from Tony Robbins, Bob Doe took third. Only three near pins were taken, everybody missed out on the third one across the water, some may have been confused by the fact there were two greens, both with a flag in place. Craig Dows took one and Michael Brett got two.
Next Monday is a split round with several going on a short trip to Kabin Buri, those that will stay at home had a plan to play the Vintage using vouchers, however, as it’s a Buddha Day on Monday with holiday prices in place invalidating vouchers an alternative venue has to be organised, possibly Crystal Bay or Mountain Shadow.
Rob Folland, winner at Pleasant Valley
Hubert Steifenhoffer, winner at Eastern Star.