Monday June 1st
Plutaluang E & S.
1st Uwe Jurgensen (28) 35 points
2nd John Sykes (14) 34 points
3rd Rob Folland (19) 30 points
Near pins, Les Cobban X 2 & Sunny Khanna X 2.
As luck would have it we played the East & South nines today, had we played the West & North nines we would surely have got a drenching, the rain was that close. Eventually it blew away and the day became very hot and humid.
This year the Navy course has been in the best condition we have seen for years, fairways were well grassed and green, greens were very acceptable, the one criticism was the bunkers which were well below par, nevertheless at twelve hundred baht all-in it represented good value.
In a rare visit to the Bunker Boys John Sykes had the game in the bag after sixteen holes only to falter on the last two holes handing a win to Uwe Jurgensen by a point, just goes to show that it’s never over till it’s over. Rob Folland took third with thirty points over a bunch of players on twenty-nine.
Les Cobban delighted in taking two near pins, especially the one he took from Michael Brett, Sunny Khanna also took two.
We had a surprise today when Sean Murphy showed up unannounced. We also had a visit from the most colorful man in Pattaya golf, Walter Baechli. One of our regular visitors Dominique Pujol who has loads of ability is going through the horrors right now, hopefully he can take something away in his last game of this visit on Friday, although Pattana is an unlikely place to do it.
Wednesday June 3rd
Treasure Hill
1st Geoff Williams (11) 35 points
2nd Uwe Jurgensen (28) 35 points
3rd Les Cobban (10) 35 points
Near pins Tony Robbins, Sean Murphy, & Michael Brett X 2.
A public holiday in Thailand always means busy courses as was the case today at Treasure Hill. Despite a late tee time we got through the front nine in ninety minutes, however when we got to the tenth we found a couple of six- balls inserted ahead of us despite the front nine having nobody playing, go figure. The back nine took a full hour longer to play.
The course was in great condition as usual, but the usual difficulties remained, i.e. trees in all the wrong places. Scoring was competitive and a bit above normal with the first three players all locked together on thirty-five points as listed with another who should have won a point back, a collapse on the last two holes didn’t help. Near pins were as listed.
Friday June 6th
Pattana A & B
1st Rob Folland (19) 35 points
2nd Les Cobban (10) 33 points
3rd Walter Baechli (24) 32 points
Near pins Les Cobban, Sean Murphy, & Dominique Pujol.
A howling gale made for very difficult conditions at Pattana today. The course was in excellent condition to the extent that carts were allowed on the fairways, unlike earlier in the week.
Pace if play was good until we got to the back nine when it became a grind.
We had the unusual experience of a marshal urging us to play a five ball, probably because he had a couple out ahead of us.
Scoring was mediocre at best with only Rob Folland returning a respectable score of thiry -five points. Les Cobban was two back and Walter Baechli rounded out the winners list with thirty-two. Three of the four near pins on offer were won by Les Cobban, Sean Murphy, & Dominique Pujol in his last game of this trip.
After an absence of about eight months we make a return to Pattaya Country Club on a special deal next Monday. This is a course that charges way above what one might expect from a course of this quality.
Winner at Plutaluang Uwe Jurgensen
Geoff Williams, winner at Treasure Hill.
Winner at Pattana Rob Folland.
