Monday, June 29th
Pattaya Country Club.
1st Sean Murphy (18) 36 points
2nd Rob Folland (18) 35 points
3rd Luke Kuijten (34) 33 points
Near pins Frazer Davy X 2.
A measure of where things are in Pattaya can be gauged by the number of people playing Pattaya Country Club today, for much of the round we didn’t see many other golfers on the course. Even with a special all-in fee of fifteen hundred baht it was as quiet as we have seen it since Covid. We could have had a choice of when to tee off, so after a few practice puts we were on our way early with the lead group finishing in about three hours and twenty minutes.
The course was in great condition as it has been since the fairways were returfed. An unseasonal strong wind made for tough scoring with scores generally below what is expected at this course. In his last game of this tour, soccer tragic Sean Murphy took first place with thirty-six points closely followed by Rob Folland, one adrift. In a group of four on thirty-three points Luke Kuijten took third place with twenty-two on the back nine. Our problem with near pins continued today with only two taken, both by Frazer Davy who always seems to be in the reckoning.
After leading by some distance for most of the month, it all tightened up at the death with Rob Folland taking it by two points from Sean Murphy.
Wednesday July 1st
Pattana A & B
1st Luke Kuijten (34) 40 points
2nd Rob Folland (18) 37 points
3rd Michael Brett (26) 32 points
Near pins Michael Brett & Luke Kuijten X 2.
How lucky can you be? today it looked for sure that we would get a drenching, a slight shower fell on the second hole and the sky close by was black, however the wind was blowing in the right direction for us and kept it away, the rest of the round remained dry. The course was in nice condition although a little damp in places, the greens had been cored and sanded since our last visit, not ideal but still OK.
In his last game of this tour Luke Kuijten who has been steadily improving during his stay went crazy today with forty points, perhaps not crazy given his thirty-four handicap, he also took a pair of near pins. Continuing his recent good form Rob Folland took second place with a tidy thirty-seven, Michael Brett brought up the rear with thirty-two points as well as a near pin. On unusual occurrence on the five hundred and sixty yard B9 where both Rob Folland and Michael Brett both got birdies, most are happy with a par on that hole particularly into the wind.
After an absence of several years we were pleased to welcome back South Australian Greg Mennie. Having not played much golf lately he was a bit rusty, but once he settled in he posted some magnificent drives, even got the caddies excited, no doubt after a few more games we will see him in the winners circle.
Friday July 3rd
Mountain Shadow
1st Michael Brett (16) 31 points
2nd Frazer Davy (11) 27 points
Luke Albert (22) 13 points
Near pin Frazer Davy
An atrocious day to end the week of golf. As soon as we reach the first tee rain started falling, enough to hold up play for about fifteen minutes. Same on the second tee although not quite as long delay. Thereafter it rained for most of the front nine and coupled with the wind made scoring very difficult.
Needless to say scores were amongst the lowest we have seen possibly ever. Michael Brett took first place with only thirty-one points, dodgy putting didnt help his cause. The normally reliable Frazer Davy took second place with twenty-seven, he also saved us the ignominy of nobody getting a near pin by taking the only one. Luke Albert in his first game for months and freshly arrived from Canada took the final spot. One of our best players had such a poor day he didn’t even enter a score.
Our expectations are that we will see a lot more rain in the coming weeks
Winner at Pattaya Country Club, Sean Murphy.
Golfer of the month, Rob Folland.
Winner at Pattana, Luke Kuijten.
Winner at Mountain Shadow Michael Brett.