Monday, May 26th
Pattaya Country Club
1st Alan Sullivan (14) 35 points
2nd Rob Folland (14) 33 points
3rd Tony Robbins (24) 25 points
Near pins Rob Folland X 3.
Having endured a couple of weeks of inclement weather with rain delays and interruptions it was nice to enjoy a game in perfect golfing conditions. The Pattaya Country Club course was in just about perfect condition. The course was not busy so we were able to tee off on time and finish within four hours with no hold-ups or delays.
A ding dong battle all day between Alan Sullivan and Rob Folland went down to the last hole where Rob faltered allowing Alan who had a par to take it by two strokes. Tony Robbins was a distant third, a bit rusty after a few weeks layoff due to injury.
Hot on the heels of his hole in one last week and normally taking at least one, Alan Sullivan missed out on a near pin with Rob Folland taking three with one unclaimed.
Not long after the finish of play the rain came tumbling down and rained for much of the night in Pattaya, yet another lucky weather escape.
We are encountering a number of injuries and various other factors e.g. weather which conspire to keep our numbers lower than we normally have at this time of year, in fact Pattaya as a whole seems to be much quieter than previous years with tourist numbers down, an inexplicably high baht is affecting exchange rates adversely and with most courses keeping their fees higher than previously, golf is getting more expensive for most people.
Wednesday, May 28th
Burapha A & B
1st Rob Folland (14) 37 points
2nd Les Cobban (35) points
3rd Uwe Jurgensen (25) 34 points
Near pins Peter Bottrell, Jimmy Carr, & Alan Sullivan X 2.
Another glorious day for golf today where we found a course in excellent condition despite recent heavy rain. Pick, clean, and place was implemented from the start as mud balls were likely to be plentiful and with absolutely no run the course played long even off the white tees. With bright sunshine and dampness in the ground the humidity was very high.
In a rich vein of form lately Rob Folland took first place with thirty-seven points, a decent score but not quite as high as we usually get at this course. Given that conditions favoured the longer hitters Les Cobban who gets it out there took second place with thirty-five points. Not as long as the first two off the tee, but always straight taking the shortest route to the green, Uwe Jurgensen took third with thirty-four points In his first game of this tour following carpal tunnel surgery Peter Bottrell got a near pin on the second last hole, Jimmy Carr also managed to snag one with Alan Sullivan taking two.
It’s unclear whether or not we are out of this rainy spell but two consecutive games in sunshine was welcome, could we make it three on Friday for the last game of the month?
Friday May 30th
Pattavia
1st Les Cobban (12) 34 points
2nd Uwe Jurgensen (25) 34 points
3rd Steve Downes (6) 33 points
Near pins Tony Robbins, Les Cobban, & Robbie Watts.
The last game of May was played at Pattavia where it was back to the old routine of waiting for the rain to stop before play could commence, alas no three in a row. Light rain was still falling as the first groups started but soon cleared up and there was no more rain for the rest of the round.
Competition ready the course was as good as it’s possible for Pattavia to be, recent rain benefited this course more than most with a nice carpet of grass on the fairways and the greens back to their slick best, not to everybody’s taste.
Scoring was average by this course standard, perhaps the lightning fast greens played a significant part in that. Les Cobban who is now starting to run into good form after a slow period beat Uwe Jurgensen on countback for first place with the ever reliable Steve Downes a stroke back in third place. Three near pins were taken, the first on hole four went to Tony Robbins with a birdie, a long put I believe, Les Cobban and Robbie Watts got the other two with one unclaimed.
In the race for golfer of the month the week began with Michael Brett holding a substantial lead but with shoulder tendonitis he was unable to compete all week. By Monday night Alan Sullivan had taken over the lead with a solid round at Pattaya Country Club and a very low score coming off. After Wednesday’s game Rob Folland had taken the lead from Alan and with Alan not playing on Friday it was a win for Rob by a three point margin.
A little bit of history was made this month with Alan Sullivan taking his first ever hole in one and Rob Folland taking out his first ever golfer of the month, sure it’s not going to be his last.
Alan Sullivan, winner at Pattaya Country Club.
Les Cobban, winner at Pattavia.
Rob Folland, golfer of the month and winner at Burapha.