Monday, November 18h
Mountain Shadow
1st Steve Wilkes (15) 35 points
2nd Steve Downes (7) 34 points
3rd Michael Brett (14) 33 points
4th Peter Park (3) 33 points
Near pins.Keith Smithson, Peter Park, Les Cobban, & Neil Griffin
The Mountain Shadow course hasn’t looked as good as it did today for a very long time, as ever the only complaint was the bunkers which were very shabby. It wouldn’t take much to turn this course into a first class venue and with an all-in high season fee of twelve-fifty baht it is now excellent value.
Always a challenging course, it was made all the more difficult today by a strong wind, just to remind us that as soon as monsoon season is over the windy season begins.
Even by Mountain Shadow standards, scoring was well below par with only a couple of players doing enough to get into the low to mid thirties. Top scorer was West Australian Steve Wilkes with thirty-five points, a commendable effort under the circumstances. Never far from the winners circle Steve Downes took second place a stroke back, while Michael Brett edged out Peter Park on countback, going down to the last six holes to decide it. In his last game of this tour and playing injured Keith Smithson took a near pin as did Peter Park, Les Cobban, & Neil Griffin.
The Annual Club Championship is just around the corner so anybody wishing to participate should make their intentions clear by signing up on the registration form on the Sports Lounge notice board, the dates are, first round at Pattavia on Wednesday December 4th tee time 11.00 am, with the second round at Greenwood on Friday December 6th tee time 9.40 am, dont miss out on this special event.
Wednesday, November 20th
Plutaluang N & W.
1st Steve Downes (7) 34 points
2nd Dean Nelson (23) 33 points
3rd Rob Folland (15) 33 points
4th Witt Mann (13) 32 points.
5th Mike Milland (18) 32 points
Near pins Witt Mann, Steve Downes, Brendan Harnett, & Pat Ryan.
Plutaluang was very busy today when we arrived at the course so the signs were not good. As it turned out we had to endure a five hour round which was painful.
The course was in excellent condition with just about all courses following the monsoon season. A strong breeze made play more difficult than normal so low scores were the order of the day with nobody putting in a strong showing, we may have to wait until Friday at Bangpakong to see some decent scores.
Now a regular in the winners circle Steve Downes once again topped the scoresheet with thirty-four points closely followed by Dean Nelson and Rob Folland in second and third, both separated by countback on thirty-three points. A countback also for fourth & fifth with Witt Mann taking it from Mike Milland with a superior last six. A real tussle for the nearest to the pin with a couple of very close measures. Witt Mann, Steve Downes, Brendan Harnett, and Pat Ryan taking the honours.
Given that Plutaluang is not the most popular course and a round there takes five hours to complete it doesn’t bode well for the coming months. We are back there again on Monday to play the other two nines so it will be interesting to see if we can get in a quicker round, the South and East nines are not as popular as North and West.
Friday, November 22nd.
Bangpakong Riverside
1st Pat Ryan (17) 42 points
2nd Steve Wilkes (15) 39 points
3rd Michael Brett (14) 38 points
Near pins Keith Norman, Steve Wilkes, & Sean Murphy.
A one hour drive up highway seven to play the Bangpakong Riverside course today, the only course on our roster with an all-in fee over two thousand baht and as it turned out worth the effort. A popular course particularly for those with a tendency to slice or hook, in other words a very forgiving course. High scores are the norm as was the case again today. The course was in the best condition we have seen anywhere for a long time, anybody who had a problem with this course was very fussy. The general consensus after the game was that we should play there at least once every month.
As is often the case the wind blew from just about every direction other than that which would help, curious how that happens, still scores were very good, not quite at the level they were on our last visit when eleven players posted scores of thirty-six or better, with Anders Nielsen scoring forty four points. Today it was the turn of Pat Ryan to excel with forty two points, a serious handicap cut is coming his way. Second and another with a handicap cut on its way was Steve Wilkes who took second place with a fine thirty-eighth points, Steve has been in the winners circle since he started playing with the Bunker Boys. Michael Brett completed the winners circle with thirty-eight points. Nobody managed to win the first near pin although a couple hit the green only to slide off the back, pins taken went to Keith Norman, Steve Wilkes, and Sean Murphy.
Some of our regular overseas players are looking longingly at Thailand right now with Gary Smith playing in a balmy minus four degrees in his native Scotland, and Eddie Kelly in just two degrees less in Ireland, this might give some perspective to those here complaining here about too warm temperatures or slow play.
Two noteworthy occurrences today, in his first game back with the Bunker Boys Sean Murphy had twenty five points on the back nine, a remarkable score by any measure. On the other end of the spectrum, in his last game of this tour Dean Nelson got within a whisker of the biggest bird in golf, an albatross, still an eagle is not too shabby on the last hole of your last game.
Back to more mundane courses next week with games at Plutaluang S & E, Treasure Hill, and Pleasant Valley.
Winner at Mountain Shadow Steve Wilkes.
Winner at Plutaluang, the camera shy Steve Downes.
The wiley Irishman Pat Ryan, winner at Bangpakong.