Monday, November 6th
Greenwood C& B. Medal.
1st Keith Norman (18) Net 72
2nd Les Cobban (10) Net 77
3rd Niall Glover (12) Net 77
4th Roger Tuohy (15) Net 77
5th Craig Dows (5) Net 78
Near pins Masao Ishikawa, Jim Kurzava, & Craig Dows X 2.
The first game of the week was played at Greenwood C & B nines in bright sunshine and warm conditions which belied the state of the course which was fine if a bit more damp than expected. Carts were not allowed on the fairways so wet weather rules applied. A field of twenty-one was a decent turnout even with a few notable absentees. Play was pedestrian at best with the round about four and a half hours to complete.
Overall scoring was modest with only Keith Norman putting in a good shift with a net seventy-two to take first place Second, third, and fourth were all locked together on net seventy-seven and placed as listed on countback. Another big scramble for the final spot on the winner’s board was taken again on countback by Craig Dows who also managed to snare two near pins with the other two going to Jim Kurzava and (Rocky) Masao Ishikawa in his last game of this trip. Last games also for Roger Tuohy and Keith Hemmings. Darryl Vernon made his first appearance of the season and was a bit rusty so didn’t appear on the winner’s board.
Wednesday, November 8th
Plutaluang North & West.
1st Keith Norman (18) 31 points
2nd Gary Smith (5) 29 points
3rd Craig Dows (5) 28 points
4th Brendan Harnett (15) 28 points
5th Paul Smith (4) 27 points
Near pins Bil Richardson, Alan Sullivan, Jimmy Carr, & Paul Smith.
Another great escape weatherwise today with thunder rumbling all around and occasional flashes of lightning it looked like we were in for a drenching, luckily we escaped once again as it started pouring down on the drive back to Pattaya.
The course was soft underfoot with plugged balls common and absolutely no run.
Another day of very poor scoring with several embarrassed to find themselves on the winner’s sheet despite their low score. It’s hard to put a finger on why nobody was able to put together a decent score. Once again Keith Norman took first place with thirty-one points, a far cry from his net seventy-two on Monday. Gary Smith took second with twenty-nine points. A countback to determine third and fourth places with Craig Dows shading it over Brendan Harnett. Paul Smith took the final spot with twenty-seven points. All the near pins were taken going to Bil Richardson, Jimmy Carr, Alan Sullivan, and Paul Smith.
Plutaluang holds the distinction of having more dogs on the course than any other we visit. It is a testament to the kindness and generosity of Thai people that all of the dogs look very healthy and well cared for given how many there are throughout the course.
Friday, November 10th
Emerald
1st Michael Brett (16) 40 points
2nd Keith Norman (18) 32 points
3rd Witt Mann (11) 32 points
4th Niall Glover (13) 32 points
5th Sam Reid (11) 31 points
Near pins Niall Glover & Keith Norman X 2.
After several great escapes, we finally got a drenching today at Emerald when it looked most unlikely to rain, all was well until it suddenly hit from nowhere and stopped play for about fifteen minutes. The course was in much better condition than our previous visit, however, the greens were particularly slow resulting in several three putts.
Despite several departures and absentees we still managed to get a decent field of twenty. Scores were pretty much as they have been all week with one exception. For the third time this week, Keith Norman found himself in the winner’s circle with a second placing on thirty-two points, he also managed to bag two near pins making it a very fruitful week for Keith. No doubt he indulged in more fruit later in the night with a couple of his favourite ciders. Witt Mann & Niall Glover also finished on thirty-two in that order, with Sam Reid a stroke back in fifth. After a string of low scores, Michael Brett found something today and took first place with forty points. The remaining near pin went to Niall Glover.
Keith Norman, winner at Greenwood & Plutaluang
Michael Brett, winner at Emerald.