The Growling Swan 14/07
Monday, 14th July – Eastern Star – Stableford
Wayco & Crilly Shine At Eastern Star!
It was time once more to head South and Eastern Star was the chosen venue with 20 golfers on the Starting Sheet. It was overcast but fine as we assembled at The Growling Swan and we welcomed Jim Groves from London, Thomas Johansson from Sweden, Kurt Eric Persson and his lady Seesa Phompinmon back with us again and Duangjai Tusagad after a long break from golf. As everyone was on time we departed the GS 5 minutes early at 8.25 am and getting out of Pattaya was no trouble at all as we headed South down Sukhumvit and after a very good run we arrived at the course 43 minutes later. It was a designated Thai Public Holiday so I expected the course to be busy but in actual fact this was not the case. After haggling for a short time over the Green Fee rate we managed to check in and presented ourselves at the first tee to await out starting orders. We had five groups of four and our first four ball got away 10 minutes ahead of schedule at 9.50 am under cloudy skies with not too hot conditions and a threat of rain which fortunately resulted in just a few drops throughout the round. The golf course was in quite good condition although there were many instances of GUR on the fairways and the greens were a bit slow. Our pace was not too bad as there were no groups ahead of us but we did spend some time looking for balls after errant shots and this resulted in a round which took four hours & twenty minutes.
We had 2 Divisions – Division A for handicaps 0 to 15 and Division B for golfers on handicaps of 16 and over with three places in each Division. There were also rewards for nearest the pin on all the par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
The course was playing tough as there was only one golfer who played to their handicap or better and that was Kevin “Wayco” Waycott who finished on top of Division A with a fine 37 points. Newcomer Thomas Johansson fired a gross 75 which off his 2 handicap gave him 35 points, enabling him to snare second place and John Pierrel was third with 33 points. In Division B it was Geri Crilly (18 point back nine) who was declared the winner after a count back as there were 2 players on 34 points with Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei (17 point back nine) in second place. With 2 golfers on 32 points another count back was required to determine third spot and that resulted in Seesa Phompinmon (19 point back nine) getting the chocolates from Bent Agerbo (17 point back nine).
Results for Eastern Star:
Division A – 0 to 15
1st –Kevin Waycott (9) – 37 points
2nd – Thomas Johansson (2) – 35 points
3rd – John Pierrel (12) – 33 points
Division B – 16 & over
1st – Geri Crilly (26) – 34 points
2nd – Alain Taddei (16) – 34 points
3rd – Seesa Phompinmon (26) – 32 points
NTP’s
3rd – Kevin Waycott
6th – Eric Black
13th – Bill Steinman
17th – John Davis
LFP’s
9th – Jim Groves
18th – John Davis
The Growling Swan NAGA Award, (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day and discreetly their score is not made public) was won by Duangjai Tusagad and she accepted the award like the good sport that she is. I then paraded Deefa the Dog and of course collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our generous Growling Swan Golfers. Back at the bar there was not a big crowd but it was a quality one and we had to suffer once again the “Geri Crilly Victory Cry” for quite some time but good luck to Geri as he is a very faithful member and has had his ups & downs. It was another very good day enjoyed by all.
Growling Swan Golf, the home of friendly golf in Pattaya welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to petermalcolmblackburn@gmail.com
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday is Lawn Bowls and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls. All are welcome and for anyone that is interested the transport leaves The Growling Swan at 10.00am on each of those mornings. For more information please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454 005.