Pattaya Sports Club Bowling League

200 Bowlers: Tao, Kran, Jang, Steinar, Ooy & La.

Café Kronborg won three and one half points from first place Tea Party but Tea Party remains in first and Café Kronborg moved up from last to seventh place. Kran Nielsen bowled a 206 game, 547 series and Ooy Pluemkamon had a 205 game and 519 series for Kronborg. Aht Johansson was best for Tea Party with a 530 series.
David Shaw bowled a 536 series and Antero Ronkainen had a 511 to lead Brother D to a three point win over Canada. Lek Reaper had a 504 series for Canada. Brother D moved up from fourth to second place and Canada dropped from second to third.
Bavaria won three points from VFW Post 9876 with Leo Kretscher bowling best for Bavaria with a 508 series.
Tue Pettae had a 542 series for VFW. VFW dropped from third to fourth place.
La Montgomery bowled a 215 game, 549 series and Tao had a 201 game and 539 series to lead Indiana to a three point win over Green Tree. Jang Shaw bowled a 223 game and 500 series for Green Tree. Steinar bowling as a Pacer had a 200 game and 543 series.

Results & Standings Nov. 1 (week 12)
Pos.	Team	Score	Standings
1	Tea Party	0.5 – 3.5	29.5 – 18.5
2	Brother D	3-1	26 - 22
3	Canada	1-3	26 - 22
4	VFW Post 9876	1-3	25 - 23
5	Green Tree	1-3	24 - 24
6	Bavaria	3-1	22 – 26
7	Café Kronborg	3.5 – 0.5	20 – 28
8	Indiana	3 – 1	19.5 – 28.5

WKD Tuesday Darts League

Results & Standings Oct. 29 (week 25)

Team	P	W	L	B/legs	Pts.
Londoner	25	22	3	18	44
I-Rovers	25	22	3	17	44
Mee Chew Sports Bar	25	19	6	18	38
Buffalo Jack’s	25	16	9	15	32
W. Tankies	25	16	9	10	32
Shoot Pool Roxy	25	15	10	16	30
Crazy Eddies	25	14	11	13	28
Jantha Coffee House	25	11	14	13	22
Shoot Pool	25	10	15	12	20
Yates Bar	25	9	16	9	18
Mai’s Bar	25	7	18	11	14
Nervous Wreck	25	6	19	11	12
Scandalic	25	5	20	10	10
Cum On Inn	25	3	22	2	6
Results:  Buffalo Jack’s (2-0)-(5-1) v Londoner, Crazy Eddies (10-0)-(2-1) v Shoot Pool Roxy, Jantha Coffee House (6-1)-(4-0) v Nervous Wreck, Scandalic (5-1)-(4-0) v Cum On Inn, Shoot Pool (5-1)-(2-0)  v Mai’s Bar, W. Tankies (6-1)-(3-0) v I-Rovers, Yates Bar (5-0)-(6-1) v Mee Chew Sports Bar

Crumpton Cider Wednesday Darts League

Results & Standings Oct. 30 (week 12)

Team	P	W	L	Bonus	Diff.	Pts.
Mee Chew Sports Bar	12	12	0	9	48	24
Jantha Coffee House	12	8	4	9	22	16
W. Tankies	12	7	5	7	18	14
I-Rovers A	12	6	6	8	4	12
Legends Sports Bar	12	6	6	6	4	12
Yates Bar	12	4	8	0	-10	8
i-Rovers B	12	3	9	6	-36	6
Mai’s Bar	12	2	10	3	-50	4
Results:  I-Rovers A (3-0)-(6-1) v Jantha Coffee House, Legends Pool & Sports Bar (9-1)-(0-0) v Mai’s Bar, W. Tankies (4-1)-(5-0) v Mee Chew Sports Bar, Yates Bar (8-0)-(1-1) v i-Rovers

Crumpton Oaks Cider Monday Pool League

Results & Standings Oct. 28 (week 11)

Division 1
Team	P	W	L	+/-	BP	Pts.
The Butchers Arms	11	9	2	28	0	27
Shoot Pool	9	8	1	20	0	24
Legends Pool	9	6	3	15	0	18
Smile Bar	9	5	4	3	2	17
Links Bar	11	5	6	-1	1	16
Nicky’s Bar	9	5	4	-14	0	15
i-Rovers	10	4	6	-3	1	13
Sweethearts Bar	9	2	7	-20	3	9
Pook’s Bar	8	2	6	-7	1	7
Acorn Pub	9	1	8	-21	2	5
Results:  Legends Pool 10 v 4 I-Rovers, Links Bar 10 v 7 Acorn Pub, Nicky’s Bar 10 v 8 The Butchers Arms, Pook’s Bar 10 v 2 Sweethearts Bar, Shoot Pool 10 v 9 Smile Bar
Division 2
Team	P	W	L	+/-	BP	Pts.
Easy R-Con Bar	10	9	1	46	0	27
Offshore Bar	10	8	2	27	1	25
Shoot Pool ‘B’	10	8	2	24	0	24
Cheers Bar	10	6	4	9	0	18
The Caddyshack	9	5	4	12	2	17
Dean’s Bar	11	5	6	2	0	15
Mai’s Bar	10	4	6	-7	0	12
Rabbi’s Elephant	10	3	7	-26	0	9
Wet Bar	9	1	8	-37	0	3
Wombat Bar	11	1	10	-50	0	3
Results:  Cheers Bar 10 v 6 Wombat Bar, Dean’s Bar 10 v 3 Shoot Pool ‘B’, Easy R-Con Bar 10 v 4 Wet Bar, Mai’s Bar 5 v 10 The Caddyshack, Offshore Bar 10 v 7 Rabbi’s Elephant

British Bar Snacks Friday Pool League

Results & Standings Nov. 1 (week 10)

Division 1
Team	P	W	L	+/-	BP	Pts
Shoot Pool ‘A’	8	6	2	29	1	19
Easy R-Con Bar	8	5	3	9	1	16
Legends Pool	9	5	4	-2	1	16
Pook’s Bar	8	5	3	10	0	15
Mata Bar	9	4	5	-3	1	13
The Butchers Arms	6	4	2	-1	0	12
Acorn Pub	7	3	4	-15	1	10
Links Bar	6	3	3	-7	0	9
Sweethearts Bar	9	0	9	-20	4	4
Results:  Easy R-Con Bar 9 v 10 The Butchers Arms, Legends Pool 10 v 9 Sweethearts Bar, Links Bar 5 v 10 Shoot Pool ‘A’, Mata Bar 2 v 10 Pook’s Bar
Division 2
Team	P	W	L	+/-	BP	Pts
Shoot Pool ‘B’	9	8	1	30	1	25
Smile Bar	8	7	1	24	0	21
Old Thai Angle	9	5	4	-3	0	15
Dean’s Bar	8	4	4	6	0	12
Offshore Bar	9	4	5	-7	0	12
FCUK Inn	8	3	5	-12	2	11
Crazy Eddie’s	8	3	5	-7	1	10
i-Rovers	9	2	7	-15	0	6
Tie’s R Us	8	2	6	-16	0	6
Results:  i-Rovers 8 v 10 Shoot Pool ‘B’, Offshore Bar 10 v 5 Old Thai Angle
Division 3
Team	P	W	L	+/-	BP	Pts
The Stag’s Head	9	8	1	43	0	24
Mai’s Bar	9	8	1	21	0	24
The Rest Stop	9	7	2	26	0	21
Buffalo Jacks	8	4	4	4	1	13
The Ranch	8	4	4	2	1	13
Rabbi’s Elephant	9	3	6	-16	1	10
Wet Bar	8	2	6	-21	0	6
The Queen Vic	9	2	7	-26	0	6
Connections	9	1	8	-33	1	4
Results:  Connections 5 v 10 The Rest Stop, Mai’s Bar 10 v 3 Wet Bar, Rabbi’s Elephant 6 v 10 The Stag’s Head, The Queen Vic 6 v 10 The Ranch

Legends Wednesday 9-Ball Pool League

Results & Standings Oct. 30 (week 19)

Team	P	W	D	L	+/-	Pts.
Links Bar	17	12	3	2	80	39
Easy R-Con Bar	16	13	0	3	48	39
Mata Bar	16	12	2	2	84	38
Pook’s Bar	18	10	2	6	36	32
Legends Pool	17	10	2	5	30	32
Shoot Pool	16	9	4	3	54	31
FCUK Inn	18	4	3	11	-56	15
George & Dragon	16	4	2	10	-44	14
Buffalo Jacks	17	2	6	9	-40	12
Legends All-Stars	15	3	3	9	-64	12
Wet Bar	18	2	4	12	-74	10
Queen Vic	16	2	3	11	-54	9
Results:  Buffalo Jacks 13 v 7 Legends Pool, FCUK Inn 6 v 14 Links Bar, George & Dragon P-P Mata Bar, Legends All-Stars 9 v 11 Wet Bar, Pook’s Bar 13 v 7 Queen Vic, Shoot Pool 9 v 11 Easy R-Con Bar

Pattaya 8-Ball Monday Pool League

Results & Standings Oct. 28 (week 8)

Team	Played	Won	Lost	For	Agst	Diff.	Pts.
Phimai Geordie	8	8	0	83	32	51	24
San Snack Bar	8	6	2	75	45	30	20
Mata Bar	8	6	2	72	48	24	20
Crazy Eddie’s	8	6	2	69	51	18	20
Shoot Pool	8	5	3	62	58	4	18
Buffalo Jack’s	8	5	3	58	57	1	17
The Rest Stop	8	3	5	64	56	8	14
Rising Sun	8	3	5	58	62	-4	14
Mee Chew	8	3	5	50	70	-20	14
Cum On Inn	8	2	6	48	72	-24	12
Parrot Inn	7	0	7	32	73	-41	7
Connections	7	0	7	29	76	-47	7
Results:  Crazy Eddie’s 8 v 7 The Rest Stop, Parrot Inn 6 v 9 Mee Chew, Cum On Inn 7 v 8 Mata Bar, Phimai Geordie 10 ff 0 Buffalo Jack’s, Rising Sun 11 v 4 Shoot Pool, San Snack Bar 10 v 5 Connections

‘The Inspector’ steals the Mug

PSC golf from The Growling Swan

Bill Steinman, Niall Stuart, Shane Young & Alain Taddei.

San Mig Stu
Monday, Oct. 28, Eastern Star – Stableford
As previously reported, the Growling Swan President and Chief Organizer (Peter Blackburn) is away in Oz and although in touch daily, he has to rely on the temporary misfits he left in charge and the golfing gods to ensure everyone gets in their round happily and without incident. Well the gods must have been asleep at times on Monday.
Although the mini buses were on time and surprisingly all players checked in at the Growling Swan and were ready to leave ten minutes early, one of our group was missing and a check of the toilets and behind the bar did not reveal him.
As departure time approached and then passed, we dispatched one of our players with a motor bike to check out the Subway outlet on Soi Bukhow, as someone said he may be there. Negative to that but he was spotted finishing his breakfast at an eatery nearby. Suddenly realizing he was being sought, he quickly paid his bill and jumped on the motor bike for a free ride back to a roaring welcome….of abuse!
The drive to Eastern Star was uneventful thereafter and tee-off time was mostly without incident. The course Marshall advised that carts could go on “some fairways only” so the temporary misfit organizers decided to play off the yellow markers which reduced the yardage from 6,700 to 6,100 (if one can hit the ball straight), and the ‘lift, clean and place’ rule was introduced for the fairways and the first cut only. For those interested, the ladies tee distance was 5,560 yards.
This decision proved sensible to most of us as with very little run on the fairways only three players managed to play to their handicaps or better. There was one player who commented that only golfers with skirts play off the yellow markers but his score was not worth recording on the day … surprisingly yellow is one of his many favorite colours….say no more!

Ed Wyckoff, Duangjai Tusagad & Geoff Bracegirdle.

The last two groups were played as fives in an effort to have everyone back in the clubhouse as early as possible. Unfortunately the course Marshall, having watched and let the second last group tee off, came racing up the fairway in his buggy yelling at us “you must have five carts!” (one in our group was walking). With four of the group already on the green and the fifth player about to chip, we explained that it would have been convenient if he had explained this before we teed off!
After some bantering and the Marshall saying it was common golf law in Thailand that a group of five must all have a cart (news to me but money to be made here so makes sense) he hauled off our walker’s caddy and trolley and left the bag lying on the ground! Rather than cause an international incident we reorganized ourselves to appease the Marshall….and the golfing gods.
True to the course Marshall’s word, the course was quite soggy in many areas with a lot of players losing balls in the soft ground. Many of the greens had been sanded about a week earlier and were inconsistent and mowing of the course had been affected by the wet conditions, however the weather was mostly sunny with a light breeze and as many people have said before, “the worst days golf beats working any day”.
With everyone back in the club house, showered and sipping nice cool drinks, John Pierrel, being our club house organizer on the day, welcomed back Kevin Waycott and said goodbye to Geoff Bracegirdle who was leaving for Australia. John then made presentations.
Roving local golfer Ed Wyckoff was the best Division A player, taking out first spot with a fine 38 points. He was followed in by Alaine Taddei and Kevin Waycott in that order.
Division B was won by departing golfer Geoff Bracegirdle, also with a sterling 38 points, while second spot went to a jubilant Roy Dayton, and another happy Bracegirdle (Max) took third spot with 31 points.
Division A
1st Ed Wyckoff (12) 38pts
2nd Alaine Taddie (16) 36pts
3rd Kevin Waycott (8) 35pts
Division B
1st Geoff Bracegirdle (20) 38pts
2nd Roy Dayton (26) 32pts
3rd Max Bracegirdle (23) 31pts
Near Pins: 3rd – Stu Rifkin, 6th – Roy Dayton, 13th – Rita Zoebelli, 17th – Kevin Waycott
Long Putts: 9th – Max Bracegirdle, 18th – Rita Zoebelli
Duangjai (Kae) Tusagad received the loudest ovation of the day and her partner Roy Dayton was over the moon when Kae was mentioned as the recipient of the Naga Award for worst score of the day. Kae is one of our lovely regular lady golfers and she accepted the award with the grace and humility that has endeared her to all at the Growling Swan.
Deefa was again paraded around to collect donations from all golfers who desired to give a few baht to charity and many generous donations were received. Thank you to all.
Thursday, Oct. 31, Burapha A & B – Stroke
The last Thursday of every month sees the Growling Swan players slog it out on the course and every whack, slash, prod and poke is recorded and the lowest net score wins The Monthly Mug. This is the only time of the month that the presentations are made back at the Growling Swan Bar and after the winner has been presented with their award, he/she has the privilege of having the Mug topped up by any of their fellow golfers for the rest of the evening. Hence it is a fiercely sought after prize!
Today was no exception with many players giving their all and more than a handful being in the running to win, however with one golfer playing a tad better, these others had to be content with a mere podium allocation.
This scribe was unable to play today, so this report relies on the score sheet provided and the innuendo he grasped at the presentations in the evening back at the Growling Swan bar.
After listening to all the usual hard luck stories, Peter Grey (temporary organizer) took the floor and began his presentations. He firstly welcomed Steve Durey and Bernie Ruschmeyer from Oz I think (because I was sitting near them and they sounded Australian), and Toshi Abe from Japan and some other players who have been absent for a while.
Peter then remarked that the course was in its normally well presented condition but lamented on the grass being too long where it shouldn’t be (I think perhaps “his ball” was where it shouldn’t have been but his comment did bring about some applause, which confirms that others had the same thoughts/troubles).
Praise was made to fellow temporary organizer John Pierrel for helping throughout the day with fee collections, card checking and scoring before moving on to the prize winners.
Alain (Inspector) Taddei was the player everyone was envious of, having shot a fine net 69 off his 16 handicap, and thus was the honored winner of the Mug this month.
Division A was won by Bill Steinmann with net 71, one ahead of visitor Bernie Ruschmeyer in second, and third was Tom McMahon on a count back from John Pierrel.
The colorful Mr. Walter Baechli (who was obviously happy to be playing off the white tees today) was the winner of Division B with a net 72 on count back over Steve Durry and third was Ed Stewart, who won on a count back from JC Lhoste, both on 73.
Division C was taken out by Shane (Jockey) Young with a net 71, with Roy Dayton second two back and Gary Monley again in the prize list with net 74 for in third.
Monthly Mug
1st Alain Taddei (16) net 69
Division A (0–16)
1st Bill Steinmann (8) net 71
2nd Bernie Ruschmeyer (12) net 72
3rd Tom McMahon (16) net 73
Division B (17–24)
1st Walter Baechli (18) net 72
2nd Steve Durey (19) net 72
3rd Ed Stewart (19) net 73
Division C (25–36)
1st Shane Young (30) net 71
2nd Roy Dayton (26) net 73
3rd Gary Monley (36) net 74
Near Pins: A3 – Lindsay Slender, A6 – Alain Taddei, B3 – Alain Taddei, B8 – Bernie Ruschmeyer
Long Putts: A9 – Bill Steinmann, B9 – Toshi Abe
Niall Stewart again won the NAGA Award and thus gave many other wayward golfers today a huge sigh of relief. Deefa was the recipient of plenty of generous donations and the children of Pattaya thank you all.
Note: The Growling Swan Golf outlet welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan (formerly The Bunker Bar) in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing most times at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter Blackburn on 0806 351 386 or email to [email protected].
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday. Sunday is Lawn Bowls played at The Retreat and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls at the undercover Coco’s. 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.

Warberg scores a double, takes monthly award

PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s

Derek Brook (left) presents the MBMG Group golfer of the month prize to Dick Warberg.

Derek Brook
Tuesday, Oct. 29, Green Valley – Stableford
Green Valley is a fine course that is always worth a visit but after the rains of late it would be interesting to see how it had held up. We arrived at the course a little early so had plenty of time to spend on the putting green to perfect our way of missing the hole.
This being the last Tuesday of the month, it was the MBMG Group golfer of the month award up for grabs and a couple of players were well in the lead, with another half dozen who needed the leaders to fail badly. It is amazing how many times someone comes out of the pack on the last day, but would it happen this today?
Stood on the first tee it was a pleasure not to have to check the fairways to see if the ball would pick up mud, so we were able to get away with no special rules. There was a slight breeze and no rainclouds overhead, so a really nice day and we were able to move along well on the first hole then we met a block that kept occurring all the way around.

Landis Brooks.

The course was in good condition and it was noticeable that the players kept getting caught out by the speed of the greens. After many rounds of soggy slow greens, we had fast, good greens today that were a pleasure to putt on and even good players saw the ball flying past the hole. Nice to see and maybe now the good weather is here to stay.
Round over it we headed back to Bert’s for the results. Max Bracegirdle had a very good round of 36 points and must have thought he had a chance of winning the golfer of the month title as he had been in second place, however three better rounds on the day saw him fall short. The winner was Dick Warberg with a fine round of 38 points on count back over Graham Buckingham in second while in third place was Brian Parish with 37 points.
So to the MBMG Group golfer of the month for October, and after his fine round the winner was Dick Warberg who leapfrogged many golfers ahead of him in an exciting finish. Well done Dick!
Near Pins: Landis Brooks (2), Dick Warberg, Mashi Kaneta.
Friday, Nov. 1, Plutaluang – Stableford
There was a big turnout for this day and that had much to do with the liking some people have for this course. So off they went and on reaching Plutaluang they found they were to play the West & North nines, not my favourite combination but it must have something as it is used in many tournaments.
The course was in good condition and the greens were quite fast. The fairways were also in reasonable condition and the rough was playable. This to me is the more rural of the two 18 hole set ups at Navy but it does have its followers and I have to say that the staff here are very pleasant and do take care of you.
In the A Flight, 0 to 17, the winner today was Landis Brooks with 37 points ahead of Bob Watson in second place with 34. In third was David Palmer with 33 points and in fourth was Brian Parish with 29.
The B Flight winner was Dick Warberg with 35 points ahead of Mick Coghlan on 34, while Don Carmody took third with 33 and Barry Oates finished in fourth with 31 on count back over Tom Herrington. T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: Bob Watson, Mashi Kaneta, Brian Parish, Don Carmody

Clive’s successful return

PSC golf from Siam Country Resort

Tuesday, Oct. 29, Plutaluang - Stableford
First to Tuesday, when we played Plutaluang West & North and the weather was perfect with the course was in fine condition following a recent pro tournament.

Clive Hoseason.

Clive Hoseason (H/cap 21) has been injured of late, something about a ladder, a tree and a resulting damaged ankle, but in his first game back up he bobbed with a dominating display to sign for 38 points. Battling it out for the minor placings were Martin Hayes (14) and Jeff Wylie (7), with Martin getting the better of it on count back 18/15 after both signed for 34 points. Near pins were spread around between Brian, Jeff, Clive & George.
Thursday, Oct. 31, Pattana - Stableford
Thursday saw Willem Lasonder (21) lead the way home at Pattana, where we played the B & C combination under perfect conditions, both weather wise and course order.
Willem’s 40 points was sufficient to be well clear of the field, with runner-up Jeff Wylie (7) signing for 37 points. Willem and Jeff also claimed the near pins between them with 2 each, including a tap-in birdie for Willem on the challenging B7.
Note: Siam Country Resort, Restaurant & Bar is located just off Siam Country Club Rd, after going under the arch past the 7/11, turn right after 50 metres, with the venue on the left another 200 metres along. Golf from here is generally played on Tuesday & Thursday, with the Resort hosting prompt presentations on both days. As a PSC affiliated venue we welcome ALL golfers, including ladies & seniors who have opted for the “Silver” tee option. Call 089 094 1841 for scheduling or enquiries. Hope to see you there, cheers & good golfing!

Hapgood’s medal march continues

PSC golf Bunker Boys @ The Ranch

Monday, Oct. 28, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
Fifteen golfers departed from The Ranch on a bright sunny morning to test their skills on the tricky Mountain Shadow course. We were able to tee off a few minutes ahead of schedule and quickly found that the fairways were in good shape, and the greens were as slick and difficult as ever.
We welcomed back Tony Scambler at the start of his annual visit, and Mashi Kaneta was also making a welcome return after a few weeks absence.

Reg Smart presents the KPK voucher to medal champion Peter Habgood.

The scoring was better than one normally expects here, and four players managed to better their handicaps on the day, but no one could match Mashi, who took the top podium position with 39 points. Tony Robbins birdied three of the first four holes on the back nine which helped him to a score of 21 points on the inward nine - good enough to take second place on a count back ahead of Bernie Ruschmeyer.
John Graham re-found his form after a recent slump, but his score of 37 points (which on many occasions would have been good enough to win here) was only sufficient to take fourth place.
1st Mashi Kaneta (14) 39pts
2nd Tony Robbins (15) 38pts
3rd Bernd Ruschmeyer (12) 38pts
4th John Graham (10) 37pts
Near Pins: John Graham, Peter Habgood, Tony Scambler and Neil Hurst.
Wednesday, Oct. 30, Green Valley – KPK Foods Medal
We welcomed back Keith Norman today at the start of his annual visit, and he immediately made his presence felt on the 1st tee, by almost decapitating PJ Redmond (who was also making a return after being ill for a couple of weeks) with an over- enthusiastic practice swing.
The weather was perfect and the course was in good shape, so conditions were ideal for producing some good scores as our seventeen players teed off on schedule.
In the event six players played to their handicap or better, but no one could match our resident medal expert Peter Habgood who once again proved unbeatable in what is, after all, the true form of the game. Peter has now won six out of the last nine medal competitions (four of them at Green Valley), so there’s no doubt who the favourite will be on our next visit.
Peter’s good friend Reg Smart (who also hates medal competitions!) produced his best stroke-play performance for a long time, but his level par net score was only good enough for fifth place.
Mashi Kaneta produced another great performance, but a double bogey on the 18th hole (his only real blemish on the back nine), cost him the chance of victory, and he was forced to settle for second place. Bernie Stevens was playing only his second game since his return and made a welcome return to the podium in third place, one stroke better than Steve Durey.
Today was the final game of the month with three players still in contention for the Golfer of the Month title. Tony Robbins produced the best performance of the three, but his net 73 score was only good enough for seventh place on the day, and left him in a tie on 51 points (for the best six scores during the month) with Geoff Parker. Geoff, despite having a disastrous couple of holes at Green Valley, was subsequently awarded the title on the count back (seventh best score), in a contest which was the tightest so far this year.
1st Peter Habgood (19) net 67
2nd Mashi Kaneta (14) net 68
3rd Bernie Stevens (15) net 71
4th Steve Durey (19) net 72
Near Pins: Bernie Stevens, Steve Durey, and Keith Norman (2).
Friday, Nov. 1,
Pleasant Valley - Stableford
Your scribe is increasingly becoming a fan of this course which has unfairly been dubbed “unpleasant valley” in the past by some disingenuous golfers. The fact that we are always made to feel welcome by the friendly staff, plus the fact that the high season prices are reasonable, and the course is generally in good condition, will keep it as a regular fixture on our schedule.
The weather was fine and we teed off on schedule, with an apparently empty course ahead of us. The only drawback today was that it soon became obvious that the greens have suffered badly in the recent wet weather, but hopefully they will recover in a few weeks time.
There was no stopping Neil Hurst today, who ran away with the first prize with an impressive score of 42 points. Neil parred eight of the first nine holes and despite a couple of minor hiccups on the inward nine, finished with fourteen pars for the round and a gross score of 78 off his (soon to be reduced) handicap of 12.
Neil was the only golfer to better his handicap on the difficult greens, leaving Keith Norman and Tony Robbins to scrap it out for the minor places.
1st Neil Hurst (12) 42pts
2nd Keith Norman (12) 34pts
3rd Tony Robbins (15) 33pts
Near Pins: Andy Brady, Keith Norman, Steve Durey and Neil Hurst
Note: The Bunker Boys is a PSC affiliated golf society that now plays out of The Ranch bar on Pattaya 3rd Road (in front of the fire station, and almost opposite the Buffalo Bar). We play three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so if you enjoy a fun day out, and a friendly but competitive golf competition why not come and join us.
We meet at The Ranch at 9 a.m. for breakfast and transportation, and new players are always welcome. Contact “Buff” on 086 046 5091 or 080 605 5663 for all enquiries. You can find all the news, schedules and results on our website at www. bunkersociety.com.
The 8th Annual John Preddy Memorial Charity Golf Tournament will be held on the 22nd November 2013 at Crystal Bay Golf Club. Entry fee of 1,700 baht includes green fee, caddy fee, free buffet and lucky draw ticket plus individual and team stableford prizes. Interested players and sponsors may contact Buff on the telephone numbers above.

Bolger bags a win on Pattaya return

PSC golf with i-Rovers

Tuesday, Oct. 29, The Emerald (white tees) - Stroke
With all the rain we’ve had lately we expected our trip to Emerald to still be a boggy affair but that could not have been any further from the truth as the course was dry and there was actually a lot of run on the fairways.
We welcomed a couple of new lads today, Brian and Rod and also welcomed back Gary Bolger who had been back ‘down under’ for the last 4 weeks or so. The break seemed to have done Gary some good as he took the honours today, while some others, myself included, posted scores not to be proud of. However, it was good to just be out having a hit again and not looking over your shoulder for lightening.
Thursday, Oct. 31, Burapha A & B (white tees) - Stroke
A small group headed out to Burapha on Thursday to find the course in top condition. I love this course, even though I don’t play well here every time. Is it the lush fairways, lightening fast greens, deep rough or is it the long par 4’s? Put it all together and you get a good track and even though it plays long, if you’re playing reasonably you can score really well.
We arrived right on time on a very hot day with no clouds overhead - it was going to be a sun block day for sure. We made our way to the starter and were promptly sent off 5 minutes ahead of schedule.
After watching the two-ball in front of us tee off the first, I thought we were in for a long day but it was not to be. Even though we had to wait at tee box on maybe the last 3 holes, we finished and were back in the clubhouse in 2 hours 50 minutes. Now that’s brilliant I think. We had carts, but a lot of holes it was carts in the rough only so we still had to walk to the ball. Thanks to the groups in front who helped make it a quick and enjoyable day.
Score wise, I think we were all suffering from playing inconsistently over the last 2 months with rain and injury. But a few of us started to hit our straps after a woeful start. The winner today was Paul Blackshaw (H/cap 11) with an 85 gross, closely followed by Gary Bolger.

Magnusson & Winfield the standouts at Pleasant Valley

PSC golf from Café Kronborg

Mike Winfield, Dave Richardson and Elias Magnusson.

Monday, Oct. 28, Plutaluang – Stableford
1st Dave Richardson (27) 35pts
2nd Elias Magnusson (20) 33pts
3rd Kurt Sandgaard (33) 32pts
4th Mike Winfield (23) 30pts
It was off to Plutaluang (west and north) on Monday and after a swift check-in with the cheerful staff we were off 30 minutes early under sunny skies and with a cooling breeze.
The course on the day was in very fine shape as a pro competition was held there over the weekend and the round was completed in a quick 4 hours and 5 minutes, even though the course was busy,
We had just a small group in one flight and the winner today was Dave Richardson with 35 points ahead of Elias Magnusson, Kurt Sandgaard and Mike Winfield in descending order.
Thursday, Oct. 31, Pleasant Valley - Stableford
A Flight (0-21)
1st Elias Magnusson (20) 39pts
2nd Niels Hansen (16) 33pts
3rd Lotte Boskov (17) 32pts
B Flight (22+)
1st Mike Winfield (23) 39pts
2nd Jan Lovgreen (22) 36pts
3rd Daryl Evans (22) 33pts
It was up the route 7 on Thursday to Pleasant Valley and once again we were blessed with sunny weather for the whole round. The course on the day was wet in some places (especially the 18th fairway) and all the greens had just been sanded, making for bumpy putting.
We made it around in 3 hours and 40 minutes as the course was not busy until we caught a slow Asian group on the 12th where the marshall stopped letting us through.
Back in the clubhouse, welcomes went out to Jim Larson from Lake Tahoe, Lotte Boskov and Arne Max Pederson from Denmark and Daryl Evans, just back from Queensland.
Two flights today with the cut at handicap 21 and Elias Magnusson won the A Flight with a fine 39 points ahead of Niels Hansen in second and Lotte Boskov third.
Mike Winfield meanwhile topped the B Flight with a matching 39 point score and was followed on the podium steps by Jan Lovgreen and Daryl Evans.

O’Flynn wows ‘em at St. Andrews

The Billabong Bar Golf Group

Helmut Hebstriet, Gary, Owen Walkley and John O’Flynn.

Monday, Oct. 28, Treasure Hill - Stableford
Just a small field today at Treasure Hill and whilst it in not in very good condition (as can be judged from the scores) it was still playable, even if only just. It must be said that all courses have to do maintenance but it would do them proud here to charge a little less in fees. It is a long drive to this course but it’s one we won’t be taking for some time.
Now back to the day’s golf and it was great to see Chris Dodd back in town and taking first place with a fine 29 points. It was a tough day at the office for all players today and in second was Owen Walkley with 28 points and the scores went from there to a fantastic 20 points coming in last place.
There were no ‘2’s recorded but a very close try from one golfer.
Wednesday, Oct. 30, St. Andrews – Stableford
Playing St. Andrews today instead of Green Valley and what a pleasure it was. It’s been a long time since the scribe has played here and it showed in his score with a few lost balls, a few missed putts and viola - out of the game. However, there were some great scores coming in.
We welcomed John O’Flynn to the Billabong today, playing his first game with us and what a player this man is. Five under gross is not bad at all around this course.
One card was handed in to the Capt. with only one score on it - 2 for 3 on the tenth. It must have been a great day out for that man but at least he got something for his trouble.

Ted Morris, Chris Dodd and Gary Hogg.

There was a two way count back for seventh place between Mal Farquharson and Orn Marney with Mal getting the nod after both carded 35 points each. Sixth place was taken by Paul Bourke on 36, losing out on count back to Murray Hart, while fourth place was garnered by Bill Peach with his 37 points.
So to the top three and in third was the ‘Sugar Man’ Ray Handford with a fine 39 points while the runner-up spot went to John O’Flynn, playing off scratch and shooting five under off the stick. What a fantastic round! That would normally have taken the top prize but alas it was not to be as Owen Walkley had a day out to remember, playing off his 11 handicap and poaching 43 points to take the tournament.
There were three ‘2’s today coming from Helmut Hebstriet, Owen Walkley and Wayne Cotterell.
Friday, Nov. 1,
Crystal Bay - Stableford
Crystal Bay was the venue today and apart from one of our avid golfers it all went smoothly. Just Mal went the wrong way due to his GPS telling him to go through every town on Sukhumvit Road, but he did make it on time.
With four groups playing we all got away on time in fine sunny weather and there were one or two who walked and found the going a little hot at times. The course was in good condition with the greens running fast and true.
The scores were something else again, with 36 taking out third place for Ted Morris while second went to Gary Hogg with a fine 39 points. In first place was Chris Dodd with a magnificent 42 points, a great round of golf mate that should help the handicap.
There was one ‘2’ coming from Wayne Cotterell, and one lip-out from John Davis, sorry mate, they don’t count!
Note: The Billabong Bar is situated just off Siam Country Club Road looking straight down Lake Mabprachan. Give Bob a call on 082 204 3411. All golfers welcome.

Golfnutter: Ball Striking

I blame the crash of ’87. Apart from it costing me my job, the resulting downturn saw me affected by the golfing bug and when it bit, it really hit home. Soon, hour upon hour spent hitting golf balls had me wondering over cause and effect. Not the calluses that had developed after spending six intensive months on the practise fairway, I knew what had caused those. Rather, I wanted to understand the correlation between the golf swing and ball-flight. But most of all, I wanted to become a good ball-striker.
Ben Hogan is generally regarded as the best ball-striker the game has ever known. His book, first published in 1957, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, is arguably the most widely read golf instruction book ever written. It is currently in its 64th edition and still maintains a top or near-top position on Amazon. com golf book rankings.
The book explains in detail the grip, stance and swing as Hogan believed they should be. These fundamentals went on to gain world-wide acceptance as the basis of swing instruction from that time until, well, now. Much of today’s teaching, whether by local instructors or widely acclaimed swing-gurus, still follows Hogan’s fundamentals. Back then, when I was doing nothing but hitting golf balls, Mr Hogan’s book became my bible.
It wasn’t until I was well into my third reading that I started to understand what my club pro was on about. I’m not saying teaching pros aren’t up to it, far from it, but I find the workings of the golf swing so complicated that it wasn’t until I understood Hogan that it all started to make sense. You could do a lot worse than spend the price of a few golf balls and obtain a copy.
Apparently, some 85% of golfers swing on an out-to-in swing path, causing the ball to slice. No matter how hard I tried to counter this, whenever I engaged a full-blooded swing with anything from a medium iron through to driver, I too would send the ball on a huge left to right curve – then I read Hogan.

Aside from trajectory and club-head speed, ball flight depends mainly on clubface alignment and the path on which the club travels relative to the target line. It is these two factors – clubface alignment and swing-path – we need understand to improve ball-striking.
Clubface alignment will be closed (A, B, C), square (D, E, F) or open (G, H, I) to target line at the moment of impact, and will determine the ball’s initial direction only.
The direction of the swing-path, relative to the target line, soon takes over to determine where the ball ultimately ends up. Note: an exaggerated fade is a slice, an exaggerated draw is a hook.
Where clubface alignment matches swing-path, the result is a straight shot, as in B, E and H.
Swing-paths can be broadly described as:
Out-to-in: Club approaches the ball from outside the target line and travels across the line to the inside after impact – (C, F, I).
In-to-in: Club approaches the ball from inside the target line and returns to the inside after impact – (B, E, H).
In-to-out: Club approaches the ball from inside the target line and continues across the line to the outside after impact – (A, D, G).
The most common ball-flight in golf is C, or variations of it. The worst, in terms of negative impact on par, is probably A followed by D, due to the greater distance they will travel offline (draws/hooks go further than fade/slices).
Those seeking to become better ball-strikers should develop an in-to-in or an in-to-out swing path, leading to the equivalent of E or G above. Ball-flight G tends to be favoured as E is nigh-on impossible to achieve with consistency. An alternative to G favoured by some (Nicklaus and modern-day Woods) is the power-fade – a left-of-centre E with a small left-to-right tail. Whilst this limits the amount of ground run, thus increasing control, it is generally the preserve of those who have the power to generate huge air-time.
In assessing your own swing, and where you want to take it, you need be aware of any physical limitations that may frustrate your ambitions. Secondly, before any change is made a full review of grip and stance, as per Hogan or your local instructor, should be undertaken. Third, to make a genuine swing change requires a huge amount of time and effort, and instruction from a competent professional instructor – a certified one.
A general rule of thumb for me was one minute spent with the pro needed one hour on the range bedding the lesson into muscle-memory. A productive thirty-minute lesson therefore justified thirty hours of hard practise – thus the calluses. There are no short-cuts to better ball-striking.
More next week!
Golfnutter

‘Shush’ - you know who wins again

PSC Golf from Lewiinski’s Golf Society

Sunday, Oct. 27, Green Valley - Stableford
A Flight
1st Kevin McEntee (6) 40pts
2nd Neil Hurst (12) 39pts
3rd Matt Hurst (12) 38pts
4th Bob StAubin (13) 37pts
B Flight
1st Geoff Bracegirdle (20) 36pts
2nd Gerry Roche (20) 36pts
3rd Jum Karagit (19) 36pts
4th Pierre Bietry (16) 35pts
Near Pins: No 4 Mike Holmes, No 9 J P Gasser, No 12 Thierry Petrement, No 16 JP Gasser

Kevin McEntee (left) with Andy Byrne.

It wasn’t going to take long to justify the ‘title guy’ this week as Co. Offaly man Kevin McEntee, also known as ‘you know who’, was tops in A Flight and the man of the match with an excellent 40 points. Kevin might just find a one-way ticket to a destination of his choice under the Xmas tree this year courtesy of the Lewiinski’s society lads.
Kevin was trailed up the podium steps by Neil Hunt, Offaly gang mate Matt Doyle and Bob St. Aubin stringed out by single digit increments in that order. Bob was grateful of the extra podium spot as he, as always, donated his prize to the Jing Jai Orphanage.
A trio of players vied for the top spot in B Flight, all with even par rounds, but when the mud had settled the count back went in favour of Aussie Geoff Bracegirdle, with the silver going last week’s headline boy, Irishman Gerry Roche. The belle of the bar Jum Karagit filled the bronze spot. Pierre ‘the magician’ Bietry was the benefactor of the extra podium spot a shot adrift.
Mike Holmes, JP Gasser. JP Maffray, Clint Samuels. Yui Bietry and Craig Blyth shared the 2’s pot.
Tuesday, Oct. 29, Greenwood B & C - Stableford
A Flight
1st Matt Doyle (12) 36pts
2nd Andy Byrne (9) 35pts
3rd Clint Samuels (6) 31pts
B Flight
1st Terry Mangan (15) 36pts
2nd Dominic Downey (13) 34pts
3rd Peter Henshaw (18) 34pts
It was a great day for the Irish as they filled five of the six podium spots. The man of the match was split between A Flight’s Co. Offaly man Matt Doyle and B Flight’s Co. Wicklow contender Terry ‘pork chop’ Mangan.
Matt was followed up the A Flight podium steps by his mate and fellow gang member Andy Byrne a shot back. Clint Samuels and Craig Tees both finished on 31points and the count back ensured Clint took the bronze and Craig the wooden spoon.
Terry’s B Flight winning score was two clear of the Irish pair of Dominic Downey and Peter ‘the silver surfer’ Henshaw, with Dominic having the more favorable back nine.
Jeff Clohessy slotted home the only 2 of the day.
Wednesday, Oct. 30, St. Andrews – Stableford
A Flight
1st JP Maffray (11) 37pts
2nd Trevor Loftus (9) 37pts
3rd Matt Doyle (12) 36pts
B Flight
1st Gerry Power (17) 40pts
2nd Jim Elphick (26) 39pts
3rd Colin Davis (17) 30pts
The fear that St Andrews strikes in the golfer’s hearts and the fact that Wednesdays are the second of back to back outings, usually contributes to a smaller crowd for this fixture. However, the good sized crowd was just fine for Gerry ‘the Irish rover’ Power whose excellent 40 points was top in B Flight and top score on the day. Gerry was one stroke clear of Jimmy ‘two shots’ Elphick and a further two clear of ‘the Donkey’.
The top rung in A Flight was not determined until a count back was done for old friends JP Maffray and Trevor Loftus, with JP’s math’s adding up the better. Following those two but a point adrift was Co. Offaly gang man Matt Doyle and Ed ‘our man in the White house’ Wyckoff. Needless to say Matt rode off with the last bag of loot as Ed was left hands in the air and pot less.
The golfer of the month was Kevin ‘Shush you know who’.
Six 2’s were recorded with Dominic Downey posting a brace.
Friday, November 1, Plutaluang East & South - Stableford
A Flight
1st Andrew Byrne (9) 37pts
2nd Kevin McEntee (6) 36pts
3rd Peter Hynard (12) 35pts
B Flight
1st David Kirkstuik (18) 37pts
2nd Justin Fowlis (13) 36pts
3rd Dominic Downey (13) 36pts
C Flight
1st Jim Elphick (26) 35pts
2nd Noel Flynn (20) 34pts
3rd Aiden Murray (24) 34pts
The co-man of the match was Co. Offaly gang star Andrew Byrne with 37 points. Andy was one clear of Kevin ‘you know who’ but Kevin was not too concerned as he helped himself to a share of a very healthy ‘2’s pot. The gang arrived from the airport in a taxi and a Securicor van has been hired to take them back. The “fluent in Thai” Peter Hynard filled the flight but needed the aid of the calculator to edge Aberdeen’s Mark Wood.
That other man of the match I alluded to was B Flight’s David Kirkstuik, who was one clear of a trio all locked on even par rounds with the scales tipping in favour of Justin Fowlis and Dominic Downey. The unlucky non-appearing podium player was one of our friends from the ‘old sod’ (and we have many), Peter ‘the silver surfer’ Henshaw.
Jimmy ‘two shots’ Elphick was the top man in C Flight with a steady 35 points while Noel Flynn had to go to a count back to better Aiden Murray as both were a shot shy of Jim.
Mark Wood and Terry Smith shared the ‘2’s pot with Kevin.
Note: Lewiinski’s is situated on Pattaya land Soi 1, Beach Rd Soi13/13 near Walking Street. Anyone wishing to play with us just pop in and add your name to the list or call Colin on 089 826 0764. Transport is provided.

If Blondie only knew, she would cry

The Backyard Golf Society

Irish John (2nd right) celebrates his win with the girls at Blue Sky Bar.

Last Friday’s game at Emerald turned out to be a very interesting affair, not so much for the golf but for some adolescent secrets that ‘The Quiet Man’ revealed post-game.
But first to the golf, and the day’s winner was Irish John with 36 points while the near-pin went to Linda’s Lovelace (aka Mickey), which should see a drop in his ridiculously high 32 handicap, but as he is now the handicap secretary we will have to wait and see on that one.
There was a good spread on the skins with ‘Irish John’, ‘Foos yer Doos’ and ‘Passport Control’ all winning three, two to The Quiet Man and seven roll-overs. But, as it was such a hot day and we did not like the idea of someone breezing in next week and nabbing the 7 roll-overs, we decided to convert the cash into drink vouchers at Blue Sky Bar.
Several players were no shows today: Jimmy ‘2 Stone’s run of bad health continues; Russell “He’s a Victorian” was off up near the Laos border on his hog; Andy Oz was unable to face the world as his hair was showing too many grey streaks; ‘Michelle’ Chatt we think had some sort of female complaint and Don ‘the Divorcer’ absconded with the previous 2 weeks roll-over kitty. Hopefully some if not all will return next week.
Down the road and The Quiet Man confessed to his yobo-youth obsession with the one and only Debbie Harry (Blondie) to the point where he even made a purely self-gratifying offering to her at one stage. If Blondie only knew, she could have been Mrs Quiet Man. How lucky did she get!
With the high season now here we expect to see more players on the courses and with Emerald recovering really well from the ground-staff’s over exuberance on the fairways, it bodes well for some good golf over the next few months, notwithstanding the hordes who usually descend from a region in the northeast of Asia.

Camel team secure bragging rights for another year

The victorious Camel Bar team.

The focus of the golfing world once again turned to the sleepy seaside hamlet of Banchang for the renowned and highly anticipated latest and 6th iteration of the Annual Camel Bar versus Beaver Bar Challenge match, staged at the constantly evolving and almost championship course of The Emerald, Banchang, on Saturday, October 26.
It was a lovely clear day and the pressure on the gathered troops hung in the air like a trapeze artist, just about to fall out of reach. The format was two-man better-ball in matchplay and both sides had 20 players each, skillfully managed by Hubert from the Camel and Larry from the Beaver.
This match always draws the golfing luminaries with such notables for the Camel as Paul Smith, Dave Stockman, Simon Dutton and ‘Shotgun’ Scotty McKiernan (his balls go like shot from a gun), while the Beaver could boast among its ranks Steve Mascari, Tony Oakes, Roger Coe and Mike “Southpaw” Olsen (with that swing, you never see ‘em coming), amongst all the other great and standup participants.
All teams embraced the vent and some great matches were had; suffice it to say that after the first two matches it was one all, after the 4th match completed it was 2 all, and after the 7th match it was 3½ to 3½. This was great and gripping stuff folks and the vast galleries (Hubert & Larry) were stampeding around closely following the last three matches.
Even though they (all three) were closely fought down the 18th, the eighth and ninth matches went to the Camel (just) and the tenth match, after a Herculian comeback by Shotgun Scotty & Marty (4 down with 5 to play), ended up all square to give the match and retention of the cup to the Camel, 6 and 4.
A sumptuous Tex-Mex buffet and presentation was held at the Camel Pub, Banchang afterwards and handshakes and backslaps were the order of the day for this fiercely contested but always friendly match. Terry from the Camel and Larry from the Beaver extend their hearty thanks to all participants and groupies for another great day.

German-Swiss team victorious in Thai Garden Resort Cup

PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar

The German-Swiss Team celebrate their second Thai Garden Resort Cup win.

Monday, Oct. 28, Burapha - Stableford
A & B again at Burapha on Monday and since it was still fairly wet out there we stayed on the shorter white tees on a bright and sunny day. 26 Outbackers played and hopefully the rain has stopped for good and carts will soon regularly be allowed back on the fairways as the courses generally start to dry out.
The top division had some outstanding scores where 39pts was only good enough for fourth! John O’Keefe topped the division with the day’s best score of 42, followed home by NY Steve (40) who beat regular Aussie visitor Tony Gliddon on count back. In fourth spot was Steve Mann with 39.
Div B was won by ever improving Chris Smart with 39pts who celebrated by ringing the bell- thanks Chris. Second was Bruce McAdam (37), nice to see you playing well again and Anton Rowbottom (35) was third on c/b from Stephen Blazsanyik (Waldo) and Greg Hill.
Finally a safe trip back to Aus to Anton and Barney and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
There were six ‘2’s from John Wilson, John O’Keefe, Ivan Plunkett, Jimmy Little and Tony Gliddon got two.
Div A (0-16)
1st John O’Keefe (16) 42pts
2nd Steve Poznanski (12) 40pts
3rd Tony Gliddon (12) 40pts
4th Stephen Mann (10) 39pts
Div B (17+)
1st Chris Smart (28) 39pts
2nd Bruce McAdam (27) 37pts
3rd Anton Rowbottam (17) 35pts
4th Stephen Blazsanyik (17) 35pts
Tuesday, Oct. 29, Greenwood – Thai Garden Resort Cup
This was the sixth year of the annual match between the German-Swiss Golf Club and the Outback, with the after celebrations once again at the Moon River Pub in North Pattaya.
Originally booked to play at Phoenix and like a couple of years back, switched at the last minute to Greenwood due to Phoenix management’s ability to do just that! Thanks Greenwood, great deal and the course in great nick and I thought you dealt with the three separate golfing groups extremely well. As far as we were concerned, our 13 groups had the benefit of a two-tee start (B & C) and the transitions between the two nines ran sweetly.

Greg Hill and Murray Hart.

The only problem as far as I can see, is getting there – a helicopter would be fantastic because the roads are rubbish and very dangerous, particularly in the rain!
The tournament is firstly a matchplay event for the cup, where the best stableford score for the pair on a hole by hole basis wins or halves the hole and secondly an overall better-ball event.
In the five previous years, the German-Swiss team had only managed one team win in 2009 at Phoenix, when they won 8½ to 7½ so what were their chances this year? Down to ten teams a side, the pairings were kept a secret right to the last minute with Jack scribbling away to get the start sheet finished given very little time, so it was a little haphazard at the start getting the right pairs on the right tees but we got there in the end.
A message came in on Jack’s phone of a dog licence win (7 & 6) for the Outback pairing of Joe Mooneyham and Eddy Beilby, and the two Steves (Mann & Poz) were going well, albeit in a tough match against Jennerich & Mergemeier, with at the time Sugar & Jack 2 up.
In the clubhouse afterwards though, it didn’t look so good and after sorting all the cards back at the Outback before heading off to the Moon River Pub, it was quite clear that the Outback had been comprehensively beaten (6½ to 3½).
The food at the Moon River was as good as it always is and the new band played a good mix of music which encouraged many to get up and dance.
Jack & Helmut Wolf hosted the event starting with some 20 lucky draw prizes before going on to the results at the band interval. The German Swiss pair of Messrs Becker & Brunner won the better-ball event on c/b from Nigel Cannon & Peter LeNoury, both with 43pts, with Messrs Eikmeier & Wolf edging out Jack & Sugar, also on c/b on 42.
Only three near pins were available as a certain Mr Lawton failed to place a pin on one of the par 3’s - nice one John! - blame it on the Soberano? Of the three remaining, one was won by Peter LeNoury and the other two by Gerd Rietler but as he was not present in the evening, the prizes were put back into the lucky draw.
1st J Becker (10) & F Brunner (33) – 43pts
2nd Nigel Cannon (22) & Peter LeNoury (10) – 43pts
3rd W Eikmeier (12) & H Wolf (20) – 42pts
4th Sugar Ray Handford (16) & Jack Moseley (19) – 42pts
5th Stephen Mann (10) & Steve Poznanski (12) – 42pts
Wednesday, Oct. 30, The Emerald – Stableford
A couple of groups tried out Emerald today, only to report that the course wasn’t quite up to speed yet; let’s hope when we return here in a couple of weeks time it will have improved.
The scoring wasn’t spectacular but Mark Allen put a good round together to cruise to an easy six shot win with 37pts, from a surprised but embarrassed John O’Keefe who took second with just 31.
Chris Smart (thanks for doing the start for us) was third with 29.
There were no ‘2’s.
1st Mark Allen (17) 37pts
2nd John O’Keefe (15) 31pts
3rd Chris Smart (27) 29pts
Friday, Nov. 1, Green Valley – Medal
Had the rain gone at last? We woke up to a blue sky again and 35 Outbackers turned out to play in the Outback Monthly Medal, now moved to the first Friday of the month, and the trophy today was sponsored by the Outback Bar.
It’s all very well trying to kick everybody off the first tee at six minute intervals and standing there with a stop watch to make sure it happens, but it’s a bit pointless if by the 2nd hole there are four groups waiting to tee off. However, the majority got round in four hours or just under, even though the course was extremely busy, so we shall just have to wait and see if the new timing works.
The course has dried up well and the carts were allowed on the fairways so there was no ‘lift clean and place’ today but it seemed that the greens hadn’t been cut for a day or so, meaning that they were relatively slow compared to normal.
Welcome to Allan, Mike and Neville who joined us today for the first time and also to Troy Joyce.
The scoring was very acceptable as the top eight, all of whom finished on the podium, all played to handicap or better. Mark Allen followed up his win at Emerald on Wednesday with a net 67 today to win from Tom Byrne, Bernie Stafford and Greg Hill, all on 69. Murray Hart shot a 70, with newcomer Alan Daniel on 71, while the last two places were filled by Waldo and Chris with net 72’s.
There were three ‘2’s from Mark Kembrey & Joe Mooneyham (4th) and Mark Allen (16th).
Note:
1st Mark Allen (17) 67pts
2nd Tom Byrne (14) 69pts
3rd Bernie Stafford (15) net 69
4th Greg Hill (18) net 69
5th Murray Hart (13) net 70
6th Alan Daniel (20) net 71
7th Stephen Blazsanyik (17) net 72
8th Chris Thompson (26) net 72
Note: For all you guys who work from Monday to Friday we still have slots on Saturdays at Green Valley at around 10am. The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. .Call Jack on 081 578 1956.

All smiles for Rush & Smith

PSC golf from The Caddyshack

Roger Rush with Caddyshack helpers.

Roger Rush (H/cap 19) took time off from the dentist to take a win at Green Valley on Mon 28th October with 39 points. Clive Bruce (9) made a rare outing and took second place on 38 points with Mike Pledger (15) in third place with 35.

Ramsay Smith.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30th, we took advantage of the last sports day in 2013 at Burapha. Phonsie McGahan (5) took the win with 35 points from Clive Bruce (9) in second with 34. We say goodbye to Burapha until April next year when the prices are more affordable.
Friday’s game on November 1st saw Ramsay Smith (21) and Roger Rush (19) tie with 39 points each. Since they are both undergoing dental work, Ramsay won through on count back with the bigger smile. Third place went to another Scot in the form of Derek Wilkin (18) with 37 points, and fourth place to Peter Henderson (20) with 36.
Note: Caddyshack is located on Soi 17 off 3rd Road or Soi 8 off Thepprasit. All golfers are welcome and reservations taken at 081 865 3104.

Bob plays the party pooper at Phoenix

Travellers Rest Golf Group

Andy Rich
Last week saw an end of an era. For more years than most people care to remember on Thursday of every week, the TRGG has trodden a well worn path to Phoenix Golf Club. Many of our golfers have regular caddies there who over the years have become good friends, the lady golfers have also loved the advantage they get playing off ladies tees, a baht bus ride in front of the men’s.

Mike Rushant - winner at Emerald.

We know nothing stays the same forever but all the changes recently introduced by the new Phoenix management group have been considered a step too far and our members, together with many of the other golf societies, have decided to vote with their feet and give Phoenix a miss in future. A really sad situation for one and all!
It is hoped that the powers that be at Phoenix have a change of heart in the future but nobody is holding their breath.
Monday, Oct. 28, The Emerald - Stableford
The week got off to a bright start on Monday 28th October at Emerald where the sun shone and most of the competitors enjoyed a good round of golf. I played in a four-ball that included the eventual winner and have to say I was most impressed with his standard of golf, especially his consistently good driving off the tee.
Mike Rushant is the guy I am talking about and his amassed 39 points was far too good for the rest. ‘Bridesmaid’ Fergus Brennan (so called because of the number of second places he has had recently) trailed in five shots behind with Derek Thorogood a further four shots back in third.
1st Mike Rushant (10) 39pts
Fergus Brennan (13) 34pts
Derek Thorogood (16) 30pts
Tuesday, Oct. 29, Greenwood - Stableford
Tuesday was the turn of Greenwood to receive the TRGG and a favourite course for many saw the first close finish of the week.
Derek Thorogood leapt into first place from his previous day’s third spot and yes, Fergus Brennan once again came second after catching the bouquet on Monday, however it was only after count back after both finished on 37 points each. Gary Bennett meanwhile trooped home in third.
Derek Thorogood (17) 37pts
Fergus Brennan (13) 37pts
Gary Bennett (18) 34pts
Thursday, Oct. 31, Phoenix - Stableford
On Thursday, as previously mentioned, it was our last trip for the foreseeable future to Phoenix (Mountain and Lakes courses).
The ladies decided to go out in style with Poopay and Mod rattling up 81 pts between them but surprisingly only managing to fill second and third places. The party pooper turned out to be Bob Chiofalo who took top spot but only after a stewards enquiry and a count back.
1st Bob Chiofalo (22) 41pts
2nd Tewin Poopay Lamthong (11) 41pts
3rd Mod Chaviraksa (12) 40pts
Saturday, Nov. 2, Eastern Star - Stableford
November 2nd at Eastern Star marked a return to the High Season and regular Saturday golf with the TRGG. Bob Chiofalo continued the good form of his last outing to again finish in first place. Monday’s winner Mike Rushant took second and Ray White made it into third.
1st Bob Chiofalo (20) 37pts
Mike Rushant (10) 34pts
Ray White (28) 32pts
Good luck to all you golfers for the coming week and if you would like to play a round of golf with the TRGG, please phone Fergus Brennan on 086 056 7019 or pop into the Ned Kelly Bar in Soi Lengkee and add your name to the weekly lists which are posted on the notice board.

End of the road?

Phoenix Members Golf Society

Friday winners pose for a photo with staff at The Relax Bar.

Mike Gerrard
On Tuesday, Oct. 29, we played our last game of the month at Phoenix and with all the ballyhoo (I am sure most of you know by now) of the new owners imposing totally unrealistic financial changes for both guests and (more importantly) members, we are very unsure of the future of our group at Phoenix.
This will be very sad because along with other groups at Phoenix (we are now five years running), we feel this may be the end of the road. More on this later.
Onto the day’s game and we played for the Trattoria Italiana restaurant voucher, and of course it was also the day to improve scores for the monthly player of the month award sponsored by the Blue Olive restaurant. With our good friend Giorgio Baccioli (sponsor of the Trattoria voucher) away in Italy for a well earned break, we played for his voucher without him.
There were four players who scored 37 points on the day but only one of these was in the ‘A’ Flight, that being Stuart Gordon, with the other three scores coming in the second division. On count back of the back nine holes Peter Harris just pipped Stuart Gordon to claim the Trattoria Italiana voucher.

Peter Harris.

Stuart had the consolation of winning the A Flight ahead of Steve Gibson on 36 points in second and Richard Baldwin third with 32. The aforementioned Peter Harris won the B Flight on count back over Jim Neilson and Kevin Bird.
Near pins went to Joris Goetschalckx, Bob Neylon, Joe Miller and Ulf Berggren. The lucky draw prizes were claimed by Ulf Bergstrom, Werner Schwarz, Mike Gerrard and John Clift.
On Friday, Oct. 18, we played for the KPK Food Services voucher and to the amazement of everyone it was yours truly (Mike Gerrard) winning with only 32 points. It has to be said the weather conditions were horrific and at one stage we had to shelter for over one hour before the skies cleared and the sun came out. In second place was Peter Harris with 31 points, third was Steve Gibson with 28 and taking fourth spot was Mukesh Thakkar with 27.
One of the really good things about Phoenix is the drainage. After the torrential downpour for over an hour we expected to have to putt through mini lakes but within 10 to fifteen minutes of the storm passing you would not have known we had had any rain at all.

Stuart Gordon.

Now onto the political position at Phoenix Golf Club. The new owners (who I have to say for many years we have all been wishing for so as to improve the course) have indeed made many changes which have given new views and greenery to the course. The Ocean course has been closed for some 6 months and major changes have been made. However, I am informed that the Ocean nine was opened on November 1 and it will be apparent that this will be at least 2 to 3 months premature.
Coupled with this, the new owners have now changed all financial arrangements as well. The walk-in price has been set at 2,500 baht per player for mid week and 3,000 baht weekends. Carts are compulsory at 600 baht per one player only and caddy fees have been raised to 350 baht.
There will be a 30% discount for walk-in players if they are signed in with a member. However the members’ price changes are even more ridiculous. Members will now have to pay 400 baht playing maintenance fee, plus 24,000 baht per annum membership, 350 baht caddy fee and carts (again compulsory at 600 baht for one player only). To cap it all, the new owners have also imposed a transfer fee of 200,000 baht to sell the membership. Yes, two hundred thousand baht! Who is going to pay that?
All of this is very sad, because Phoenix (in my opinion) is one of the best tracks in the area. Every hole has its own characteristics and hazards. As said before, the drainage (for the most part) is superb and the views are the envy of many places.
Maybe we have had it too good in the past and some increases were inevitable, but most people feel that these increases are too severe, and imposed too quickly. Members have invested quite a large sum of money buying their share membership and now, because of high increases, it has become impossible to regain any outlay from the past.
Sadly it would seem that some major squabbles are inevitable and even legal advice is being sought at this time by some members.
I would like to state publicly through the press that we would hope the new owners will listen to the members, rethink their policies and be more realistic. As it stands everyone will lose. Attendances will go down dramatically at Phoenix which will affect everyone and lead to more problems for the new owners to think about.

Kenny Aihara tops the charts

PSC golf from The Golf Club

Ken & Aki.

Steve Ellison
Monday, Oct. 28, Green Valley (white tees) – Stableford
T1st Frank Riley (18) 35pts
T1st Akifume Tate (17) 35pts
T1st Ken Aihara (4) 35pts
T2nd Thierry Danzas (25) 34pts
T2nd John Emmerson (14) 34pts
T2nd Mike Newbert (9) 34pts
It was an action packed week of golf here at The Golf Club as the high season numbers are well up now and the tourists are back once again. We get golfers from all over the world, and it is great to welcome them to Thailand and share our amazing collection of quality courses we are so lucky to have here. Some are new faces and some are old friends, and every November the migration begins.
Our regular Monday golf venue of Green Valley once again saw a full sign-up sheet of 32 golfers heading up Hwy 36 to the best maintained golf course this year. Speaking of the 36, the road back is just about finished now and the resurfacing of the west-bound lanes should be completed this month, fingers crossed.

Bryan Carroll

As you will see from the results list above, it was a very close competition we had and the 3 golfers with 35 points stole the glory on the day. No sandbaggers with those scores, eh?
Our good pal and gentleman golfer Frank Riley shared victory with our buddies from Japan, Aki Tate and Ken Aihara, as they edged out the second place lads by just a stroke. 3 more golfers were to share second place on 34 with regular Mike Newbert, who shot a 39 here the previous week, Thierry Danzas and TGC partner John Emmerson next on the list.
Green Valley is in perfect shape and in case you have not heard, Silky Oaks has now re-opened so it will be on our play list for December. Our St. Andrews Day tournament is all set for the 29th of November and will be played at… St. Andrews! Sign up soon as places are limited.
Wednesday, Oct. 30, St. Andrews (white tees) – Stableford
T1st Robbie Taylor (10) 34pts
T1st Andrew Purdy (11) 34pts
2nd Bryan Carroll (16) 32pts
It was the last Sports Day of the year for this beautiful golf course and as punishing as it is, you have to love the layout. Sure, the par 6 holes are a gimmick, but this is still a great course and a must play for a golf holiday to Pattaya.

Glorious Greenwood, as pretty as it gets.

Once again, the scores above tell the tale of the tape and 2 stokes worse than handicap was the best the lads could muster. Robbie Taylor and Andrew Purdy joined us today and were happy to walk off with 34 points on this tricky track.
Me ol’ mate Bryan Carroll, Galway’s finest, finally made an appearance on the leaderboard as his 32 Stableford points did the job of taking third place in today’s comp. Not bad after a 2 month layoff. Bryan will be here for 4 more months as he escapes the bitter winter back home, so we expect more frequent podium appearances from him as he continues to hone his skills.
Thursday, Oct. 31, Greenwood – T.G.C. Monthly Medal
1st Ken Aihara (4) 73 net
2nd Kris Kritsanajootha (11) 73 net
3rd Aki Tate (16) 73 net
The B & C courses at Greenwood were the venue for today’s Monthly Medal and it was a course we were all looking forward to playing. The greens were a bit bumpy and the course was still recovering from all the rain but as they say, it was the same for everyone.
This is a seductive golf course that is brimming with wildlife (of the nature kind) and the birds on the course are quite spectacular, especially the classic looking woodpeckers. As you play your round here, take a tip from Ben Hogan and “stop and smell the roses”.
The Antigua TGC shirt was once again up for grabs as our prize to the winner. These are the coolest (as in temperature) shirts on the planet as the fabric breathes to keep you super dry.
Akifume Tate has been on the podium a lot lately, so he was always going to be a contender. Today, Aki fell a bit unlucky as his efforts only lost on countback for third place.
Kris K, as everyone knows him, is an old friend and longtime supporter of The Golf Club and a former resident. These days he gets over from Singapore to keep the Navy boys in line and gets in a few rounds of golf with his old buddies. If his last name were allowed on a Scrabble board, it would be worth 168 points, roughly. Kris had a great 73 and was close but no ceegar on this day.
The first-time Monthly Medal goes to none other than Kenny Aihara with a well deserved countback win, and the guys couldn’t believe he hadn’t won it before. Way to go Kenny, enjoy your new wardrobe and don’t worry, I will get you one that fits!
Thanks to all for yet another great week of golf in the Kingdom of Thailand.
Note: The Golf Club is located on Soi LK Metro. We try to schedule summer “Sports Days”, so come join us for a seriously fun day out. Just call 085 434 3377 or see our website www.golfclubpattaya.com  and for more information mail us: [email protected]  and see updates at www.facebook.com/golfclubpattaya...   all handicaps welcome!

The scribe takes the plaudits at Eastern Star

Jomtien Golf with the IPGC

Gerry Cooke, Billy Fitzgerald and Magne Gunnarson.

Monday, Oct. 28, Plutaluang – Stableford
Despite a few cancellations after the previous week’s trip to Chiang Mai, there were still five groups out today playing the East and South courses at Navy.
Returning to his winning ways, Billy ‘the Bandit’ Fitzgerald topped division 1 with 39 points to finish three clear of Terry Madsen in second and a further one up on Gerry Cooke in third.
Bryan Priestley was the winner in division 2 with 35 points and Peter Davies beat Burnie Sinclair on a 16/15 back nine count back for second after they both came in with 32 points each.
Near pins went to Billy Fitzgerald (2), Terry Madsen, Dennis Scougall, Peter Davies (2), Miss Nut and Sid Ottaway.
There are no ‘2’’s in either division so rollovers to Pleasant Valley on Friday.
Finally, there were warm welcome returns today to Jim Connelly, Gerry Cooke and from the Falkland isles, Peter Grant.
Wednesday, Oct. 30, Eastern Star - Stableford
It was another fine day at Eastern Star on Wednesday for the 27 players and the scribe chose today to record his best score for at least six months, winning division 2 with 40 points. William Chang came second in that division, beating Iain Walsh on a 19/17 back nine count back after both came in with 34 points apiece.
Pete Sumner, back from the UK after four months with his lovely lady, topped division 1 with 36 points while Frank Kelly took second one point behind and Wilf Latham completed the podium on 33.
Near pins were won by Wilf Latham, Pete Sumner, Tony Thorne, Chris Voller, William Chang, Peter Davies, Glyn Evans and Bob Poole.
Wilf Latham and Chris Voller both birdied the 172 yard par three 17th to share the ‘2’s pot in division 1 while Andy Baber recorded the only ‘2’ in the second flight to claim the rollover pot.
We all wished Burnie Sinclair many happy returns back at the bar and the bell was rung a few times back by the birthday boy himself. Many thanks Burnie!
Friday, Nov. 1,
Pleasant Valley - Stableford
There is still some debate here among our players as to which set of tees are the best ones to play from so for the foreseeable future the first division will play off the blues and the second flight will tee it up on the whites.
Today everyone was off the white markers and it was reflected in the better than average scores as Marty Rock took out the division 1 win with 39 points ahead of Billy Fitzgerald in second on 38 and Terry Madsen third with 37.
Gerry Cooke beat Curtis Hessler on an 18/17 back-nine count back to win division 2, both with 39 points, while Magne Gunnarson, with 25 points on the front nine, came in third with 37 in total.
Near pins went to Mike Lewis, Terry Madsen (2), Marty Rock, Marty Aronson, Gerry Cooke (2) and Ray Gott.
Terry Madsen and Marty Rock shared the 2 rollover pot in division 1 after they both birdied the eighth hole and Gerry Cooke took the maximum in division 2 after a ‘2’ on the 5th.
There were a few remarks regarding the condition of the greens here today but our next visit is not for five weeks and with a great green fee for the high season we will be back.
As a final note, it was great to see Roger De Jongh, Keith Mounsey and John Walsh back with us this week.

Phil and Vincent claim the medals

IPGC golf from The Haven

 

Monday, Oct. 28, Khao Kheow B & C - Stableford
CSS 72
1st Phil Groves (7) 39pts
2nd Al Rolnik (19) 38pts
3rd Todd Pahl (14) 31pts
4th Kevin Blake (6) 31pts
5th Philip Cass (20) 30pts
It would seem that the courses are now almost back to normal following the wet weather of the past few months that made them in some cases almost unplayable. In fact to underline the difficulty of the course during this period, over the last four months since July, 25% of the IPGC competitions saw the CSS rise, 3 strokes in a few cases, with over 30 of them becoming non-counting for upward review of handicaps.

Vincent Gras.
 

Khao Kheow was one of the courses that suffered most from the weather, added to the difficulties experienced with the A course being renovated at the same time, but on this day the competition was played over the B and C layouts that once again provided a good and fair test for the players.
Phil Groves was once again to be found at the top of the leader board as he went three under handicap to deny Al Rolnik a long awaited win out of Soi 13 by a single stroke. These two were the best by far as the rest of the field straggled in at least seven strokes adrift, with Todd Pahl, playing his last game before returning to Japan, chalking up a third place after a count back over Kevin Blake which he won with a better 18 to 15. Philip Cass followed closely behind in fifth place, with a gaggle of players another shot behind him.

Kevin Blake.

The first division 2’s pool was shared between Kevin Blake, Todd Pahl and Phil Groves, who had two, while Philip Cass cleaned out the swollen multi-rollover pot in the second division.
Before the presentations there were welcome backs for John Wood, who had been missed out the previous week, Philip Cass, and the mysterious Foster who could not be drawn on exactly where he and the wife had spent their two weeks holiday except to reveal that they both had new phone numbers after the old ones had been hacked in some spurious industrial espionage exercise. There was also the return of the “Tommy Cooper Fez” which has to be worn by anyone wishing to “tell a story”.
Wednesday, Oct. 30, The Emerald - Monthly Medals
CSS 71
Division 1 (0–15)
1st Phil Groves (7) net 75
2nd Kevin Blake (6) net 78
Division 2 (16+)
1st Vincent Gras (17) net 69
2nd Shuichi Kodaka (18) net 73
3rd Russell Gilroy (16) net 74
For the first time for many years the Monthly Medals were contested over the short but tricky Emerald course which can lay claim to the most attractive set of four par 3s in the area. Unfortunately, even with the benefit of ‘lift and place’ in the fairways, the first division struggled to make an impact and it was left to the second division contenders to show all the form and drive the CSS for the day down a stroke to 71.

John Carlin.

With only one more monthly competition after this one left to qualify for the end of year Gold and Silver Medals to be held in December, also at The Emerald, competition was intense, especially amongst the second division hopefuls with nine different winners already qualified in the that division.
In the event, Vincent Gras took his second medal of the year in the second division with an excellent three under handicap. This matched his previous lowest score in Thailand as he stretched out a one stroke advantage on the front nine over second placed Shuichi Kodaka to four strokes over the inward half.
Russell Gilroy slipped into third spot with a strong finish through the closing nine after suffering from a slow start that included an ugly quadruple. This was blamed on that ‘one for the road’ he partook of before leaving the bar the previous evening.
Phil Groves led in a very bedraggled first division that suffered from too many non-returns as the heat built up during the round. This left just two finishers with completed cards, with Phil’s three over being good enough by three to see off the challenge (sic) of Kevin Blake as he too started out losing two shots to handicap over the opening six holes, Kevin having been in the same round as Russell the previous evening.
In line with the difficulty that the course was playing, there were no 2’s in either division.
Prior to the presentations there was a welcome back for Vincent Gras.
Friday, Nov. 1, Greenwood B & C - Stableford
CSS 71
1st Derek Johnstone (20) 39pts
2nd John Wood (23) 36pts
3rd Vincent Gras (17) 36pts
4th Shuichi Kodaka (18) 34pts
5th Phil Groves (7) 34pts
Once again the day’s course was found to be in tip top condition, with the CSS moving in a downwards direction as the field took advantage of the clear skies and rolling fairways to generally return their best cards from the last few weeks.
Phil Groves was strangely out of sorts though and possibly overawed by one of his playing partners abilities, who went on to win the day with a three under return that could have been so much better. It was still enough to win, as Derek Johnstone led the field in by three shots after closing out the back nine at four under handicap; the win coming despite having suffered a couple of rules decisions that went against him on the front nine that cost him strokes.
John Wood played easily his best round of this trip to take second place after he had won a count back over Vincent Gras, scoring 22 to 17 on the inward half.
Shuichi Kodaka showed that he will soon be back at the top of the podium as he returned a two over card that was good for fourth after he also won a count back over Phil Groves, taking 17 to Phil’s 16 coming home.
Kevin Blake slotted in the sole 2 in the first division whilst Hal Hart used his legal one sided chipper to float in the only one in the second division.
Back at The Haven there was a welcome for Derek Johnstone, enjoying a two day escape from Bangkok, and John Carlin who had been off for a week on a trial honeymoon which the writer understands went “quite well”, but was spared the full details. Derek was unable to attend the prize giving as he had to return to Bangkok for the evening but bought an extra round of drinks for the day’s players in his stead.
Note. If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact mobile 094 567 5726 or call in to The Haven Hotel, at 185 Soi 13, between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.15 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days that you wish to play. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.

Just for the record

The Pattaya Golf Society (IPGC) at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar

The Pattaya Golf Society visited Mountain Shadow on Monday, 28th October, to play the group’s monthly medal event from the blue tees on a course which was in excellent condition despite the recent heavy storms which have blighted golfers on the Eastern Seaboard. The fairways showed some run and the greens were quite quick.
With old friends returning it was good to see them setting out their stalls for the next few months but regular visitor Andrew Purdie impressed more than most with a third placed net 78, which included a five over par on the par three fifteenth! In second was Wichai Tananusorn with the day’s best gross of 81 giving him net 73. But it was comeback day for Mr Len who hasn’t played to his handicap during this year, one which has been punctuated by health problems. Now he’s back with a PB equalling net 63! What a performance, with all except one fairway being hit off the tee, hybrids in harmony and putts unerringly true.
The winning score represented the best ever PGS winning score at the course in fifteen years of competitions and the second best this year with the group.
There were no birdie ‘2’s and a poor return on his return guaranteed Peter Sanderson the Booby Bevy.
Wichai makes merit at Khao Kheow
On Wednesday, 30th October the Pattaya Golf Society visited Khao Kheow for the first time in three months to play a stableford Order of Merit event on the course which has been undergoing extensive fairway repairs during low season. The group were optimistic that the course had recovered well enough on the eve of high season to provide the quality the group were used to and indeed the course had improved sufficiently so that the local “lift and place” competition rule was only rarely invoked.
Playing the C and A nines from the yellow tees was a tough call and the course played to all of its length so that all but the longest and most accurate hitters struggled at times.
In third place was Richard “Banjo” Bannister, playing his first round since returning from the UK and his 29 points set the standard for much of the field. Also returning was Aussie Ian Rowson who got to grips early during his visit with a well deserved 33 points for second place. The winner was Wichai Tananusorn and his power and touch had been honed by a week’s golf in Chang Mai and that resulted in a return of 34 points.
Tony Thorne sponsored a prize for the nearest the pin (third shot) on the longest par four, A4, and the winner, a mere six inches away, was Wichai also. There were no birdie ‘2’s and the Booby Bevy went to Dave Edwards for whom the round represented his worst ever competition round of eleven points. Late nights are not the answer before golf it would seem, rather a night in with good book and a glass of tonic wine, then early to bed and early to rise. Pull the other one Mr Len!
A day on the beach
The Pattaya Golf Society started the official high season on Friday 1st November with a visit to Emerald to play a stableford competition on the course which still had re-turfed areas under GUR and unbrushed, inconsistently sanded greens. In fact a golfer of some forty years standing remarked it was “the first time I had to rake the greens before leaving!” However such things are sent to trouble us on golf days and the group played out a tight competition nevertheless.
In third place was Dave Plaiter, recently returned from UK, and his 36 points continued his rehabilitation with Pattaya golf. In second was Richard Dobson with 37 points but the winner showed his undoubted class with a level par front nine for the card and only dropped four shots on the back. Peter Sumner’s forty points was indeed just reward for the current PGS Champion.
Peter Sanderson, Richard Dobson and Andrew Purdie all shared the ‘2’s pot and the consolation prizes went to “Banjo” Bannister in the form of Rabbi’s free beer for the non-winners and Peter Sanderson’s booby Bevy for his 16-9 split.
The presentation ended with the belated acknowledgement of Dave Plaiter’s “Player of the Month” performances earlier in the year and all eyes look to a good week next week on some excellent and challenging courses.

Honda LPGA Thailand set for Pattaya return

Pattaya’s Siam Country Club Old Course will once again play host to the Honda LPGA Thailand golf tournament from February 20–23, 2014.

The 2014 Honda LPGA Thailand golf tournament will take place from February 20–23 next year at Siam Country Club Old Course in Pattaya. The top 60 world’s money list woman golfers and 10 exemptions will compete in the 72-hole stroke play tournament with no cut to win prize money of 1.5 million USD or 46 million THB, with a special hole-in-one prize of a new Honda Accord worth 1.66 THB.
At a press conference to announce next year’s tournament, Palakorn Somsuwan, Managing Director of Bangkok Broadcasting & TV Co., Ltd. and Chairman of the Organizing Committee, said, “We are very proud of the Honda LPGA Thailand. It has been very exciting and satisfying to watch it grow in stature each year since our first event in 2006. The tournament has attracted the world’s best golfers to play here which marks our event as comparable to any other world-class golf tournaments in the region. We firmly believe that the 2014 tournament will be even more impressive, exciting and challenging than previous years.
“In addition,” he added, “for the last seven editions of the Honda LPGA Thailand we have given opportunities to youth players to compete alongside the world’s best golfers and again in 2014 we will definitely extend the invites to Thai youth golfers to take their place in the field.”
Title sponsor Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd. has recently contributed 1,000,000 THB to the Thailand Ladies Golf Association in order to support the development of the next generation of local golfing talent to compete on the global stage. Honda also encourages golf fans to visit their website www.hondalpga. com to stay updated on the tournament and join the many online quiz games and activities to win free tickets to the event.

Ladyboy Water Volleyball raises a magic million

2013 Tournament is a rousing success, benefiting 4 Thai charities

Presentation to Dr Phillipe Suer (right) of Heart 2000.

Tony Sales
The second annual Pattaya Ladyboy Water-Volleyball Competition has come and gone and the organizers’ revised goal of raising 700,000 baht for charity was literally smashed out of the water as the tournament managed to raise one million baht for good causes. In fact when the final tally comes in from the auction and monies paid that have been pledged, the final figure should be slightly over the million mark.
Last year we were happily surprised to raise 285,854 baht for charity and this year our original goal was to double that amount and raise 500,000 baht. I originally had my doubts, as did others, that we would be able to hit that mark, but thanks to many generous donors and sponsors, both private and corporate, the ladyboy community of Pattaya, along with help from its sisters in Bangkok and Phuket, has raised 250,000 baht each for Pattaya Rotary Club’s Water4Life program, Pattaya’s HEARTT 2000, Bangkok’s St. Camillus Foundation and Phuket’s The Life Home Project.
At the end of the day none of this money would have been raised without the ladyboys and the bars where they work donating their time and effort, not just in playing but in promoting the event and selling sponsorships and tickets. Eight bars entered teams this year from around Thailand: Baby Boom, Kings II Bar, La Bamba Bar, Sensations and Stringfellows from here in Pattaya; TJ’s Music Bar from Naklua; Cocktails and Dreams from Phuket; and Temptations/Cockatoo from Bangkok.

Carl Dyson (center) of Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard accepts the check for 250,000 baht.

Sensations won the Oct. 26 tournament with solid performances throughout the day, with TJ’s Music Bar taking second place. Thanks are due to the bars and their participating staff that quite literally make the event. Some of them take the tournament quite seriously, practicing for months beforehand, while others are in it for the fun, knowing that it’s all for a good cause.
But then it’s the customers and friends of these bars that brought in a lot of the money donated this day; there were 85 people who bought 114 total team sponsorships which went for 3,000 baht a piece. That translates into 342,000 baht. Three quarters of those people were also on hand for the event.
There were also 202 tickets sold at 1,000 baht a piece and about a 150 of those tickets were actually redeemed at the event; so combined with sponsors in attendance there were well over 200 spectators on hand, not to mention tournament participants, organizers and volunteer support staff.
There were 25 separate donations, including some sizable last-minute contributions that put this year’s total at one million baht when combined with the auction held the night of the tournament at the banquet.

Father Giovanni (right) of the Camillian Trust is presented a check from Miss Indonesia.

There are many people and organizations to thank along the way to this magic million, and many numbers to review, but let’s save that for later. One of the things many of us involved in this event sometimes forget is that this is all about raising money for charity (that and illustrating the positive role ladyboys play in our communities).
Once again proceeds are going to Pattaya Rotary Club’s Water4Life program and the club’s Carl Dyson was on hand the night of the event to receive a 250,000 check. It’s impossible to underestimate the impact of this important program. That may seem like an exaggeration to some, but outside of Bangkok and the handful of smaller cities in Thailand, the country is still largely rural and many of these rural communities don’t have access to safe drinking water.
After looking at and trying different ways to address this program, Rotary Club settled on low-maintenance filtration systems that can last for about five years before requiring replacement installed in villages at large. To date Rotary Club has installed more than 5,000 such systems in villages around Thailand, as well as surrounding countries.
Another 250,000 baht will go directly to another Pattaya charity - HEARTT 2000. Led by Dr. Philippe Seur, HEARTT 2000 is a group of volunteers that assists those afflicted with HIV-AIDS. Thanks in large part to the efforts of Dr. Seur, his non-profit organization and their colleagues, people afflicted with HIV-AIDS now have access to free medical care and anti-retroviral drugs and currently some 250,000 Thai people participate in the program.

Sensations were crowned the 2013 champions.

Dr. Seur also noted the daunting social stigma and discrimination that Thai people afflicted with this disease face, even though they are receiving treatment and are not a threat to the community at large. It was quite moving to hear him acknowledge the important contribution the ladyboy communities of Pattaya, Bangkok and Phuket were making to this worthy charity — ladyboys themselves often being the subjects of needless discrimination.
It was also particularly heartwarming for the Thai people at the banquet, including the 50 ladyboys that played in the tournament, to hear Dr. Seur deliver his remarks in English and again in fluent Thai.
But Seur wasn’t the only one at the banquet that night that proved that farang can master Thai language. Father Giovanni Contarin also delivered his remarks at the banquet in both English and Thai. Father Giovanni founded the non-profit Camillian Home program in Bangkok; it is managed by Camillus Foundation of Thailand and he serves as its director.

Miss Indonesia (left) presents a check for 250,000 baht to Jim Howard Smith of Phuket who accepts it on behalf of The Life Home Project.

The Camillian Home provides children living with disabilities, including many suffering from HIV-AIDS, as normal a family life as possible, as well as creating a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities and their families. As you can imagine, such a program is expensive and Camillian Home depends almost completely on donations; only 4 percent of its budget comes from the Thai government while the remainder comes from donations — individual, corporate and grants.
In his remarks Father Giovanni also touched on the positive role that ladyboys play in their communities, and how his organization depended on people from all walks of life and backgrounds — Thai and farang, Christian and Buddhist — to keep a program like Camillian Home operating.
The fourth charity to benefit from this year’s ladyboy water volleyball tournament with 250,000 baht is Phuket’s The Life Home Project. Life Home’s aim is to provide a shelter for mothers who are HIV positive and their children where they can live safely in a supportive community. Around 40 children and mothers currently reside at the non-profit program’s shelter in Phuket.

The teams line up for a group photo at Areca Lodge in Pattaya, Saturday, Oct. 26.

But the Life Home does more than provide shelter; it also offers a children’s day care center, work training for women afflicted with HIV, HIV-AIDs prevention outreach and a scholarship program to support children’s education. The program also does community relations, visiting patients in hospital and at home, participating with other organizations in social work.
While the folks at the Life Home Project couldn’t be on hand, Jim Howard Smith of Cocktails and Dreams in Phuket, one of our participating volleyball teams, accepted the 250,000 baht check on behalf of the charity.
It’s worth remembering that we couldn’t have reached the million baht mark without our corporate sponsor, NB Surveys Thailand Co. Ltd., the Thai branch of NB Surveys Global, which kicked in 150,000 baht. Based in Scotland, NB Global provides surveying services to the oil and gas industry, onshore and offshore, and has offices in Australia, Brunei, India, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates, in addition to its office in Bangkok. On behalf of our recipient charities, we say a big thank you to NB Surveys.

Sensations take on Stringfellows in one of the early round matches.

We also owe a heartfelt thank you to Pattaya’s Tiffany’s Show who graciously donated tickets to this year’s Miss International Queen 2013 competition held on November 1. Needless to say the tickets didn’t last long in the charity auction.
Tiffany’s also provided polo shirts for each of the ladyboy water volleyball competitors. How popular did these prove? In spite of the fact that our team members were dressed to the nines for the evening banquet, once the shirts were handed out, it wasn’t long before Tiffany’s polo shirts were adorned throughout the crowd around the pool.
And said pool and venue was once again provided by Areca Lodge on Soi Diana. Last year we struggled to find a hotel but the fine folks at Areca came through for us. They did so again this year, and we are indebted to them for not only hosting the event but the banquet afterward.
Even though it was bigger in size and scope than last year’s event, the tournament and banquet went off without a hitch, and this was due in large part to the Areca Lodge staff.
We hope to see you all again next year!

Dolphins relegated despite victory over Police

Pattaya United’s Obinna Ajoku (center) scores the first of his side’s two goals against Police United at the Thamasat University Stadium in Bangkok, Sunday, Nov. 3. (Photo courtesy Pattaya United)

Pattaya United’s relegation to League One for the 2014 season was confirmed last Sunday despite the Dolphins producing a battling display in a 2-1 away win at Police United. All three goals came in 5 minute period in the first half as Obinna Ajoku put the visitors 2 up before Murcy pulled one back for Police.
The win for Pattaya proved to be irrelevant however as elsewhere Samut Songkhram secured the point they needed in a 2-2 draw with Ratchaburi to condemn the Dolphins to second tier football next season. In a bad week for the Pattaya outfit, the club was also fined 100,000 baht for the crowd disturbances at the end of their home match against Chaingrai United on Oct. 27

2013 Thai Premier League Final Standings
Team	P	W	D	L	+/-	Pts.
Buriram United	32	23	9	0	50	78
Muang Thong United	32	21	8	3	28	71
Chonburi	32	18	8	6	26	62
Suphanburi	32	14	9	9	9	51
Bangkok Glass	32	14	8	10	9	50
Army United	32	13	9	10	8	48
BEC Tero Sasana	32	13	9	10	7	48
Osotspa	32	9	12	11	-5	39
Police United	32	9	11	12	3	38
Chainat	32	10	8	14	-1	38
Chiangrai United	32	8	10	14	-13	34
Songkhla United	32	7	11	14	-17	32
Bangkok United	32	8	7	17	-23	31
TOT	32	8	7	17	-27	31
Ratchaburi	32	6	12	14	-8	30
Samut Songkhram	32	6	12	14	-19	30
Pattaya United	32	9	2	21	-27	29
Sisaket	0	0	0	0	0	0
Results:  Songkhla United 2 - 1 Suphanburi, Buriram United 2 - 1 TOT, Chiangrai United 4 - 2 Bangkok United, Police United 1 - 2 Pattaya United, Samut Songkhram 2 - 2 Ratchaburi, Osotspa 1 - 4 Chonburi, BEC Tero Sasana 4 - 1 Army United, Muang Thong United 2 - 2 Chainat

Pattaya Sports Club Bowling League

WKD Tuesday Darts League

Crumpton Cider Wednesday Darts League

Crumpton Oaks Cider Monday Pool League

British Bar Snacks Friday Pool League

Legends Wednesday 9-Ball Pool League

Pattaya 8-Ball Monday Pool League

‘The Inspector’ steals the Mug

Warberg scores a double, takes monthly award

Clive’s successful return

Hapgood’s medal march continues

Bolger bags a win on Pattaya return

Magnusson & Winfield the standouts at Pleasant Valley

O’Flynn wows ‘em at St. Andrews

Golfnutter: Ball Striking

‘Shush’ - you know who wins again

If Blondie only knew, she would cry

Camel team secure bragging rights for another year

German-Swiss team victorious in Thai Garden Resort Cup

All smiles for Rush & Smith

Bob plays the party pooper at Phoenix

End of the road?

Kenny Aihara tops the charts

The scribe takes the plaudits at Eastern Star

Phil and Vincent claim the medals

Just for the record

Honda LPGA Thailand set for Pattaya return

Ladyboy Water Volleyball raises a magic million

Dolphins relegated despite victory over Police