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Beer Put makes it four straight
After just missing out on an undefeated season last year,
Beer Put is well on their way to reaching the lofty goal this season. Almost
half way through the current season of the Friday Mickey Mouse Darts League,
Beer Put has yet to be defeated, stringing together 4 straight wins.
Cheers and Mick’s Place are hot on their heals, both teams having only one
loss to date. Both teams, however, have already fallen victim to the strong
Beer Put squad.
Results from week 4: Beer Put won the match but lost the beer leg to Rising
Sun away. Mick’s Place won both the match and the beer leg over Pleasure
Dome at home. Cheers also produced a match and beer leg sweep over Palmer’s
Bar at home.
Gen from Beer Put currently holds the league lead for highest check out,
100.
Motoring holidays - flexible, enjoyable, but watch out for the overtake
by Ken Bailey
Driving is one of the most enjoyable ways of exploring other lands.
Often it is not the scenery but the antics of local drivers which provide
the most lasting impressions.
My heart nearly stopped. Unbelievably, the sporty Alfa in front pulled out,
overtaking as the string of cars maneuvered the S-bends. Just as hitting the
oncoming Mercedes seemed inevitable, it veered into the smallest of gaps,
four cars up.
These are the winding roads of southern France which snake across the Alps,
descen-ding upon the Mediterranean and the French Riviera. Frequently
congested, this marathon of blind corners brings out the Mario Andretti in
many Europeans.
With no apparent regard to the possibility of a head on collision, these
daredevils continually overtake, at high speed, while rounding corners. Each
time pushing into a tiny gap in the traffic at the last minute.
The opening of Eastern Europe has added a similar flavour to motoring
through the Czech Republic’s green countryside. Pottering about are hundreds
of the old communist regime built cars, which never seem to make it over 40
kph. Intermingled are the new, fast Fiats and BMWs of wealthier Czechs,
whose mission in life appears to be to overtake the communist relics at all
costs.
You are driving through the picturesque Czech countryside. As you come over
the top of a hill, not one but four of those wealthier Czechs are overtaking
a series of “commie-cars”, and heading straight at you.
To avoid colliding, you swing hard right (remember, in continental Europe
they drive on the right side of the road), leave the road, dodging trees and
large rocks until it is safe to return to your lane.
As the same thing seems to happen on every hill, you soon start to wonder if
it is some sort of game of dare they are playing.
German autobahns have a historical reputation as being the kings of high
speed highways. Extensively used by trans-European semi-trailers, the
autobahns feature some amazing overtakes.
Sydney-sider Grant Hughes recalls one such overtaking experience he had in
northern Germany.
“It was pouring down, at least an inch of water covered the road. Traveling
at about 140 kph, I came up on two semi-trailers, one behind the other. I
moved to the left lane to overtake, and just before I pulled level with the
rear semi, it pulls into my lane to overtake the first semi. What is worse
is that it did so without picking up much speed.”
It doesn’t take much imagi-nation to work out what happens when brakes are
applied suddenly in the wet at 140 kph.
“Aqua-planing, I just managed to miss smashing into the rear of the semi, a
ditch at the side of the road, and a BMW that had raced up behind me.
Thereafter, every semi I overtook I did so with great caution.”
European drivers are not alone in the crazy overtakers stable. Asia’s roads
are renown for providing hairy near misses, and Thailand rates a special
mention. Thai roads are jam-packed with trucks and tourist coaches which all
drive in “time is money” mode. Amid the masses of large vehicles, cars and
mini-buses continually overtake each other, even with oncoming vehicles in
sight.
Bill Prior, from Wigan in the U.K., thought he would die several times
during a mini-bus day excursion with friends on Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard.
Sitting in the front seat gave Bill a perfect viewpoint from which to
observe driving Thai style. “Bloody terri-fying it was,” Bill reported. “One
time we slowed down behind a couple of lorries. I thought we would wait a
bit, you know, until there was room to pass. But no, this bloody maniac
pulls out, with another lorry coming the other way.”
Bill seemed to nearly go into shock recalling the scene. “I couldn’t believe
it. I think I just blurted out ‘Bloody-hell’. This Thai bloke didn’t even
try to pull back in. He just aimed the mini-bus at the gap in between the
two passing lorries. We passed between them as they passed each other, and
the bus was thrown all over the place. I thought we’d bounce off one into
the other.”
The look on Bill’s face illustrated his story. “And that was only one of
about thirteen times,” Bill added.
When you want an overseas vacation which lets you go where you want to go,
you can’t beat motoring. Just don’t forget to keep your eyes on the local
drivers as well as the scenery.
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PSC Softball
Softball action on 16 March saw Kevin’s Stars, winners in
a double header over Rick’s Red Sox on 2 March, drop two games to Alan’s
Blue Sox.
In the opener, the Blue Sox got 2 runs in the first inning and never lost
the lead. Norm Benoit and Kenny T.D. had round trippers for the winners and
Kiwi Rick hit a 2 run homer for the lack luster Stars.
Alan’s Blue Sox 2 0 2 0 6 0 4 14
Kevin’s Stars 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3
The Stars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second game, added 2 in the third
inning and 2 more in the fifth off an over the fence homer by Brent
Guardian. The Blue Sox finally responded in the bottom of the fifth to
narrow the gap to 4-5 on hits by Alan Vegas and Mike Big Toy. Erratic
infield play didn’t help the Stars as the Blue Sox tied the score with 1 run
in the sixth. Good defense shut down the Stars again in the last inning,
then singles by Alan Vegas, Colorado Robert and the game winning RBI by Mike
Berg gave a well earned win to the Blue Sox.
Kevin Star’s 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 5
Alan’s Blue Sox 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 6
New players are always welcome. Games are played every Sunday at Pattaya
School No. 7 on Sukhumvit Highway just south of Greenway Golf Driving Range
and Caltex gas station. Players sign in at 13:30 and the first game starts
at 14:00. PSC provides all equipment, so if you’re a ball player, come on
out. Hot dogs and cold beverages available. Spectators welcome.
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Splinter Golf Group
Monday, March 10 - Natural Park Hill (Stableford)
Natural Park Hill, in excel-lent condition following the Thai
Ladies Amateur Open, presented the usual challenge to 13 players on the day.
Playing to handicap proved impossible so the prizes went to more modest
Stableford scores! Winner: Ciano Glavina 33 points. 2nd: Steve Ross, 32 pts.
3rd: Richard Holt, 31 pts.
Wednesday, March 12 - Pattaya Country Club (Stroke)
Good net scores were returned on a fine day with the course playing well.
A flight: Winner, Brian Imrie, net 68. 2nd, Jean Blanc, net 69. 3rd,
Svein Vistung, net 70. 4th, Arthur Busch, net 71,
B flight: Winner, Martin Furzer, with a handicap shattering net 62!
2nd, Harvey Witherell, net 67. 3rd, Ciano Glavina, net 69. 4th, Mike
Franklin, net 73.
Near pin prizes on two holes were Mark Adair and Harry Riley.
The near pin and 4th place prizes were free green fees kindly donated by
Pattaya Country Club. Handicap cut at 18 - a field of 23 played.
Friday, March 14 - Phoenix Country Club (Stableford)
This was the perfect day to play Phoenix with the course
immaculately prepared for a major tournament on Saturday. There were some
excellent scores, topped by Ciano Glavina with his third win of the week and
totally rubbishing his 22 handicap with a blistering 45 points! The handicap
cut was at 21 with 18 players competing.
A flight: Winner, Mike Morris, 38 points, beating Mike Franklin, 2nd
on count back, also with 38 points.
B flight: Winner, Ciano Glavina, 45 points. 2nd, Harry Riley, 38 pts.
Near pin prizes of free green fees, kindly donated by Phoenix, were won by
Brian Ewen, Mark Adair, and Mike Morris (twice).
It was also Bill Thompson’s 40th Birthday, which had nothing at all to do
with the results, but it did generously help to oil the proceedings
afterwards at the Green Bottle.
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Thais and Germans crowned
World Champion sailors
World champions salute to a
great week of competition.
Thirty years after His Majesty the King won a gold medal
in the Southeast Asia Peninsular Games (on December 16, 1967), Vinai Vongtim
and Niwat Traiyot became Thailand’s first ever world champion sailors after
winning the Topcat 18 division of the Volvo Topcat World Championships
sailed off the Varuna Yacht Club in South Pattaya last week.
The Thai duo’s achievement gives the kingdom grand hopes of being able to
bring home the gold from the 2000 Summer Olympics to be held in Sydney,
Australia.
In the Topcat J division, Bernd Breymann of Germany took home the top prize,
while Thailand’s Sergeant Narongrit Bernkaew took home the bronze.
Admiral Prajek Siridej presided over the award presentation ceremony.
Approximately 100 sailors representing 9 countries made up a fleet of almost
60 boats competing for the elusive title of “World Champion”. The event was
sponsored by Volvo, which is becoming the leader in sponsorship of world
class sporting events in Thailand, Nobel Communi-cations and the Tourism
Authority of Thailand.
Final results:
Topcat 18: Champions: Vinai Vongtim and Niwat Traiyot from Thailand.
2nd: Mike and Daniel Adley from Great Britain. 3rd: Hatto Graf. 4th: Roland
Reischi. 5th: Peter Merkl.
Topcat J: Champion: Bernd Breymann of Germany. 2nd: Mike Gluckstein, also of
Germany. 3rd: Sergeant Narongrit Bernkaew of Thailand. 4th: Karl Sydow. 5th:
Wilhelm Kaup.
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Rice takes first prize
William Rice shot a net 1
under par 71 to win the weekly Pattaya Golf Society tournament at Pattaya
Country Club on Tuesday, March 11, 1997, at Pattaya Country Club. Well done,
William.
William Rice, 72 years young, used good chipping and
strong putting to win his second ever title in the Pattaya Golf Society.
William shot a net 1 under par 71 in difficult, windy conditions on a superb
Pattaya Country Club course to take top honors in the weekly PGS tournament
on Tuesday, March 11, 1997.
Fred Marschal finished second on the day with a net even par 72. Arthur
Bailey finished third with a net 73. Svein Vistung came in fourth place with
his net 76. Colin Morgan rounded out the top five finishers with a net 77.
Mr. Thamrong, General Manager of Pattaya Country Club, donated free green
fees to the winners of the closest to the pin contests, which were won by
Fred Marschal on #5, Svein Vistung on #7, and Peter Johansson on #16.
The next Pattaya Golf Society tournament will be stroke play at Pattaya
Country Club on Tuesday, March 25. All golfers are welcome. Limited
transportation is available leaving the First House Hotel on Soi Buakao at
around 10:30 a.m.
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Cheers and Bob’s
slugging it out
“For how many films did Glenda Jackson win an Oscar for
best actress?” “What was a bridewell?”
The mid week boozers’ quiz league on March 12 produced some very tight
scores all round. Britannia stole a march on Rising Sun by scoring 80/120 to
their opponents’ 77. Fawlty Towers were lucky to defeat Aussie Ken’s by a
single point, 80 to 79. Bob’s mercenaries away from home were in fighting
mode and scored 79 to Palmer’s 69. Cheers had an easy time of it, clocking
up 81 to Sixties’ Bar 59. Converted to a percent, the average score was 64%
which is lower than the quiz administrators aim for at least 70% to 75%.
The only question which no team got right concerned which US state is
closest to the North Pole, which is Minnesota. Also not well known is the
fruit which the workers are paid to pick in the classic movie The Grapes of
Wrath. The answer is peaches and not grapes as one hopeful team attempted.
Equally, some difficult questions on movies were answered correctly by most
bars, such as the film in which an airplane from the Oceanic Fleet is
skyjacked. This is Executive Decision. And every team remembered that Dirk
Bogart played an ex SS trooper in the Night Porter.
Cheers are still narrowly in the lead overall in the Wednesday Quiz, but are
closely followed by Bob’s and Fawlty Towers. Aussie Ken’s are having their
best season for a year. The other teams show themselves capable of highly
successful raids into enemy territory and it is a truism to say that scores
to a large degree reflect who happens to be in town. If, for example, four
or five people happen to be on a visa run, this can have a significant
effect on the percentages.
Answers to the questions above are “two” and “a prison”.
In the low season, more than ever, all bars encourage new blood to join the
fun. Turn up at your chosen bar any Wednesday or Sunday evening just before
8:30 p.m. It is a group effort by each bar and the chances of being hung,
drawn and quartered are remote. So leave your ropes and knives at home.
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Pattaya Sports
Club Golf
Eastern Star Golf Course, March 10,
1997
A better ball competition whereby players selected their own
partners in a Stableford format, which always attracts a good field,
particularly at this favourite course where the Pattaya Sports Club is
always made to feel welcome by staff and management alike.
Rick Sharp was in raptures about the course, as well he might be for, with
his new great Big Bertha, he won the long drive some 290 yards down the 18th
fairway.
Dave Richardson, Alec Chilcott, John McMullen and new arrival Al Keith took
nearest to the pins.
The solid partnership of Pete Daff and Rick Sharp won the honours of the day
with 46 points. John Moore and Cor Dehorte, another new arrival, were second
on 45 points. Alec and Rick third on 44 points.
Once again, PSC thanks Eastern Star for complimentary green fees usable any
day of the week.
Bang Pra Golf Course, Stableford, March 13, 1997
Arriving for a 9:30 a.m. start, the Pattaya Sports Club golfers
found they had the course to themselves, which is not always the case at
this very popular course. A stiff breeze was a blessing for it was a very
hot day. The watering holes did a very brisk business, as always.
Once again, Rick Sharp hit a monster drive to win the long drive contest
down the 9th. Lars Anderson, Trevor Keely, Ebrahim and Gez Tracy won with
nearest to the pins.
Neville Goode, recently returned from the land of Oz, notched up 39 points
to win the A flight. In form Peter Daff, runner up on 36 points, won a count
back with Gez Tracy, also on 36. As the Pattaya Sports Club again had more
competitors in A flight, fourth prize went to Svein Vistung on 35 points.
Recently joining the PSC from the Splinter Group, Rick Holt, off his 19
handicap, amassed 40 points to win B flight from Preben Kristensen on 33.
Bob Greenfield just returned from his second island honeymoon, this time Kho
Samet, in his own words, “cementing the relationship”.
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Improve your Bridge
by Barrie Kenyon
A fair number of bridge players become bored when they
are defending contracts. They think the declarer has all the fun. This is
unfortunate because you spend exactly fifty percent of your bridge career
trying to defeat the opposition’s contracts. Put another way, if you play
bridge for ten hours a week for fifty years, you will be a defender for more
than ten thousand hours. This is a long time to spend yawning and there are
better things to do with your time. Such as being devious.
South, with the help of North, reached a contract of four spades. Opening
defender West, with a pile of rubbish, decided to lead a trump, the three to
be precise. North the dummy put down:
Spades Jack, 8, 7
Hearts Queen, Ten
Diamonds Ace, Jack, 9, 8, 3
Clubs Ace, 6, 5
Now you are defender East and you contemplate your chances. Your holding is:
Spades Queen, Ten, 4
Hearts Ace, 8, 5, 3, 2
Diamonds King, 7
Clubs King, 4, 3
Since you play after the dummy, you can see that you are almost certain to
take three tricks, namely the Ace of Hearts, King of Diamonds and King of
Clubs. But where is the setting trick to come from? Given the strong bidding
by the opponents and your good hand, it is unlikely that your partner West
can take any trick at all. The problem is that your partner elected to lead
a trump spade which is likely to squash any hope you have of taking a trick
in that suit.
One thing to be avoided is to look daggers at partner and throw our card on
the table. Having said that, which card should you play? The obvious answer
is the ten of spades, forcing out declarer’s ace or king, but we can all
predict what will happen next. Declarer enthusiastically crosses to dummy
with a minor suit ace and leads the jack of spades, letting it ride if you
play low. Your trump trick has disappeared just as you feared when you saw
the initial lead.
A better play, in fact, is to play the Spade Queen at trick one which gives
declarer a problem. Look at the matter from his point of view. Declarer’s
spade holding is Ace, King, 9, 6, 2. Without knowing there is a devious East
lurking in the undergrowth, isn’t it logical at trick two to continue with a
low spade and finesse dummy’s eight? Then you, as East, can pounce with the
Ten. True, it may not work. But it certainly makes life far more
interesting.
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PSC softball
Big George Davis slammed three
out of the park in Pattaya Sports Club softball action on Sunday, March 9,
1997.
Sunday, March 9, the Pattaya Sports Club Softball
section’s double header had the fans on their feet in two well played games.
Mike’s A’s had an easy win in the opener and a classic “keep ‘em in their
seats till the last out” come from behind victory in the final game over
Todd’s Tigers.
In the first game, Mike’s A’s scored on two home runs by big George Davis
and single round trippers by Mike Berg, Dick Cagg and Mike “Big Toy”
Guardian.
The strong defensive play of the Tigers tight infield manned by Montreal
Robert, Alan Rutsky, Brent Guardian and Alaska Todd wasn’t enough as the A’s
bats kept hitting the weak spots in the outfield.
Mike’s A’s 4 0 2 2 1 0 5 14
Todd’s Tigers 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
Todd’s Tigers 0 1 1 0 1 3 3 9
Mike’s A’s 0 0 0 0 4 0 6 10
The second game was a real crowd pleaser. Todd’s Tigers got off to an early
2-0 lead. Sharp infield play kept the A’s scoreless through four innings.
The A’s took the lead 4-3 in the fifth inning on hits by Jerry Caltex,
Sterling Bechtel, John C.F. Macallen, and big George’s third home run of the
day. The Tigers regained the lead with three runs in the sixth inning and
added three more in the top of the last inning off the bats of Montreal
Robert, Brent Guardian and Norm Benoit. In what seemed to be a safe 9-4 lead
with only two outs to go, the A’s mounted a rally for six runs including the
game winning two run homer by Mike Berg.
Games are played every Sunday at Pattaya School No. 7 on Sukhumvit Highway
just south of Greenway golf driving range and Caltex gas station. Players
and spectators welcome. Refreshments available.
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Water Volleyball is back!
The action packed, fun-filled game of water volley-ball
is back at Jonathan Court (across from the Bungee Jump on the road to
Jomtien Beach south of town).
Games are being played daily starting from 2 p.m. onwards. Players of all
levels are invited to play.
With the hot season upon us, is there a better way to get good, clean
exercise?
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