|
Inaugural McAllister’s Ban Chang Open a resounding success
Saturday, June 11
On a beautiful day with a slight breeze and a course in
tip-top shape, twenty-one groups of golfers teed off for the inaugural
McAllister’s Ban Chang Open at Century Ban Chang last Saturday. The format
was a four person Texas Scramble with a modified handicap system in place
designed to give the higher handicappers a better chance than the
traditional 10 percent of combined handicaps.
 Lou
Holub (right) receives first prize from Don McAllister on behalf on his
teammates Steve Wilkins, Paul Shortino and Sam Phillips for their 50.8 net
score. All three were seen riding off into the sunset for an important
Jester’s function prior to the prize giving.
The scoring was perhaps even hotter than the dancing
girls and sponsor-uniformed hostesses eagerly awaiting the parched golfers
back at McAllister Bar & Grill. Winners the “Jester’s Molesters”
consisting of Lou Holub, Steve Wilkins, Paul Shortino and Sam Phillips
scored an amazing 68 gross and 50.8 net, followed by “Camel 1”, Keith
Whittle, Gordon Harrison, Ron Coulson and Trevor Whittle also with a net
50.8 losing on countback. Third was the “Midnight Cowboys” team of
Froggy Phillipe, Jim Ryan, Rich Murray and Skip Sparkman with a net score of
51.
“Camel
1” team, Keith Whittle, Gordon Harrison, Ron Coulson and Trevor Whittle
also had a net 50.8 losing on countback for the runners up place in the
inaugural charity event last Saturday.
The Ban Chang community was well represented along with
players from Bangkok and Pattaya with the fairer sex very much in evidence.
In another departure from tradition, the technical prizes were awarded by
flight rather than gender. This did not stop Nora Haugsjordet visiting the
podium three times for near pin, long drive and nearest the keg, the latter
prize bestowing even more popularity on Nora than she already enjoys. Moira
Ledingham also made multiple trips to the winners podium with a near pin and
long first putt. The properly-introduced “gorgeous” Saen Jaroenwong
collected a prize for near pin on the 7th, and without her prodigious
shot-making on the front nine, her good ship “Fly-by-Night” crewed by
Trevor Carnahoff, Doug Powell and Martin Davey may well have foundered on
the rocks of despair. Among the men, Bill Thompson made his usual two trips
to the podium for near pins, the other near pins being awarded to Nick
Strasshine, Daniel Ryan and Graham Hiskett. Long drive prizes were awarded
to Ian Warwick and Herbie Ishinaga, while Alan Pearce won straight drive and
Bob Ellis won long first putt. Herbie was seen crying into his whisky, being
sure that he had won straight drive on the 3rd, his ball lying right on the
line. Trying to get to the truth of the matter at a rowdy table inside, Sus
Ige and Rod Perrin employed the good-cop-bad-cop (respectively) routine but
to no avail.
There was so much more to be played for than the trophies
however, with Don McAllister putting on a sumptuous spread of baked whole
salmon, barbequed pig on the spit and a full compliment of sides on the
buffet. The convivial atmosphere provided the opportunity for wives and
girlfriends to mingle with only a few menacing glares while at the Super
Stars table the Grey Goose nestled comfortably in an ice-bucket.
“Midnight
Cowboys” team of Froggy Phillipe, Jim Ryan, Rich Murray and Skip Sparkman
with a net score of 51 receive the fruits of their labor on the course from
mien host Don McAllister (far left).
The sponsors were most generous, donating prizes
including an all expenses paid two day trip to Hua Hin for four players
including transport, accommodation, and green fees which was auctioned by
MC/Auctioneer Dennis Willet, in a peppy and entertaining exchange for 36,000
Baht. Among the many other prizes were a flat-screen TV, an original R7
Taylor Made driver, a weekend at the Westin Bangkok, a weekend at the
Nirvana Resort on Koh Chang and a professional Taylor Made golf bag,
popularly won by Dennis who was seen cuddling it well into the night.
Such events can be successfully staged only with the
committed efforts of organizers such as Don McAllister, Gerry Carpenter and
Dennis Willett the latter two making the arduous journey to Ban Chang on
many occasions during the preceding months for meetings to iron out the
details. One wonders, however, if they really needed all of the support that
they enjoyed during said meetings. Bernie Tuppin asked whether it was the
fat salaries that were paid answered, “I get paid nothing mate, and I have
most of it left!”
All in all a great day with the charity Our Home being the beneficiary of
a donation in the high five-figure range.
One-two finish for Bahrain in Thailand
Formula BMW Asia, Round 6, June 11-12
Bira, Thailand - Salman Al
Khalifa (BAH/Team E-Rain) got his championship bid right back on track
Sunday, taking a perfect pole to chequered flag victory in Round 6 of
Formula BMW Asia. Right behind him in second was fellow countryman, and
winner of the previous round, Hamed Al Fardan (Team Meritus), repeating the
pair’s result in Round 3 in Malaysia in May. Third was BMW Junior, Michael
Patrizi (AUS/Team Meritus), taking his second podium finish of the day.
BMW
Junior, Michael Patrizi (AUS/Team Meritus) took third place on the podium
after Sunday’s Formula BMW Asia, Round 6 at Bira Circuit.
The result strengthens Al Khalifa’s hold on the
championship leaderboard, giving him a lead of 22 points over second-placed
Charlie-Ro Charlez (MAS/Team Meritus), with Al Fardan just four points
adrift of the Malaysian in third, replacing Thailand’s Robert Boughey
(Team Meritus).
The weekend was a roller coaster ride for Al Khalifa who
had a disappointing qualifying session for Round 5, and failed to finish the
race, took pole for Round 6 and didn’t put a wheel wrong.
The 20-lap race was certainly eventful, and sadly not one
to remember for Boughey, Thailand’s only entry in the series. On the
opening lap, Boughey got it badly wrong and hit the tyre wall while running
in 5th. He emerged unhurt, but the red flag was brought out. At the
re-start, Al Khalifa was once again away clear, and Al Fardan was unable to
catch him despite his best efforts. Behind them, Patrizi took promising
youngster and BMW Junior Armaan Ebrahim (IND/Team E-Rain), and held him off
to the flag.
Third fastest Rookie was Charlie-Ro Charlez (MAS/Team
Meritus).
Rounds 7 and 8 of Formula BMW Asia will be held at
Beijing’s Goldenport Circuit
Formula BMW is the world’s leading entry-level class in
Formula racing. In 2005 the series will be held in Germany, Britain, Asia
and the USA. Up-and-coming drivers as young as 15-years-old are given the
opportunity of entering motor racing with the high-tech, standard FB02 race
car.
In 2005, Formula BMW will be staged as part of the
Formula One support programme. The series offers a multifaceted Education
and Coaching Programme as well as sponsorship for promising racing talents.
The best-known alumni of this talent hothouse are Formula One drivers Ralf
Schumacher and Christian Klien.
BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen: “Formula BMW
offers talented young drivers more than just a car. In the Education and
Coaching Programme we have designed specially for them, they learn
everything they need to know to hold their own in the big wide world of
motor racing. Formula BMW has shot out of the blocks to become the top
entry-level class for Formula racing worldwide.”
The Bahrain International Circuit will host the first
Formula BMW World Final in December 2005. Young racing drivers from the four
regional Formula BMW series will compete against each other. The winner will
get a Formula One test drive.
Nattavude unbeatable in Thailand
Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia, Round 5
Bira Race Circuit - Charoensukhawatana Nattavude proved unbeatable today,
winning Round 5 of the Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia in breathtaking
style, taking command of the race from lights to chequered flag and without
putting a wheel wrong.
The race also saw the very definite return of Nigel Albon
to the front end of the field, with a decisive second place finish, while
Malaysia’s Rizal Ramli has to settle for third after a brilliant weekend
of racing.
Thailand’s
Charoensukhawatana Nattavude leads the pack as they move into the home
straight at Bira Circuit last Sunday afternoon, he went on to win the race.
“Last year, Rizal won both the races in Thailand, and
this year it was my turn!” said Nattavude. He was also pleased to see
Albon back on the podium: “This means all of us are right on form for the
next rounds in Beijing.”
Albon, the Eurokars Racing ace who has suffered a run of
bad luck so far this season, which included two DNFs, was thrilled with his
second place. Particularly as he was able to overtake Ramli, although he had
his work cut out keeping the lightning-quick Malaysian at bay: “I started
from sixth on the grid because in the first race, I didn’t want to risk
another DNF. In this race I was able to overtake, but Rizal is a driver you
just can’t ignore. You know he’s fast and will never give up - that’s
what makes him a great racer. He did a great job and he pushed me all the
way. I passed him, he passed me... but there was no contact and it was very
fair - just what racing should be all about.”
Ramli was in awe of the speed at which Albon crept up
behind him: “He was quite far away. The next thing I knew, he was right on
me. Actually, I was hoping Nigel would put pressure on Nattavude, but it was
a scary moment seeing Nigel coming so fast!”
In Class B, it was Patrick Ma of Hong Kong who took the
honours this time out, followed by William E. Heinecke and William
“Chip” Connor. Said Heinecke: “I’m very pleased! I am pleased to
have stayed in front of Chip, which is never easy. He was right there
occupying the whole of my rear-view mirror all the time.”
At the start, Nattavude was off and away at the lights,
followed by Ramli, Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young, reigning Champion Matthew
Marsh, and Albon, with Jonathan Cocker and Thai driver Vutthikorn
Inthrphuvasak. Albon had moved up to third after a quarter distance, while
Ramli was pushing Nattavude hard at the front. By the end of lap seven,
Albon had taken Ramli and their battle commenced. Behind them, O’Young
held on to fourth until Vutthikorn made his move, taking the Team Jebsen
youngster. Although Marsh was eyeing O’Young in the closing laps, he held
off the A-Ha Racing Briton to keep his fifth place at the finish.
Nattavude now has a 21 point lead in the championship
over fellow Thai Vutthikorn, but with six rounds still to go, the 2005
Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia title is still wide open.
Rounds 6 and 7 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will be held at
Beijing’s Goldenport Circuit on July 16 and 17. (Motorsport Asia Limited)
The Bowling Green Boys on tour
Nomads Lawn Bowls Club in Manila hosted the 2005
Philippines national triples tournament on May 14 and 15. In the men’s
competition there were 13 teams entered including one team made up of
players from the Bowling Green Pattaya, who had secretly joined another a
Philippines club so as to qualify for their national championships. Still
smarting from the Bowling Green heavy defeat to the Hidden Vale Club in
Angeles City, the intrepid trio of, Frank (the flying Dutchman) De Vries,
Willie (Windsor) Turnbull, and Reg (Slater) Rawding set off to Manila to
seek their revenge.  (l-r)
The Pattaya Bowling Green trio of Reg Rawding, Willie Turnbull and Frank De
Vries received silver medals for their efforts in Manilla.
After five matches in Manila’s steaming temperatures,
the trio found themselves undefeated and in the finals. After 18 close high
quality ends of bowling the Bowling Green trio succumbed to the brilliance
of the Peter O’Donnell triple from Hidden Vale Sports Club 16-12. Oh so
close, but Silver medals were just rewards for the Pattaya Trio and shows
that maybe the previous contingent of Pattaya players were more than the
worse for wear when they played last time.
The Philippine team will be playing in Pattaya shortly
and everybody has been ordered to bed early on the weekend of play.
Catch the next adventure as the Bowling Green boys head for the greens of
China. Maybe the grass there is red, who knows?
Despite
steaming temperatures action on the greens was hotter with some tough ends
being fought in the Philippines national triples tournament.
The Tentmaker makes Hay
IPGC Golf From Lewiinski’s
Sunday June 5
Green Valley
Stableford
1st A Flight: Eddie Browne, 41 pts
2nd A Flight: Brian “Pen” Carruthers, 36 pts
3rd A Flight: Nick Strasshine, 35 pts
1st B Flight:Jan Eriksen, 38 pts
2nd B Flight: George Jackson, 38 pts
3rd B Flight: An Kaesavane, 37 pts
1st C Flight: Oddvar Rykke, 43 pts
2nd C Flight: Lawrence Shaw, 38 pts
3rd C Flight: Toy Theobald, 37 pts
Near Pins: # 8 Jeremy Masse; #13 Ed Trayling; #16 Darren Smith
Un-named sources have indicated that Oddvar “The
Tentmaker” Rykke was coming off a tough round down in Ban Chang with the
McAllister’s Mob. That there might have been a half dozen holes he
finished “in his pocket”. Where he finished in the social area is
unknown. Showing the resiliency that comes with his relative youth, he
bounced back with a Best on the Day 43 points at the Sunday set-up at Green
Valley. The “TM’s” 43 points were five clear of the Shack’s Lawrence
Shaw and yet another over the chanteuse of C Flight, Toy Thoebald.
In the premier flight visiting Eddie Browne showed he
could adapt to new territory by notching 41 points off his 8 handicap. That
works out to a 75 gross, which tied Phil Cleland for medalist on the day.
Brian “Pen” Carruthers penciled in one more point than Nick Strasshine
to sort out the silver and the bronze of A Flight.
In a contrast of volumes, Jan Eriksen put a successful
count back on the One-Ball to take tops in the middle Flight. The Belle of
B, An Kaesavane, continued to make her name a podium presence after a couple
of month hiatus.
Tuesday June 7
St. Andrews or Green Valley
White Tees
Stableford
1st St. Andrews: Joe Mooneyham, 42 pts
2nd St. Andrews: Don Lehmer, 36 pts
3rd St. Andrews: Tom Noonan, 36 pts
1st Green Valley: Colin Davis, 42 pts
Joe “I’m in the” Mooneyham was true to his name as
he put a 42 point pasting on Desmond Muirhead’s magnum opus, here on the
Eastern Seaboard. That was six points clear of Don “The Lady’s Man”
Lehmer who eeked a count back out on The Leprechaun, Tom Noonan. Oh yea, and
The Donkey led a band of merry men around the alternative course on the day,
Green Valley with a strong 42 points. Did he P.E. one week before the
Monthly Medal?
Wednesday June 8
Khao Kheow
A & B - Yellow Tees
Stableford
1st A Flight: Claus Birk Thomsen, 37 pts
2nd A Flight: Phil Groves, 37 pts
1st B Flight: Oddvar Rykke, 42 pts
2nd B Flight: David Earthrowl, 39 pts
There is our title boy, The Tentmaker, finalizing his
claim to the vaunted bold print with another Best on the Day, this time 42
points. The class was in the B Flight as David Earthrowl claimed second
place and second best on the day with 39 points. CBT edged the Swim
Instructor on count back to tidy up the A Flight standings. It should be
noted that the entire field eschewed the White tees on the day. (Well K4 did
exactly eschew them. Let’s just say he was cajoled out of them.)
Friday June 10
Phoenix
Ocean & Lake
Blue or White Tees
Stroke/Medal
1st Blue Flight: Ted Richards, net 73
2nd Blue Flight: Tom Noonan, net 76
3rd Blue Flight: Takeshi Hakosaki, net 76
1st White Flight: Colin Davis, net 68
2nd White Flight: Apple Jitchana, net 69
2nd White Flight: Richard Garland, net 69
2s: Dave McFeely
Watch out for those guys playing there last round of a
vacation. Ted Richards won the day, as so many before him have on getaway
day, by shooting a net 73 to go three clear of a three-way logjam. The
Leprechaun came home strong to have the count back advantage over one of the
gentlemen of the area, Takeshi Hakosaki, who held on for third. The odd man
out was the Ol’ silverback himself, GM Johnny Emmerson.
The Donkey for the second time on the week played the
shorter tees with great success, leaving Apple Jitchana and Richard “The
Pizza Man” Garland a shot adrift. As was appropriate, beauty prevailed
over age, and Richard was forced to divert his eyes as he followed Apple up
the podium, knowing that Eddie was watching.
Secret Squirrel is out of the bag
IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday June 6
Green Valley
Strokeplay
1st Joe Mooneyham, net 68
2nd Dave Stockman, net 69
3rd Al Rolnik, net 70 - cb9 33
4th Serge Straeten, net 70 - cb9 35
Joe Mooneyham, making an infrequent visit to The Haven,
took full advantage of having played the course the day before and with the
greens keeper still in bed eating, neither the pins nor the tees had been
moved which made it easy going for the “American Pit Bull” who swept to
the front by a stroke from Dave Stockman. Dave’s round was even more
creditable for him having just returned from an extended work trip to
Russia, where the extreme cold prevented him from doing anything other than
look out of the window at the lovely snow.
Al Rolnik made a return to winner’s enclosure with a
steady two under and with a better back nine was good enough to consign
Serge Straeten to the final place on the podium.
Dave Stockman had the only two in division one and Peter
Johansson had the only one in division two.
Before presenting the prizes Richard Livingston, the
resident PGA Professional, welcomed back Dave Stockman and Volker Esser
which was extremely difficult in the latter case without the benefit of a
full set of teeth and it came out as Wolla Ether.
Wednesday June 8
Burapha East
Stableford
1st Barry Winton, 37 pts - cb9 20
2nd Roy Thornton, 37 pts - cb9 19
3rd Ashley Bolton, 37, pts - cb9 18
4th Richard Garland, 37 pts - cb9 15
Many people will have noticed the Burapha has become
somewhat longer since the introduction of the new black tees for the many
Thai PGA Tournaments that are currently being held there. The blue tees
are, in many cases, where the old blacks were, with the result that the
course is considerably longer now off both the blues and the whites when
the latter are in their correct positions.
Barry Winton, building on the six holes of practice
recently with “The Doc”, had a very good round of gross 75 over the
testing East Course off the blue tees to lead home a group all on the same
points total thanks to an outstanding gross level par round on the back
nine.
Roy Thornton took second place a shot behind on
countback with Ashley Bolton and Richard Garland in close attendance in the
minor slots.
In division one the twos were shared between Barry
Traynor, Barry Winton and Fred Streeter. There were none in division two
and the pot was carried forward to Friday.
Those people now used to interpreting Richard’s
presentation speech heard that he welcomed back Nile Sheehan, Usa
Chaiyosit, James Bryan and Stefan Hoge from distant places.
Friday June 10
Siam Country Club
Stableford
1st Volker Esser, 39 pts
2nd Barry Traynor, 35 pts
3rd Nile Sheehan, 34 pts - cb9 17
4th Al Rolnik, 34 pts - cb9 16
Volker was determined to get another mention at the
prize giving after the earlier mispronunciation of his mane in case his
mother reads the Pattaya Mail and did not recognise the name and did so in
some style with a four stroke margin over the elated Barry Traynor who had
been celebrating into the early hours having heard that his local football
team had been shoehorned into next years Champions League. Nile Sheehan and
“Big Al” had to be separated by countback for the final positions.
There were no twos in the first division and Nile
Sheehan had the only one in the second division to sweep the pot and the
carry over.
In the absence of Richard, who was still at the speech
therapist, and Roy MBE away visiting his country estate on the north east
border of Thailand and some say actually in Laos, “The Doc” welcomed
new member Richard Holmes and said a sad farewell to the rest of the Perth
contingent Fred Streeter, Ashley Bolton and A.J. Parker, who were returning
home to temperatures approaching freezing for a well earned rest. Richard
is working hard to get his speech delivery in order and in some
recognisable western world tongue before next week’s job emceeing the
IPGC Club Championship. He has been advised by local experts (among them
his “Doc”) to insert his lower set at about 7 p.m. every evening so as
to take advantage of the local anesthetic that he starts to apply around 5
pm. We all wish him well.
Finally this scribe has to apologise to Secret Squirrel
for getting a few things wrong in his report of Pattaya Mail’s passim. It
was inadvertently reported that his place of work was Canada, this should
have been America. This can only be attributed to the fact that your gentle
writer went to school at time when 50% of the world was coloured pink and
at least half the countries had different names. A clue that many may have
overlooked was in the picture of the winner that appeared with the article.
He was, as could not be seen due to the whole picture being underdeveloped,
black.
Cabbie hailed at Ban Chang
IPGC Golf at the OK Corral
On Tuesday, the Pattaya Golf Society from the OK Corral
chose Century Ban Chang as the venue for their weekly medal event on a day
when the course was empty, the sky was bright and a refreshing breeze blew
to make the golfers comfortable. The course was quite presentable but some
of the greens were showing signs of wear with under-repair pitch marks
heavily sanded. As the round developed it became clear that the current
player of the week, Ben Findon, was having problems and there would be
another winner this time. Les Hall and Barry Pethig chose to play the back
nines well and put themselves in the frame on net 76 but Big Ian Phillips,
the cabbie on holiday, was driving to the front of the field with an
excellent card, only to have the wheels come off on the final hole and
prevent him recording a level par score or better. His net 74 was still good
enough for the victory as he finished two ahead of Les and Barry. There were
no birdie twos, making for rolled-over suspense the next day out at Khao
Kheow. Denis Smith survived an attempt at decapitation on the twelfth as a
heavily sliced fairway wood seemed to follow him alarmingly, only to receive
the Bananas for his efforts on a day when exhaustion punctuated his round.
He was still jet lagged after his recent trip to Britain after all.
Elsewhere the Player of the Month list was talking shape nicely with the
consistent Scot John Cunningham heading the roll after another reasonable
performance
Struggle in the wind
at Khao Kheow
IPGC golf Society at the OK Corral
The Pattaya Golf
Society left the OK Corral on Thursday, June 9, for its weekly stableford
competition, this time at the peaceful Khao Kheow course. A very strong wind
was evident all day and the group chose the relatively unplayed white tees
as their start point over the “A” and “B” nines. There was a smell
of a storm but it was blown away, as were many long shots, but fortunes were
balanced by the shorter tees. Keith Hector, finding his form again after his
wintry absence, set out his stall at the start with a creditable 32 points,
but he was still in the wake of Les Hall, whose 33 points finished as runner
up. Barry Pethig, having recently undergone eye surgery, is adjusting to his
new vision, and remained fully focused on his game to post a winning score
of 36 points. Level par was a fine result in the conditions. For the second
consecutive outing there were no birdie two’s leading to an interesting
day at Phoenix next time out. Len Jones had threatened to blow all
challenges away in the first hour, posting eighteen points after eight
holes, but ran out of puff scoring only eight on the last ten holes. His
total of 26 deserved nothing better than the Banana booby. Everybody agreed
that Khao Kheow off the white tees is certainly a suitable distraction and
offers a different perspective on this fine golf course
Mr Loy garners a win
at Ban Chang
Golf from The Caddy Shack
Tuesday June 7 saw the golfers from the
Caddy Shack travel to the ever popular Green Valley to play a medal
competition. On a pleasant windy day the course was in perfect condition,
with the new midday tee off times this gives most of the players time to
shake off the previous nights hangover. Mark Joshua, playing off 11 handicap
is one of the most consistent golfers around at the moment, he shot a net 75
to take third place, just ahead with one shot was Mr Loy and Rob Heath with
a net 74 for 1st place. Once again no two’s were snapped up so this means
a rollover to Thursday.
 Mr.
Loy garnered first place at Century Ban Chang.
Steve Barker won the notorious Bananas for
his 39 shots over par.
Thursday June 9, The Caddy Shack went to Century Ban Chang for a
Stableford competition. Talking of popular venues this, for some strange
reason is no.1 for almost everyone. The wind was blowing very strong on the
day, which caused problems for several players. Rob Heath produced 35 points
to finish in 3rd place, Steve Nowell managed 36 points to finish in 2nd
place, Mr Loy comes first with 37 points. The two’s was a quadruple
rollover and the pot was shared by Richard Wardell and Mr Loy. Daz
Martindale had won nothing his whole holiday so the ever generous Caddy
Shack could not see him go back to the UK empty handed so he was awarded the
Bananas to keep him company. The Caddy Shack leaves every Tuesday and
Thursday at 11 a.m., simply just turn up or ring Mr. Loy on 071 414 702.
Everyone Welcome.
Diana Group Golf
June Seniors & Ladies Open
The next tournament, exclusively for Seniors ( 50-64 )
Super Seniors (65+), & Ladies (any age), is at Pattaya Country Club on
Thursday June 30
Program
-
Booked Tee-off times from 10 a.m.
-
Format: Stableford (Handicap qualifying)
-
Transport leaves Diana Inn, 9.00 a.m. (100 baht
return fare)
-
Prize Giving At Pattaya Country Club
-
Trophy and Prize for Best Score in each
Division
-
Prize for Runner-up in each Division
-
Technical Hole prizes for Near Pins & Long
Putts
-
Sign-up at The Green Bottle or Diana Group
Driving Range
All Seniors, Super Seniors And Ladies Welcome
Sunday Quiz League
Wednesday Quiz League
Soi 6 Quiz League
PSC golf from the Three Sisters Bar
June 6 was the beginning of a new month but the top of
the leader board stayed the same. Big Kevin Mitch blew away the field again
with the same score that he had two weeks ago. Shooting well the last few
weeks, Kevin came in with 44 points to beat the field by 3 points. He is now
on his “A” game and will be getting chopped shortly. As Kevin had to
leave early, our second place contender, Ciano Glavina, stepped in to fill
the slot in our picture. Ciano shot 41 points to garner second place all
alone.
 Winner
on the day went AWOL but second place went to Ciano Glavinia (right) and
holding the bag to some tune with 15 points Martin Davey, a well known Man
City supporter.
Following close on Ciano’s heels were the following
golfers. Bill Gibson shot a great game and came in with 40 points. Dale
Murphy and Herb Ishinaga played together and both scored 38 points to round
out the top of the pile for the day.
Holding the bag this week was a new comer. Martin David had a miserable
day and came in with 15 points to earn the honor. Nothing went right for
Martin as he duffed his way around the course. At first we thought that LC
Short had tumbled into the cellar with the bag but he managed to escape. He
came in with 21 points followed closely by our last week’s winner. Our
last week’s winner, Bob Benda, came to play with a hangover and paid the
price. Bob managed only 22 points as he chopped and stubbed his way around
the course. With our geriatrics friends playing better, we are getting some
interesting bag holders. We’ll see who gets to hold the bag next week.
PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s Beach Bar
Tuesday June 7
Phoenix
Stableford
The Lakes and The Ocean were the test for the day, and after
a comfortable drive down there, all the players were on the first tee ready to
go, in plenty of time. The Lakes is my least favourite nine, but it is a fair
test.
 Ray
Spencer, winner & Rod Perrin, runner up on the day.
This time or the year it is either hot and humid, or wet and
windy, I do not know which is the more difficult. On this day it was hot, and on
arriving back in the clubhouse, all wanted a sit down before a cool, or cold,
shower.
The course itself gets better, day by day, and gets more
difficult. On this day we expected some good scores and we got some, so a few
players managed to cope with the conditions. The fairways are in fine condition
and the greens are firm and fast.
The views at this course never fail to amaze one. Back at
Bert’s the food was ready, and as we sat down a plate with large hotdog, with
onions, and french fries was placed before us for our food. Good stuff!
Bob then got on with the presentations, and we had a winner
in Ray Spencer with Rod Perrin in second place. Special mention must be made of
Bill Knight, who had three near pins. We then got down to the really serious
business of the day, telling each other the sob stories. T.T.F.N.
Winner: Ray Spencer; Second: Rod Perrin
Near Pins: Mike Gerrard, Brian Noguer, Gene Rooney, Bill
Knight (3) and Andy Evans.
Long Putt: Gene Rooney, Ray Spencer and Bob Noble
Ray shines at Mountain Shadow
PSC golf from the Grapevine
Thursday, June 9 saw the golfers gather at The
Grapevine, Soi Regent Marina for breakfast before heading off to Mountain
Shadow golf course to compete in the monthly stroke event for “The
Grapevine Tankard”. With wind blowing a dog off a chain, good scores were
going to be at a premium, and so it developed. As with any golf day, there
are always a few who handle the conditions better than others. On this day,
we had a 3-way tie at the head of the filed with net 70. Barry Kerr (19)
was the first to drop out of the countback, but was still the ‘B’
division winner on the day, edging Tom Maude with 71. The countback went
down to the last 6 holes, with Ray Spence (16) just squeaking past Bill
Plath (12) for The Tankard. Bill had to be content for the 2nd place on his
first outing with The Grapevine.
 Ray
Spence shone brightly at Mountain Shadow to take the Grapevine’s
‘Monthly Tankard’.
Technical prizes were won by Mashi Kaneka (2), with Tony
Oakes, Nooket Gummer, Mike Wing, Rich Murphy, & Barry Kerr also picking up
prizes.
The golfers all enjoyed their day despite some horror-hole
scores, but that’s golf!
The Grapevine hosts golf each Thursday, with brekky from 8 a.m., leave at 9
a.m., golf, then return to The Grapevine for a great complimentary light meal
and presentation. Sign up at The Grapevine, Soi Regent Marina. Cheers & good
golfing.
PSC golf with The Bunker
Bangpakong Country Club
 Jim
Payne takes time to autograph his golf ball for the caddie...
It was an early start on Monday, June 6. The very popular
Bangpakong course requires a 30-minute earlier than usual start, but it’s
worth the extra distance to play that course. Jim Payne scored a remarkable
stableford score of 43 to capture first place. In second with 37 points was Ron
Souter and Paul Smith came third with 35 points. Near the pins were won by Peter
Habgood, Mark Gooch and Billy Russell.
Phoenix Country Club
After playing far away on Monday we kept it close for the
remainder of the week. It was a medal play with 2 divisions. In division “A”
with the cut 17 and under, Geoff Parker scored a net 68 to take top honors.
Second place went to Paul Smith with 72 and P.J. Redmond and John King with 74
net shared third place. In division “B” Granville Swanton returned a net 72
while joint runners-up were Jim Payne and Brian Wilkins with a score of 74. Near
the pins went to William Macey, David Childs and Paul Smith.
Siam Country Club
The week ended with a stableford competition. The best score
of the day was in the “B” division as Jim Payne continued his impressive
play with a score of 35 points. Second place with 34 points was Bob Turner and
third prize went to Bryan Rought with 32 points. In division “A” a 3-way tie
for first with 33 stableford points each were P.J. Redmond, Paul Smith and Geoff
Parker. Near the pins were won by P.J. Redmond (2), Paul Smith and Geoff Parker.
The Bunker Boys are located on Soi Chaiyapoon (near X-zyte disco and across
the street from Tony’s Disco II). Monthly golf schedules are available or
consult the Pattaya Mail every week.
Cross dressers and carrots
PH3 Betty Boop Run #1109
75 runners turned up at this scenic run location just
past Nong Nooch Village. Nice views of hills in almost every direction and
my hope that this was a close as I would get to them. It turned out that the
original A-site had been fenced off with electrified wire a few hours before
we arrived. A 12 volt car battery maybe ok to keep out livestock but I think
something a bit more lively would be needed to keep out the Hash ! Anyway,
we left the site well alone and sort of temporarily parked for the start of
the run. As is normal for the Betty Boop, lots of men hanging around wearing
dresses and having their photo’s taken. Seemed to be an unusually large
number of men wearing make-up this year with Peler and Fini almost looking
like the real thing!
The Pattaya
Hash’s annual Betty Boop run was certainly no drag...
With the arrival of the bus and the circle called by GM
Flying Frog, the hares: Tadpole, Ewok and Miss Chivas gave us the ‘paper
is white, checks are red, red are checks’! And the good news that at the
FT’s we would find a small carrot, which should be collected. With that we
were sent on our way up a long gentle slope. We were heading for those hills
and within a short time we came across our first check at the base of one of
them. Here I went left with Jell-O-Butt.
 The
hares decked out in full costume.
P. Uphill and a few others headed off in the opposite
direction. Being in such an exposed position at the front directly off a
check usually scares the life out of me because of the risk of finding an
FT, but as it could lead to a prize I was happy enough to go for it. The
trail turned out to be correct and we were soon climbing and working our way
up and over the hill. On the other side we came across a handy piece of rope
with VV at the bottom taking photos. Fairly quickly we came to the second
check and here everything went awry for me. After going left down one FT and
one paperless track, I came back to the check to find it deserted. Not a
soul in sight and an eerie silence. From there, the trail wound its way
through the undergrowth and led to a difficult soft sand section that got
the heart pumping. I struggled to find the paper here and there as it sort
of went missing in a few spots. Well the sun was in my eyes anyway!
Eventually I came across a temple and lots of steps. Once again, lost the
paper but after several minutes Fini leading a group up from behind came to
the rescue and told me to go on up the steps to the temple where I would
find paper. He was right and after a bit more of a climb, was able to run
again down a long slope that wound down and around to the other side of the
hill. We came across at least two more checks, which had been politely
solved and then practically ran into Poncho and again VV who were crouched
down taking pictures of the runners about 2 minutes out from the A-site. The
A-site thankfully had been moved closer to the end of the run and I was
really happy to fall into it being totally exhausted as I was. Almost
everyone seemed to be back already and enjoying themselves with ice cold
beer and plenty of fruit and snacks. All in all, a very good run and I was
well happy.
After a cooling down period, a chat and a few beers, the
circle was called with the Hares taking a seat on the ice.
They looked great with their Northern Hill Tribe costumes
complete with Hash d้cor. The Hares did their FT carrot prize thing
with P. Uphill, Festering Streaker and Cabbage Head getting a T-shirt each.
On then to Seaman Swallow’s raffle with Irregular Period, Miss Downhill,
Dr Pinky, Lobster Queen, Jackal and Merry C.mas winning prizes such as TQ1
and TQ2 free drinks, plus T-shirts and stuff. Time then for the Betty Boop
competition with all those in dress coming into the circle. Seaman Swallow
led the girls in voting out all but five of them. The five were then voted
in reverse order to receive a prize each: 5th Prize to Bottomless Pit
getting dinner for two at the Scandi Bar. 4th prize to Fini The Faggot
getting dinner for two at Patrick’s Belgian Bar, 3rd prize to VV with
dinner for two at Jameson’s, 2nd prize to Peler with PH3 sponsorship and a
trip for two to Nong Nooch village, and 1st prize to Seaman Stains with PH3
sponsorship and a trip for two to Koh Samet. Sir Airhead briefly took over
the circle bringing in the Hares and getting the good run vote. He also
mentioned something about his bag being run over while he was out running.
Hope there was nothing destroyed in there. Time for the Gm again who iced
A-Hopper and Rocky with Rocky getting Hash shit for taking food from the
last weeks Hash Bar without buying any drinks! Time for the leavers: F. Dog,
Cabbage Head and General Kidney Wiper with GKW finally going to do some work
for his money after 8 months standby paid leave! This weeks visitors: Ball
Banger and Jacko in next followed by all those who went to the recent Phuket
1000 Run weekend. Sir Chicken F. doing his thing and icing Fini and Ball
Banger (from the Hua Hin Hash) as he apparently looks like Fini’s father!
Moving on and we had Apples Turnover and his pregnant girlfriend Apple Tree
with some confusion as to whether or not Apples Turnover was also pregnant
due to the size of his stomach! Peler and P*ssed Pole Dancer with the former
possibly being her long lost son! Miserable C. on the ice for asking to
borrow SCF’s spare Betty Boop dress as he did not want to buy his own,
once again proving that he’s a Cheap Charlie. Redundant Seaman in next
looking rather like a TQ Go Go dancer and making an announcement that Hua
Hin will have an outstation run on the 18th June followed on the 19th June
by a Chang Mai Bunny run. Time for this week’s anniversary’s with:
Bottoms Up 50 Run Mug, Tadpole 200th Run T-Shirt and C**T Face 300th Run
T-shirt. At this point the weather started turning so it was a quick Hare
song followed by the Hash Hymn and then off to the TQ1 for happy hour and
good food. I was a bit late getting to the TQ1 but arrived in time to see
Butterfly Tiger patting down Fini and pronouncing that there was nothing
down there! An end to a perfect day. Thanks and a job well done to our
Hares, the PH3 and TQ1.
On On Tampax
The Jomtien 8 Ball Pool League
The Beautiful Game?: Where has the romance gone?
Riz Taylor
These days it seems that every football story I hear or
read is dominated by one thing - money. I’m guilty of it myself in this
column, for the simple reason that the worlds of football and finance have
become inextricably linked.
It’s not a recent development, of course, and nor is
football alone in its global appeal to both advertisers and characters who,
as recently as ten or twenty years ago, would have little reason to pay
attention to twenty-two men kicking a football around.
Indeed, there a few sports that have remained untouched
by the marketing men. Look at tennis. On Tuesday Paradorn Srichaphan,
Thailand’s leading player, celebrated his 26th birthday. Yet despite
having never won a ‘Grand Slam’ title the plucky Paradorn has amassed a
more than considerable personal fortune through both his performances and
corporate sponsorship. Britain also has a tennis star famous for falling
short in major tournaments, yet whose bank account contains more zeros that
a Japanese aircraft carrier.
Everywhere you look, money continues to permeate
professional sport both directly and indirectly the world over. For the
modern cricket player, hitting the pavilion at the end of a hard day’s
standing around in the sun no longer means hitting the booze, with a few
notable exceptions. Even rugby, with its proud amateur roots, has changed
almost beyond recognition in recent years.
But is the sport of today any better for it?
Last week accountants Deloitte and Touche published their
annual report on football’s finances, and you may have read that for the
first time in history spending by Premiership clubs on wages, transfer and
agents’ fees exceeded one billion pounds. The Premiership clubs’ average
revenue of 66.3 million exceeds Italy’s Series A average by over fifty per
cent.
As exciting as this news is - wake up at the back - these
figures have been drastically affected by Roman Abramovic’s plaything,
Chelsea. Take the Blues out of the equation and you’ll notice that
Premiership spending on total wages actually fell for the first time in
Premiership history. Or at least you will if you’re a nerdy
number-cruncher.
Do you care? I can’t say these statistics interest me
too much, but increasingly we’re seeing morals and fair play disappear
from our game, and surely the financial factor is no coincidence. Chelsea
and their money have dominated the newspapers to such an extent recently
that finding a story NOT associated with the newly crowned Champions has
been as tricky as finding a Pattaya beer bar that doesn’t see fit to drown
out your conversations with thumping, inappropriate techno.
What once appeared to be an interesting experiment by an
unknown Russian businessman is slowly turning into a monster. The infamous
‘Colegate’ affair that has just seen large fines handed out to everyone
involved shows how arrogant the West London side’s representatives have
become in their quest to dominate English, world and no doubt
inter-planetary football for years to come.
It’s hard for us mere mortals used to haggling over
five baht bus rides to find any sympathy for Arsenal and England’s Ashley
Cole, who seems to have overplayed his hand in his extravagant wage demands.
This greedy element of modern football is particularly distasteful, but
worse is seeing Chelsea trample over anybody and everybody that dares to get
in their way.
Meeting Cole in a London hotel some months ago to discuss
a possible transfer was daft in the extreme. Chelsea, as usual, pleaded
their ignorance. But in the same week that saw the Premier League hit
Chelsea with suspended points deduction, Tottenham also suspended their
sporting director Frank Arnesen. According to Spurs’ website Chelsea sent
a letter requesting permission to speak to Arnesen, but also copied the
letter to Arnesen himself, constituting an illegal approach. It shows a lack
of attention to what is right and wrong at best, and at worst is a crass,
devil-may-care flouting of the Premiership’s rules and regulations, should
it be proved illegal.
In bygone days the opinion of the paying football fan
mattered. But the fact is that you and I no longer play as significant a
part in football as we might have twenty years ago. Clubs, and Chelsea in
particular, are less and less dependent on gate receipts and sales of
sub-standard hotdogs as they once were. Even so, for every Chelsea
season-ticket holder disappointed at his or her club’s dealings that
decides to give up their seat, there will always be another fan eager to
take their place.
It would be unfair to blame supporters of the club who
are delighted to see their side at the top of the tree. The football team
also deserve recognition after winning the Premiership with an
ever-improving mixture of homegrown players, imported talents and the astute
tactics of Jose Mourinho.
But great sides are judged not at the time they are
picking up trophies, but by the legacy they leave. Chelsea’s non-playing
staff would do well to remember this, as they are turning not just fans but
the rest of the football world against them.
And money, no matter how important in today’s game,
cannot buy respect.
France Win World Cup
It may come as a surprise to learn that you’ve recently
missed the World Cup, and that the European Championships are also about to
reach their culmination.
Eric Cantona’s French side scooped the FIFA Beach
Soccer World Cup last month with a penalties victory over Portugal on Rio de
Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, and the Women’s European Championships are
about to reach their climax in England. The final will be played at Ewood
Park, Blackburn, on Sunday.
I’d like to wish the Swedish national team the very best of luck. I’m
a keen admirer of their technical abilities and their well worked
set-pieces, of course.
The Square Ring
by Howie Reed
Well guys and girls what the heck do you think about
Kostya Tszyu quitting on his stool against Ricky Hatton? There are pros and
cons on the issue with the Tszyu taking both sides. Trainer Johnny Lewis
told him to quit, Kostya wanted to quit or no one wanted to quit. About the
only thing we haven’t heard is the very popular “I was quoted out of
context.” Me? I agree with a good friend and International boxing referee.
“If, he, Hatton, could not hold & then hit while holding, he loses.”
Ricky Hatton had everything perfect and he took advantage of the situation.
That’s what boxing is. Having the opportunity and then taking advantage of
that opportunity. Good for him. Shame on Kostya for quitting.
T’was not a good week for boxers from Aussie. WBA super
middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (36-0) of Denmark took the hate spewing
bundle of refuse Anthony Mundine (23-3) to the woodshed in Sydney. Once he
got him there he whipped the heck out of him winning a lopsided 116-112,
120-108, 117-113 decision. Prior to the fight, as is usual, Mundine talked
his usual trash. After he was contrite. Maybe like the condemned prisoner he
received a deathbed conversation. “I want to thank Mikkel for a great
fight and invite him back for a rematch.” The Danish Champ explained, “I
was tired at the start because I had difficulty hitting Mundine. I had to
give everything that was in my body in the last two rounds to make sure of
victory.” In the aftermath it was reported that Mundine was trying to
decide whether to stay in boxing or return to Rugby League. Most Aussie’s
suggested that he might try skydiving. The first jump without a parachute. .
Let’s tip a few to skydiving and Mikkel.
Well maybe we’ve finally seen the end of Mike Tyson in
the ring as a serious fighter. Prior to his “fight” with Ireland’s
Kevin McBride (33-4) in Washington DC last Sunday, Tyson predicted that he
would “gut him like a fish.” Explaining how he was able to sell out the
MCI Center and get $49,95 USD for pay-per-view, Tyson explained that:
“people come to see me cause I’m a icon.” Funny but in the light of
his performance the words clown, buffoon, over-the-hill and finished come to
mind. Kevin McBride was hand picked to make Tyson look credible. It didn’t
work. Instead by the 6th round of a fight he was never seriously in, Tyson
reverted to the Tyson of old by head butting and “trying to break
McBride’s arm.” This in fairness came in a round six where they actually
did a toe-to-toe, mano-e-mano that was very entertaining. As the 6th ended
Tyson was pushed to the canvas and had trouble getting up to return to his
corner. When he did he quit on his stool. “I don’t think I have it
anymore... most likely I’m not going to fight anymore.” Well he
couldn’t fight much less.
Meanwhile in New York City at Madison Square Garden a
couple of real fights took place. Miguel Cotto, now 24-0, is by all accounts
a superstar in the making. He didn’t hurt that title when he traded
punches with a tougher than a $1.00 T-Bone Muhammad Abdullaev (15-2).
Abdullaev had defeated Cotto at the Olympics 5 years ago. This time Cotto
had all the answer’s for Abdullaev’s steady come forward style. Finally
in the 9th with blood streaming from a couple of openings in his face was
Abdullaev choose not to continue. Yes, he pulled a Tszyu. On the same card
Joel Casamayor (31-3) got a gift draw against Almazbek “Kid Diamons”
Raiymkulov (20-0). Fornmer Champion Casamayor is finally showing the effects
of 300 amateur fights and 35 as a pro. He fought as a “tired fighter”
who lacked the energy to go the distance. He ran 9 of the 12 rounds. But
that was enough for the “Hispanic judge” who called it 115-112 in his
favor. The other scores were 116-111 for Raiymkulov and 114-114 all. If
“Kid Diamond’ ever learns to keep his balance and sit down on punches he
could be something special. Will that happen? In a word No!
We’re in to old adages. “If you get thrown by a
horse... get back on.” “If unlucky in love... choose another number”.
Former WBC Bantam Champ Veerapol Nakornluang lost a close but unanimous
decision to Hozumi Hasegawa in April. He also lost his WBC title. Not lying
around feeling sorry for himself, or making any money, Veerapol gets back in
the ring June 24 at the Mall Department Store at Ngamwongwan in Nonthaburi
Province. He gets a better than 100% opportunity of getting back on the
winning track as opponent Filipino Noel Sungahid is 10-18-3. Sungahid is 2-4
in his last 6. He is on a 2 fight win streak beating boxers with a combined
2-7 record. Is Noel Sungahid actually the “real” Noel Sungahid or an
imposter?
When ABC (Asian Boxing Council) Champ Medgoen Singsurat
defended again Tata Polina it was uncovered that Tata Polinar wasn’t Tata
Polinar but a boxer named Joel Avila who’s 26-14 record was far superior
to Polinar’s. The Thai explanation was typical. “General Chira
Navisathira and famed WBC referee Anek Hongthongkam spoke to Thai matchmaker
Panya Prachakorn. Panya said that a Filipino matchmaker, whose name was
reported as “Bennie Dela Pena,” offered “Tata Polinar” to fight with
Medgoen for the ABCO title. When the Filipino team arrived in Thailand,
Panya said he checked Polinar’s passport which indicated Polimar’s name
as “Romeo Balaba Polinar.” Panya alleges that Pena told him that Romeo
Balaba Polinar used the name “Tata Polinar.” Panya claims he trusted
Pena because “there was no reason to fake any boxer to be a lower-class
fighter like Tata Polinar.” After the faked-boxer news surfaced, Panya
says he tried to communicate with Pena, but thus far has been unable to
contact the Filipino matchmaker. ABCO is now trying to track down Pena and
will make a judgment soon.”
Yea checks in the mail. Now the “real story” from Rey
Danseco. “Avila showed a fake Philippine passport, indicated the name of
Romeo Balaba Polinar aka in boxing as Tata Polinar, but with his picture on
it. This Filipino reporter found out the truth on June 10, 2005 while the
ABCO is still doing its investigation. This fight, matched by Panya
Prachakorn, was illegal because no contract has been signed or approved by
the Games and Amusement Board in the Philippines as well as by the true Tata
Polinar, who at that time of the fight was training in Cebu province in
central Philippines.” Bottom line? No harm no foul business as usual. This
Is Thailand.
Big time WBO Bantamweight championship brawl coming to the Land of Smiles
on August 5. WBO Champ Ratanachai Sor Vorapin (63-8) will battle #1
contender Mauricio Martinez. This is Vorapin’s first defense of the title
he won from Cruz Carbajal (now on the beach for drugs) in May of 2004. 13
Months and no title defense. Yes, This Is Thailand. No venue announced but
it was made public that it’s now time for an adult beverage. Thank
Goodness for cold storage.
Mickey Mouse Darts League
|
