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Jouke/John win 16th Pattaya Marriott Koh Larn Classic
Jouke, (left) and John, (far
right) receive their trophies as winners of the 16th Pattaya Marriott Koh
Larn Classic.
By Peter Cummins, Pattaya
A most successful 16th Pattaya Marriott Koh Larn Classic was held off
the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, Saturday Feb 25. For the first time in the 15
years, since this great sailing/running race was inaugurated by Jihn Stall,
there was a tie between the first four teams of sailors and runners with
Jouke Postma/John Quarmby, Bob Garner/Chris Schulz, Peter Herning/Matt Ryder
and reigning champs, Alberto Cassio/Gonthier Valenda, all scoring 13 points.
The competition was even more intense when, for the first time, a ‘lottery
draw’ matched runners with skippers. It seemed that they were good matches
however, especially regarding the first four.
Jouke and John won on the tie (Thai?) breaker, scoring the most ‘high
placings’. 2004 running ace, Chris Schulz won the “over Koh Larn” run - and
the Karl Schmid Trophy with a time of 25.14 minutes, some three minutes
ahead of Matt Ryder (28.25) and Gonthier Valenda. (29.15).
John Quarmby was the fourth placed runner, timing 30.30 minutes, enough for
Jouke’s Hobie 16 Cat, to rack up the winner’s score and one must not omit
the one and only HH Harriet, the lithe, leggy and lovely, Tim Wienands who
ran Koh Larn in 41.38 minutes and finished on Pairode Matturanont’s Fireball
In 11th place overall.
Veteran organizers of the event, Dave Wales, Gilbert Leemann and their
marshals, including Chris and Big Arthur, managed their usual flawless show,
spending hours in the blazing sun of a tree-less Koh Larn to lay the trail
and ensure that all went well.
Back at the Royal Varuna clubhouse, perennial sponsors the Pattaya Marriott
Resort and Spa laid on an evening of music, dancing and fun.
Supporting sponsors of the event were Groovy Map, Indian by Nature
Restaurant, Malibar, Photo Bank, ongoing supporter Schenker Stinnes
Logistics, Technilink, Swiss Law and not forgetting the beverage of choice
which was Heineken, of course!
‘Beautiful Boxer’ returns to the ring
After a two-year absence from fighting, Nong Toom, the
transsexual Thai boxer who had her life story told in the hit movie,
Beautiful Boxer made a surprise and victorious return to the ring Sunday,
February 26 to celebrate the opening of the new, state of the art Fairtex
Muay Thai training facility and sports complex in North Pattaya.
Prior to the fight, Nong Toom swore to knock out her Japanese opponent
within three rounds, but she conceded that the sexual reassignment surgery
that made her a woman last year had taken its toll.
 Nong
Toom raises her glove after making a triumphant return to the ring at the
new Faitex Sports Club, Pattaya, Feb 26.
“I dare say I’m unsure if I can beat him. The physical changes have taken
their toll on me but it’s a matter of dignity. We both need the victory
because I was a Muay Thai champion and the Japanese boxer cannot lose to a
woman. I will show that even now that I am a woman, I’m still able to punch
and kick.”
As things transpired, Toom won by unanimous decision after the three-round
fight, leaving her rival with a cut near his eye from an elbow in the last
round.
This coming June, Nong Toom, who works as a Muay Thai training advisor for
women at the new Fairtex complex, plans another exhibition bout, this time
in the US with a female opponent, Lucia Rijker, who portrayed the lethal
Blue Bear in the smash movie ‘Million Dollar Baby’
* Further news of the Fairtex Sports Club opening day can be found on page
29.*
Ya simply the best at Eastern Star
IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral
Tuesday, February 28, the popular golf course at Eastern
Star hosted the Pattaya Golf Society for its end-of-month “Players’ Choice”
tournament played under a stableford format. Nearly forty golfers had
gathered at the OK Corral for registration and the field was to be divided
into two flights, the cut coming at 20 and under. The course was well turned
out and the pace of the greens was more to the golfers’ liking than many
others experienced lately.
 Harry
Riley receives his ‘Order of Merit’ tankard from Mr. Denis
In the second flight both the Robs, Dolan and Heath, amassed scores of 32
points to give them a share of the runner-up berth but Len Jones went one
better posting 33 points to take the divisional award. The top flight saw
better scores and all four winners recorded scores of less than par. Roger
Coe and Ben Findon tied for third with hard won 37’s whilst newly promoted
Andy Parkinson headed them with an excellent score of 39 points.
This was not to be good enough however as the currently in-form Ya
Chaiyanont, one of three ladies in the field, found the red tees shortened
the course immensely for her long driving and by the fourteenth hole she had
already gathered 31 points. Putting together another ten over the closing
four holes she easily won the day, ending with a startling 41 points. It was
simply too much for the rest of the field, a fine round by a splendid lady
golfer.
The luckiest man at Eastern Star was Eberhard Stoll, only playing because of
a late withdrawal, and his birdie two on the sixth took sole possession of
the substantial rolled over twos pot, whilst the newly returned Jim
Parkinson expected, and duly received, the Booby Bevy for his low score of
nineteen points. A packed OK Corral also congratulated Harry Riley for his
win in the inaugural monthly Order of Merit competition, his 27 points
giving him a three point advantage over his nearest rival John Cunningham,
who was runner-up. It had been quite a day for the Riley household!
Matchplay ties go to form
Thursday, March 2, the PGS held the first round of its ‘Matchplay
Championship’ with eight ties being held at the challenging Emerald course
at Ban Chang. The Pattaya Golf Society is the only golf group in the city to
hold an annual matchplay title event and everyone enjoyed the challenge of
the first round.
The draw had thrown up some intriguing matches and there were to be some
very tight finishes. Rob Dolan took his tie against Basil Foley to the last
before winning by one up, as did John Cunningham who needed a birdie on the
last hole to defeat the very strong challenge by Ken Graham, playing his
best golf for a long time. Les Hall hung on for a long while against Ya
Chaiyanont but the only lady in the field took control over the final few
holes to win 3 and 2.
In the middle of the field Rob Heath played some excellent golf over the
final three holes to win the sixteenth and seventeenth and take the tie 2
and 1 over an effervescent Jim Parkinson. Elsewhere Harry Riley’s experience
held at bay the back nine challenge of Andy Parkinson, returning a winning
score of 2 and 1, having been two up at the turn. In a surprisingly tense
struggle Len Jones “fluked” a par putt from the fringe of the sixteenth
green to win the hole and lie dormie two against Denis Smith and this took
the wind out of Denis’ fine three hole comeback. The Boss had hit a perfect
five-wood onto the green but missed the downhill putt for the hole and Len
took the tie 3 and 1.
In the final tie Ben Findon and Masashi Iizumi were involved in the closest
match with Ben getting back to square after nine and having to take the
sixteenth to stay level. It ended all square and a replay was hastily
scheduled for the next golf day at the OK Corral. In the opinion of many old
heads the matchplay format is the most fascinating in golf and represents
the purest form of the game and that was very much in evidence at Emerald.
Green Valley - a popular choice for Bert’s golfers
PSC golf from tropical Bert’s
Tuesday, February 28, Green Valley -
Stableford
The sign up sheet for this outing was full before the presentation the week
before; so popular was the proposed day out. Indeed trying to get extra tee
times from the course was a failure, so the night before was filled with
players phoning me to try and play, and sadly I had to say “sorry”.
Tuesday’s winners with the two
Bobs
In the early morning hours at Bert’s, as the players tucked into their
complimentary breakfasts, we still had players wishing to take part, but it
was not possible to take any more.
On the course it is interesting to see that they have reverted to starting
on the par 5; so at least your first shot is not over the difficult par 4
water hazard that has previously been in use. Good or bad? I hate to say.
What I can say is that the course is in great condition, and is a pleasure
to play. I can’t go on however, without mentioning something about the new
‘Mickey Mouse’ par three, 12th. It has to be the most ridiculous par three
in the area, and to make it worse, on this day the hole was halfway down the
cliff. Still, the other 17 holes were quality
Day over you can relax, as we did, in the German restaurant and try some of
their food. They also have some fine draft beers on offer. Back at the
‘ranch’, the players were tucking into some of Bert’s fine cuisine, and Tim
held a tasting session until he could get on with the presentation.
In the A Div the winner was Maurice Herberge with Bob Noble in second,
whilst in the B Div the winner was Rich Murphy with Rod Sutherland in
second. The winners had photos taken with two of Bert’s ‘stars’, in the form
of father and son team Bob snr. and Bob jnr. Myers, who between them spent
50 years in the British military, most of it in the ‘Paras’.
T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: Donald Hendry (2), Steve Hamstad, Maurice Herberge, Rod
Sutherland
Long Puts: Donald Hendry, Graham Wright, Maurice Herberge, John Robertson
Laurinne is ‘singing in
the rain’ at Eastern Star
PSC golf from The Café Kronborg
Monday, February 27, Treasure Hill -
Stableford
The Treasure Hill Golf And Country Club was host to a Stableford competition
in two flights with the cut at handicap 16. The course on the day was quite
good with very fast greens but the bunkers and hazard markings left
something to be desired.
 Thursday’s
B Flight winner - Laurinne Brinne
Ted Morris took the A Flight on count back from Rick Evans, both with 36
points; ‘Steady’ Bill Plath was in third with 35 points, and Icelander Kris
Helgasson came in fourth with 33 points, on a count back over Dutchman
Maurice Herberge.
Dane Bent Moeller took the B Flight with 34 points, Irishman Pat Browne was
second with 33 points and Jesper Rasmusson was third on a count back over
Dave Richardson in fourth, both with 31 points.
Near Pins: # 2 Kris Helgasson, # 6 Dave Richardson, # 13 Finn Olsen, # 17
Maurice Herberge
Long Put: # 9 Walter Bachli, # 18 Richard Kubicki
Thursday, March 2, Eastern Star - Stableford
I have not played Eastern Star for a few weeks, so it was a
pleasure to take 11 groups to this fine course to see how it is progressing.
The course has always been a tough test of golf, and on this particular day,
as we drove down, the skies turned black and it was fairly obvious we were
going to have some rain: the question was how much?
As we stood on the first tee we found out the first part of the answer - it
was raining steadily. Anyway, off we went and it rained and rained for maybe
30 minutes. Once it stopped, the sun tried to come out but the conditions
underfoot were soggy and it was clear that any good round would probably be
a winner
As the results finally came in, it was obvious that the rain had won. In the
A Flight, 0 to 16, the winner was Bill Plath on count back over Rick Evans,
both with 37 points. In third was Derek Brook with 35 points and in fourth
was Maurice Herberge with 34 points on count back over Brian Noguer.
In the B Flight, 17 up, we had a good winner when Laurinne Brinn took top
spot with 38 points, ahead of Tim Holt in second with 33 points, Doug Maiko
in third with 32 points and Sirkka Puikkonen fourth with 31 points.
T.T.F.N.
Near Pins: # 3 Dave Richardson, # 6 Bill Plath, # 13 Laurina Brinn, # 17
Yrio Lipsanen
Long Put: # 9 Patrick Browne, # 18 Brian Noguer
Another great year at the Pattaya Am-Am
Friday, March 3, Eastern Star Country Club
The 11th Pattaya Am-Am was played this year at Eastern Star Country Club,
which is currently one of the best conditioned courses in the area. The
conditions helped to ensure a very competitive result, with the winners
returning a thirteen under score that bettered the 2005 result by a shot
and was good enough to win by two clear from second place and five from
third.
The winning team members receive their prizes from
PGA professional Richard Livingston (second left) The Am-Am is played under the same format as a Pro-Am but with all of the
team being amateurs. The objective is for the best two player’s scores to
count on each hole in stroke play format to make an aggregate against a par
of 144. The maximum handicap allowed was three quarters with a maximum
handicap allowance for each player of eighteen shots.
The weather conditions on the day helped, with an overcast sky that meant
that the temperature stayed in the range of tolerable. This produced a day
of excellent scoring from nearly all the field with over 50% of the teams
bettering par and all of them enjoying the chance to play in a major
competition without the usual pressures but with the camaraderie of the
team format.
The winning team was a truly international combination with the players
coming from four different continents namely, Australasia, Asia, America
and Europe, in the form of Trevor Schirmer, Yasuo Suzuki, Al Rolnik and
Brian Kelly and with notably Brian and Yasuo playing outstandingly, they
ran out clear winners. Whilst it is important for all the team members to
contribute in the AM-AM format, the winning team usually manages to produce
a couple of players that play exceptionally well on at least two thirds of
the course, and this was the case with the winners with both Al and Trevor
lending valuable support, which enabled the team to only drop two shots to
par whilst picking up 15 net birdies on the rest of the holes. Not bad for
a team cobbled together at the last moment after a few beers at The Haven.
The second placed team consisting of Roy Thornton, Barry Traynor, Joop
Medze and Rick Holmes also had a very good day, only dropping 3 shots on
three holes and slotting in fourteen birdies with Roy and Barry leading the
way ably supported by Joop and Rick. This was a very good result
considering that a key member of the established team defected to another
team after several beers were seen being passed under the table earlier in
the week. The ‘Judas’ cannot be openly named due to the stringent local
libel laws, but will henceforth be known as Magellan Iscariot.
Third place was a very closely contested slot with the result requiring a
count back that the team of Steve Martin, Dave Thomas, Brian Bruce and
Stuart Thompson won with a five under par 67, following an eight under
total of 136. Steve Martin as expected provided the underpinning with a
strong gross level par round that surprisingly only featured three birdies
with Brian also showing strongly for the team.
The unlucky team to lose out on the count back rule consisted of Arthur
Hancock, Mikael Andersson, Roger Coe and Jim Wickstrom, all members of
Eastern Star but on the day not quite able to make local knowledge count
enough with a back nine of four under. Arthur and Mikael were the leaders
with Roger and Jim offering good support.
Perhaps the most unfortunate team of the day were Liam Horgan, Masashi
Iizumi, Pat Murphy and Len Jones; the latter who as acting captain had
omitted to record the gross scores on the card that showed a nine under
return, and then subsequently left the clubhouse before being able to
rectify the error when it was discovered by the scorers. The team was,
therefore, unfortunately disqualified although the organisers provided them
with consolation prizes of green fees at Eastern Star, for future use.
The four near pins on offer were won by Ken Moss, Steve Martin, Shay
Mitchell and Alan Hanlon: the latter just missed what would have been a
very, very expensive hole-in-one, finishing just 2 inches short of the hole
following a magnificent seven iron to the 172 yard seventeenth.
The check in was supervised by Stephen Beard, happily well and on the road
to recovery following his extended illness but not quite ready yet to
resume playing and once again, Wayne Ogonoski turned out to provide the
computer and scoring which usually goes unnoticed but is a vital
requirement for a successful tournament.
Back at The Haven the prizes were presented by Richard Livingston, the
resident PGA teaching professional, ably assisted by Stephen and Lumyai’s
beautiful daughter Sindy. The food provided by Lumyai and her outstanding
staff, was once again very tasty and available in large quantities until
all were well sated. Finally, Lumyai as usual, blew the horn to celebrate
her birthday and buy all the attendees a drink and passed out copious
amounts of birthday cake made lovingly by the resident pastry chef.
Following last years well appreciated music supplied by Don Scott, the
internationally acclaimed blues player; many were disappointed to find he
was unable to attend due to previous commitments to the North American leg
of his world tour, “Don loose over The World”. Even so, the vast majority
of the contestants stayed well into the night celebrating another great day
of golf and entertainment and just enjoying the inexpensive beers,
camaraderie and excellent atmosphere at The Haven.
Results: (Top 5 places only)
1st Yasuo Suzuki, Brian Kelly, Trevor Schirmer, Al Rolnik - 131
2nd Roy Thornton, Barry Traynor, Joop Medze, Rick Holmes - 133
3rd Steve Martin, Dave Thomas, Brian Bruce, Stuart Thompson - 136, (cb 67)
4th Arthur Hancock, Mikael Andersson, Roger Coe, Jim Lockstrom - 136, (cb
68)
5th Pekka Raiha, Eero Pirohnen, Mickey Moore, Dave Spendley - 137
Near Pins: # 3 Kenny Moss, # 6 Steve Martin, # 13 Shay Mitchell, # 17 Alan
Hanlon
Pride of Aberdeen ‘Aces’ the 12th
IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s
Sunday February 26, Green Valley -
Blue or White Tees, Stableford
1st Blue Flight: Simon Philbrook, 33 points
2nd Blue Flight: Bob Patterson, 33 points
1st White A Flight: Mark Wood, 39 points
2nd White A Flight: Dave Tanner, 38 points
3rd White A Flight: Jim Wickstrom, 38 points
1st White B Flight: Lee Adelly, 38 points
2nd White B Flight: Peter Henshaw, 34 points
3rd White B Flight: Roy Thornton, 36 points
1st White C Flight: Steve Mulberry, 38 points
2nd White C Flight: Peter Emslie, 37 points
3rd White C Flight: Dene Airey, 36 points
1st White D Flight: Ian Grout, 44 points
2nd White D Flight: Eddy Beilby, 35 points
3rd White D Flight: Poo Supaporn, 34 points
NP’s: #2 Norm Robinson, #9 Ian Grout, #12 Mark Wood, #16 Mike Shrosbree
2’s: Mark Wood (hole-in-one)
The murky configuration of Green Valley requires that a lengthy diatribe
describe the significant feat accomplished, this day, by one of Aberdeen’s
favorite sons, Mark Wood.
To those that played on the day it would suffice to say it occurred on the
diminutive 12th, 129 yards of subtle difficulty. That is unless you play
Green Valley on the weekdays when Mark’s conquest is relegated to a
curiosity as it is replaced by another 12th that is more akin to the famed
Kandahar Downhill course at Garmisch Partenkirchen. Of course, if you
haven’t played the course in a few months you might be saying “Hey wait a
minute, the 12th is a par five taking off from the clubhouse”. Well back
then, Mark’s hole-in-one would have been on the 8th. Now if you were a
member four years ago but haven’t made it back since, you would say the
12th was the par four over by the unfinished (still unfinished) sports
complex. Well back then Mark’s feat would have been on the 7th. Let’s just
go back to where we started and say it was a great shot on that pain in the
ass, little S.O.B. after the drink stop!
On any other day, Ian Grout’s name might have been looking down at this
article from the headline but it is tough to upstage a dodo. But Ian’s
score caught the eye of his mates that day (and no doubt that of the
Handicap Chairman’s as well) as he brought the course and D Flight to its
knees with a resounding 44 points: Ian was meekly followed in by Eddy
Beilby’s 35 points. The First Lady put a count back on Kevin “One More
Again” Moraghan to round out the Flight. His 38 points was four clear of
Irishman Peter Henshaw and yet another clear of Roy Thorton MBE.
Our hero of the day kept it together after his ace to take A Flight with 39
points, one ahead of the tandem of Dave Tanner and Jim Wickstrom. The Big
Easy had the better of the count back on Dudley Dooright.
Lee Adelly, the guy who carried only one driver for Woosie, followed up his
Lewiinski’s Open Plate victory with first in B Flight. His 38 points were
four clear of Irishman Peter Henshaw and yet another of Roy Thorton MBE and
Terry Phur. Alas, Terry was left penniless as the count back arrow pointed
to Roy.
The Shack’s and Blackpool’s Steve Mulberry showed little respect for his
elders as he edged Peter Emslie by a digit and mate Dene Airey by yet
another to take C Flight.
As a several-time-a-year concession to the big bombers and in light of the
number of times we play the Home Course, Green Valley, a couple of handfuls
of the fit and brave took on the Blues. Some are as tough to find, as they
are to play, but in any event, Simon of Philbrook put a count back on The
Senator to sort out the two awards positions.
Monday February 27,
Khao Kheow -Yellow or
White Tees, Stableford
1st A Flight: Sonny Crawford, 39 Points
2nd A Flight: Paul Shaw, 38 Points
3rd A Flight: Gary Blackburne, 37 Points
1st B Flight: Lewis Szigligeti, 36 points
2nd B Flight: Emiel Van de Wiele, 35 points
3rd B Flight: Mark Allen, 34 points
1st White A Flight: Tom Breslin, 34 Points
NP’s: #A3 Colin Davis, #B8 Ray Dell
2’s: Sonny Crawford (2), Jim Brackett, Frank O’Hara, Kenji Naito, Lewis
Szigligeti, Kevin Dunne
By the Society’s standards it was a relatively quiet day as the field fell
into two lucrative Flights. I will fail to mention that Tom Breslin swept a
far less lucrative one-man Flight off the Whites, this omission at his
request.
Sonny Crawford built up some points (and loot) with a couple of 2’s and
when it was all added up he had 39 points to take the top spot in A Flight.
In a cascade reminiscent of the champagne fountain at the last bad wedding
you went to (they’re all bad eventually), the rest of A Flight was
stretched out in one-point increments with a sequence of the Shack’s Paul
Shaw, and ‘Nice Guy’ Gary Blackburne.
Lewis Szigligeti, whose name this Scribe has never spelled the same twice,
followed up his win in the Plate Eclectic with a first in B Flight. He was
followed in by Emiel “i before e” Van de Wieleand and Aussie Mark Allen.
Wednesday March 1,
Burapha C & D - Blue or
White Tees, Stableford
1st Blue Flight: Chaten Patel, 38 points
2nd Blue Flight: Nick Payne, 37 points
3rd Blue Flight: Pat Hanafin, 36 points
4th Blue Flight: Liam Horgan, 36 points
1st White Flight: John Exall, 38 points
2nd White Flight: Joe Mooneyham, 37 points
3rd White Flight: Pete Stonebridge, 36 points
NP’s: Blues: #D8 Liam Horgan, Whites: #C8 Rick Sharp
2’s: Blues: Steve Liam Horgan, Mark Allen, Phil Groves, Pat Regan (2),
Kenji Naito. Whites: Joe Mooneyham, Jim Brackett, Rick Sharp
It doesn’t seem possible that it is the first of March already, but that is
what the schedule said as the Society took on the Crystal and Dune nines at
Burapha. The Rajah took the top rung in the Blue Flight ahead of Offshore
Nick. A pair of Micks were holding down the third and fourth slots, thanks
to a count back over Adam Schoenfeld, The Ethereal One, Pat Hanafin, and
Chef Liam Horgan.
Dr. John (not of Night Tripper fame) put a surgical 37 points on the White
tees of Burapha C and D to better our Bionic Man, Joe “I’m still in the”
Mooneyham. The Headmaster put a math lesson on the quartet of Barry
Chadbourn, Uli Leuenberger, Bruce McAdam and Dave Porter to step to the
bronze pay window.
Sports Quiz
Congratulations to Steve Johnson who was the winner of
our last quiz. Thank you to all who tried and better luck next time. In case
you were wondering about the answers, here they are:
1) Who won the 2005 US Masters in golf?
Answer: Tiger Woods
2) Which country won the first Cricket World Cup in 1975?
Answer: West Indies
3) Which team won the English FA Cup (Women) last year?
Answer: Charlton Athletic
This weeks Questions are:
1) Which team won the British Rugby League 2005 Challenge Cup?
2) Which city held the 1896 Olympic Games?
3) Who is the present men’s world croquet champion?
From the ‘Shadow’ into the storm - A tough week
IPGC golf from The Haven
Mon 27 Feb,
Mountain Shadow - Stableford
Division 1 (0-16)
1st Kevin Taylor, 34
2nd Yasuo Suzuki, 32
3rd Frank Hughes, 30 c/b 18
4th Tom Sathram, 30 c/b 14
Division 2 (17plus)
1st Roar Berger, 32
2nd Reg Warner, 31
3rd Brian Kelly, 30
4th Jimmy Norris, 28
Following a hot and humid weekend, golfers anticipated a hot and weary round
of golf! Wrong, a force 4/5 wind greeted everyone and for the most part, the
wind appeared to always be into the face, especially on three of the par 3’s
which almost certainly accounted for that rarest of events, no “2”s carded;
a rollover awaits in division 1 and a huge quadruple rollover is in the
offing in division 2.
The usual fast greens coupled with the strong winds meant that Mountain
Shadow would again prove too tough and true to expectations, scores were
poor to say the least! Kevin played pretty solid golf off his 6 handicap and
proved a worthy winner in division 1. However, scores were much tighter in
division 2 and once again, the Berger King slipped in to take the honors.
Fortunately for him, standard scratch went up to 75, which means only Kevin
Taylor will go down.
Prior to the presentation, Richard Livingston, the resident PGA
professional, welcomed Reg Reader and welcomed back Eberhard Stoll and Reg
Warner.
Wed 01 Mar,
Noble Place B&A - Stableford
Division 1 (0-13)
1st Takeshi Hakozaki, 39
2nd Tony Barritt, 38
3rd Tom Sathram, 37
4th Alan Howell, 36
Division 2 (14plus)
1st Dave Spendley, 39
2nd Roar Berger, 35
3rd Peter Johansson, 32
4th Bob Duxbury, 31
Another large turnout for the trip up the 331 to the always popular Noble
Place layout. The day started bright enough and the golfers enjoyed a
reasonably swift front 9 in good conditions. Come the back 9 and the course
was very clogged and distant thunder could be heard getting closer by the
minute.
As the slow golf continued, so the storm hit and golfers were seen scurrying
from all quarters, either back to the clubhouse or to the nearest drink
station. The rain became torrential and the course a dangerous place to be,
so it was surprising that scores were so good at the end of the day. This
was especially so in division 1 where Takeshi just beat off a strong
challenge from Tony & Tom with Alan completing the podium positions at the
expense of poor old Captain Bob Heath on count back.
In division 2, scores were relatively poor and Dave Spendley fairly romped
home from the Berger King and will be eyeing that elusive 18 handicap in the
coming weeks! In the “2”s competition, Rick Holmes, Tom Sathram, Yasuo
Suzuki & Alan Hanlon (2) shared the prize in division 1 whilst yet again
there were no “2”s carded in division 2, so the huge rollover now awaits
some lucky golfer(s) at Bangpra on Monday (Friday being the 11th Pattaya
Am-Am Tournament).
Prior to the presentation, Richard Livingston, bade farewell to Bob & Pat
Duxbury who head off back to icy Manchester after two months in the sun
Aussie Bob ‘cleans up’ at Crystal Bay
I.P.G.C. from The Caddy Shack
Tuesday, February 28, the golfers from The Caddy Shack
played Bangpra, which is one of the oldest courses in the country. The cut
was made at 15 and under and in Division Two Mr. Loy scored a net 79 for 3rd
place whilst there was a two-way tie for 1st place between John Hendrie and
Harry Cowling, both with net 78. In Division One, Steve Nowell scored a net
73 for 2nd place and Mr. Suzuki scored a net 72 for 1st place. The lovely
2’s were shared between Brian Jacks, Lindsay Joshua and a couple for Steve
Nowell; the booby bananas were awarded to Andy Li for his net 100.
Thursday, March 2 saw something special on the wonderful Crystal Bay A and B
courses. In a Stableford tournament, Bob Philp playing off his mere 7
handicap, shot the round of his life and scored 46 points, which adds up to
a gross 69. His round also included three 2’s, which blew his rivals away.
Runner up to Bob was Alan Spinks with a level par 36 points and in a distant
3rd place was Bill Hewitt with 35 points.
In Division Two, Clark Alexander scored 35 points for 2nd place but the
winner of the division was ex rugby star Phil Smith with 36 points. Apart
from Aussie Bob, Geoff Hart also slipped in a birdie ‘two’ to take a slice
of the cake and as Bob had cleaned up all the prizes it was only fair to
give him the Bananas as well. Bob then selected a couple of bottles of the
best Aussie wine to celebrate.
Thai Oil takes Princess Somsawali Trophy at Lions Club charity bowling contest
Santsak Ngampiches, advisor
to the Minister of Interior, officially opened the charity bowling
competition organized by the Naklua Lions Club of Pattaya and City Hall at
Bowling Plus on February 26, with teams competing for the Princess Somsawali
Trophy.
All the winning competitors
gather for a group photo
Guests of honor included Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn and Revat
Phonlookin, executive vice president of the Provincial Administration
Organization.
Chairman of the Naklua Lions Club Banchong Banthoonprayuk, who had headed
the organizing committee, said that this was the third charity bowl event
held by Lions Club in cooperation with Pattaya City. The purpose of the
event was to raise money to support charitable activities.
During his opening speech, Santsak said that bowling is a game for all
generations, because everyone can join in. To prove his point, he began
bowling on one of the lanes and was joined by other VIP guests.
The competition ran from 9:00am to 3:30pm and the winning team was Thai Oil
3 with a score of 1,526 pins and they were grateful recipients of the
Princess Somsawali Trophy. Runners-up were the Flamingo Team with a score of
1,514 pins followed by Thongdee Yaowarat with a score of 1,447. Teams
participating had the right to draw ticket stubs for spot prizes including a
refrigerator and other electrical appliances.
In total, after the deduction of expenses, the charity bowl contest raised
more than 300,000 baht for worthwhile charitable causes.
The Aerogate Golf Invitational 2006
Tuesday, February 28, Pattaya Country Club
The competition overall sponsor was Aerogate, a company involved
worldwide in the installation, commissioning, repair, over-haul etc. of
medium sized Power Generation Turbines.
 Ladies
tournament winner Mon receives her trophy from Eddie Law and Tom Cooper.
The Aerogate Invitational was presented by the Sugar Shack Bar and
co-sponsored by Lexus Sukumvit, Golf-4-You, ESC Property Services, Fire and
Gas, Northshore Real Estate Thailand, Stork Gear and Services and Fish Head
Fishing Team.
The event was the first of its kind with some unusual and exceptional
prizes, including a brand new Lexus RX300 for the first Hole-in-one (sadly
not won on the day), top of the range Nokia 8800 and 9300i Mobile Phones,
Lexus Golf Bags and Umbrellas, Golf Shop Vouchers and various other prizes
for the Free Draw, the main one of which was a customized 600 cc motorbike.
It is intended that the Aero-Gate Invitational will become an annual event.
As for the day, 97 eager golfers set out with their clubs and tournament
memorabilia all hoping to be the lucky entrant to return to Pattaya
afterwards at the wheel of a brand new Lexus, which of course did not happen
as the closest drive of the day was 2 feet from that little cup on the
green. Notwithstanding the Lexus returning to Bangkok unclaimed, all golfers
had a great day and appeared to make frequent use of the many refreshment
stops available on the course, this practice continuing during the
end-of-the-day buffet and prize giving ceremony at the course and also upon
their eventual return to the Sugar Shack Bar to celebrate their wins,
commiserate their loss and have the usual debriefing discussions as to why
they were not sat with a prize next to them.
The main winners of the day included; first place men’s (Paul Shaw net 68,
Trophy & Nokia 8800 Phone), first place ladies (Mon net 72, Trophy & Nokia
9300i Phone), lowest gross of the day (Simon Philbrook net 77, 5000 Baht),
highest card of the day (Jeff Yarmola net 147, golf lessons, what else!!),
longest drive (Tom Fanning distance 328 yards, Lexus golf bag), closest to
the pin (Tim Wood distance 6 feet, Lexus golf bag) nearest the line (Gordon
Kerr distance 4 inches, Lexus dolf bag). Last but by no means least, the
free draw first prize (Jim Harris, 600 cc customized motorbike).
In closing AeroGate and the Sugar Shack Bar thanks all sponsors and entrants
for their enthusiastic participation and looks forward to seeing all those
involved next year.
The Beautiful Game?: A Week to Remember for Keane
By Riz Taylor
Ireland’s Robbie Keane will be forgiven for waking up with a smile on his
face this week, and before you ask it’s not because he’s spending a week on
holiday in Fun City. For someone that seems to have been around forever,
it’s hard to believe that Keane is still only 25 years old. Despite his
tender years he’s already had more employers that most players ten years his
senior, including spells at Wolves, Coventry, Leeds and even Inter Milan.
Yet ‘Keano’ finally seems to have settled into life with Tottenham, and both
club and country are beginning to reap the results.
That’s certainly the opinion of his two bosses. Martin Jol has rewarded
Keane’s form with a new four-year deal at White Hart Lane, whilst at
international level coach Steve Staunton has recognised his star striker’s
experience and leadership skills by handing him the ultimate accolade - the
captain’s armband for the national team.
“I was delighted, excited, ecstatic,” Keane said. “You name it, I was it.
It’s a great honour. To lead your country out is something you always dream
of as a kid,” he continued ahead of Ireland’s friendly with Sweden at
Landsdowne Road. The new skipper also managed to add to his record as
Ireland’s all-time leading scorer with another strike as his side spanked
England’s World Cup opponents 3-0.
Back to the real world of club football, and Spurs face Chelsea at Stamford
Bridge in tomorrow’s lunchtime kick off (early evening Pattaya) with more
riding on the fixture than in previous seasons. Tottenham’s horrendous
record against Chelsea will again come under scrutiny, but things are a
little different this time around.
Tottenham extended the gap between themselves and the pack chasing their
coveted fourth position on Sunday by scraping past Blackburn Rovers 3-2, two
of the goals coming from Keane. But with Spurs’ impressive season comes
added expectation, and they go into tomorrow’s lunchtime match at Stamford
Bridge in the knowledge that rolling over meekly and losing 3-0 to the
reigning champions will no longer be greeted with a shrug of the shoulders
by the Tottenham faithful. Genuine fight is expected from the players, and
after the controversial dismissal of Mido in the corresponding fixture in
North London earlier in the season that turned an even battle into a
one-sided affair, Spurs will be after revenge.
England finished their friendly with Uruguay last week with no less than
five Tottenham players on the pitch. These are exciting times at the Lane,
and the club’s policy of recruiting and nurturing young English talent seems
finally to be paying off.
But keeping the Irishman on board is just as crucial to their success.
Beginning the season as third choice striker behind Jol’s favoured ‘little
and large’ partnership of Jermain Defoe and Mido, a younger Keane may have
packed his bags and left for another club, but added maturity has seen him
win his place back from Defoe through a combination of patience and
determination.
“This is a club that is going places, I believe that and it is the reason
why I signed here from Leeds in the first place. I had the feeling it was a
club going in the right direction and I still believe this, especially with
how the team are doing and the quality of players that have been bought in,”
he said after signing his new deal.
The Times newspaper suggested on Sunday that “history suggests that you are
more likely to see a drinks vending machine in the Sahara than a Tottenham
win at Stamford Bridge.” Whilst defeat at the Bridge is no shame for any
side, tomorrow will go some way to gauging Spurs’ progress and claims for a
European spot, and at the heart of their challenge will be one rather happy
Irishman.
Shame in Spain
Real Zaragoza have been fined for the racist behaviour of their fans after
large sections of the crowd abused Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o during
Barcelona’s visit last week. Eto’o was seen to mouth “no more” and attempted
to leave the pitch after having had enough of the abuse during the second
half. It was only after pleas from his own teammates that the African Player
of the Year came back onto the field to continue. Barca won the match 2-0.
At a press conference back in Barcelona, Eto’o said: “A severe punishment is
needed to eradicate this problem from football, perhaps the closing of their
stadium for a year so that they have to play away.”
“It was practically the whole stadium,” he continued. “Is there anything
wrong with being black? I am not the only black in this league and I did
what went through my head at the time. I am a football player and in this
fight we must take decisions so that we do not feel uncomfortable.”
The Spanish Football Federation’s response was to fine Zaragoza 9,000 Euros,
or 420,000 baht. Keen to stick his unwanted oar in, Spain’s national coach
Luis Aragones joined the debate by saying that he didn’t think there was
racism in Spanish football. “Eto’o may have confused things,” he said. “I
think insults take a different form in Spanish soccer, so I don’t think
there’s racism. In my opinion, Eto’o has taken literally some things which
were said to him and the affair has been exaggerated.”
And this from the man who was picked up by microphones last year calling
French striker Thierry Henry “that black s**t”, for which he was fined a
ridiculous 3,000 Euros.
What’s the point? If the Spanish federation is incapable of getting to grips
with the matter, UEFA or FIFA should step in. If these organisations are
happy to become embroiled in debates over bad tackles and controversial
dismissals, to ignore racism in one of Europe’s top leagues is nothing short
of a disgrace. And am I alone in wondering what would have happened had the
incident taken place in Britain?
“Different to what I was teached”
More news from Spain now, but thankfully on a lighter note.
England captain David Beckham has confessed that he is befuddled by his
six-year-old son’s maths homework. Dad was forced to turn to Spice Girl wife
Victoria for assistance after finding himself unable to help his boy.
“Their homework is so hard these days. I sat down with Brooklyn the other
day, and I was like, ‘Victoria, maybe you should do the homework tonight’,”
Beckham told the Mail on Sunday newspaper. “I think it was maths, actually,”
he continued, digging himself a deeper hole by the second. “It’s done
totally differently to what I was teached [sic] when I was at school, and
you know, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t do this’. Brooklyn was like,
‘Please do it with me’, and I’m like, ‘I’ll read your book with you’.”
Brooklyn attends Runnymede College in Madrid, which follows the British
national curriculum. The newspaper also gave a few examples of the maths
questions set for seven-year-olds. They include: “Bet went to the shop at
11.45. She came back half an hour later. What time did she come back?” and
“What is 12 divided by three?”
Becks also admitted he has no superstitious match routines purely because
they’re too tough to remember. “I find that if I follow a routine, it gets
to the stage where you are thinking, ‘Right, was it the left side, the left
boot I put on first, or the right side? There are so many things that can go
through your mind.”
Bernie steals the show with a ‘Noble’ 63
PSC golf from The Bunker
Monday, Feb 27, Bang Pakong -
Stableford:
For the last day of the month The Bunker Boy’s travelled to Bang Pakong for
a Stableford competition and, as the scores reflected, the windy conditions
proved difficult to master.
In the A division with the cut at 14 and under there was a tie for first
place with three players finishing level with 34 points to share the spoils,
these were Dev Staliford, Mashi Kaneta and Charlie Gooch. The B division was
also close which saw Brian Maddox finish third with 33 points, newcomer John
Robertson grabbed second spot with 34 points but the in-form Jan Von
Spelling claimed first prize to go with his Golfer of the Month trophy he
had already secured before today’s game. This was Jan’s last game before
returning home to the Netherlands and this victory made sure of a very
successful golfing holiday for him.
Near pin prizes went to Dev, Paul Quodomine and that man again Jan! - Well
done and farewell Jan.
Wednesday, March 1, Noble Place - Medal:
Noble Place was the setting for a medal competition and what a
day it turned out to be. A severe thunderstorm broke out midway through the
round and many golfer’s were seen to be scampering for safety as lightning
struck all around the ground! This went on for some time and resulted in
many golfers calling it a day for safety reasons. Those brave enough or daft
enough to complete their rounds returned to The Bunker with some very odd
scores indeed.
The cut today was 18 and under and with half the field not returning their
cards we had a tie for second place in the A division between Donald Hendry
and Hakan Widestedt, both with net 73. But Japanese golfer Mashi Kaneta
pipped them at the post going one better with net 72 to claim first prize.
In the B division Jim Wooler returned to the clubhouse with a grin on his
face expecting his net 69 to win, but it was not to be as not only did big
Scot Dougie Landsborough come in with net 68 to take second place but Bernie
Stevens stole the show in only his second competitive game since attaining
his PSC handicap with a magnificent net 63!
Only three par three greens were hit so the near pin prizes were shared
between Tony Scambler, Aussie Heie Hansen and Dougy Landsborough.
Friday, March 3, The Emerald - Stableford
The Emerald golf course was the setting on Friday for another
Stableford competition and with it’s undulating fairways and tricky greens
The Emerald proved to be as challenging as ever.
The cut was 14 and under and in the B division we had a tie for third place
between Jim Wooler and Brian Rought who had 34 points each, one point behind
second placed PJ Redmond with 35, who was himself two further points behind
eventual winner Canadian Rod Stevens who finished with 37 points.
The A division saw Tony Scambler nab third place with 32 points one point
behind Mashi Kaneta with 33 points but no-one could match scratch golfer
Alan Freeman on one of his favourite courses running away with first prize
after scoring a fabulous 39 points.
Near pin prizes were won by Peter Hoyle, Alan Freeman and the other two
being claimed by William Macey.
Wife beats husband by one stroke
PSC golf from The Grapevine
Thursday, March 2, Century Chonburi -
Stableford
This headline was preempted at our awards presentation last week. So, many
thanks must go to Thong Pakdiwan (39 points) and Roy Pimblett (38 points)
for providing both the opportunity and humor involved. The occasion was the
B Flight competition which also saw Dick Warberg (35 points) who was going
for back to back wins, come in third place.
Dave, Thong, and Roy
The field in A Flight was well headed by Dave (are the showers any good?)
Askew with 37 points, and Frank Pilkington and Tony Oakes, both with 33
points, but separated on a count back, taking the minor placings.
Long putts were won by Mashi Kaneta and Barry Kerr. However, with the
nearest to pins, three of the eight holes went to lucky draws as none, I
repeat, NONE of the 35 golfers could hit the dedicated greens.
Congratulations go to Frank (The Cigar) Pilkington, Roy Pimblett, Mike
Wing, Jack Robertson and Tony (Does this affect my handicap?) Oakes for
their endeavors. Lucky draws as Jeff likes to remind us all, are mutually
exclusive to skill, and for that reason, no names are mentioned here,
otherwise Mike Wing and Barry Kerr would have been mentioned.
Thanks again to Keith Hodges and Dick Worden for their organizational
efforts yet again, and I understand the land speed record for the return
trip from Century Chonburi to The Grapevine was also broken by our renowned
lead-footed car jockey, Dick Worden.
If you’re looking for a good, friendly day of golf with a great bunch of
people, please come down to The Grapevine and sign up. Numbers are strictly
limited to a maximum of 40 people, so sign up early to avoid any
disappointment. For more information, please contact 038-361736. Cheers and
good golfing.
House of the Golden Coin moves into a tie for first
Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League
200 bowlers - Rich, Kran, Jim, Mai, Lance & La
House of the Golden Coin were last season’s
cellar dwellers but are on a winning streak in this league as they took all
four points from Shenanigans. Jack & Tar are tied for first but they only
managed to split their match with VFW Post 9876 with some good bowling by
both teams. Three Sisters took possession of third place as they also won
all four points when they defeated Montana. Brother D knocked Café Kronborg
down to fourth place after their three-point win. A log jam of four teams
are tied for fifth place as France only managed to win one point from Mai’s
Thai Restaurant and Friends took all four from Café Ole. Domicil won four
points from Grapevine to get back on the winning track and are trying to
move up the standings.
Ian Covill ‘Champion of the Month’ at The Emerald Banchang
PSC golf from McAllister’s Bar & Grill
The happy prize winners in celebratory mood at
McAllister’s
Friday March 3 - Attendance at the regular
Friday PSC McAllister’s golf event continues to climb to the point where we
have a total of 50 players vying for the ‘Champion of the Month’ awarded on
the first Friday of each month. The winner takes home the Tankard and has
his or her name inscribed on the trophy, which resides at McAllister Bar &
Grill.
Conditions at The Emerald were on the soggy side after rain the previous day
and this no doubt had the effect of lowering scores to the point where the
average score of the 47 cards turned in was well below 30 stableford points.
This makes Ian Covill’s score of 40 points all the more impressive, winning
the A flight as well as the Monthly Tankard. Alex Backlund had a convincing
win in the B flight with his 37 points, 2 points clear of the other
contenders. Herbie Ishinaga again joins the winner’s circle this time by
being closest to the Haggis on hole #15.
In all there were sufficient funds in the kitty to award a total of nine
prizes. Although it is gratifying to run such a successful event, with so
many players showing up regularly it becomes increasingly challenging for
the organizers to achieve the goal of having all prizes awarded as soon as
possible after 2:00pm. We ask therefore that all players hand in their
scorecards before 2:00 pm, to make them eligible to share in the prize pool.
We look forward to seeing everyone again next week.
Results: (handicaps in parentheses):
A Flight (handicaps 0-18)
1st Ian Covill (18) 40 points
2nd Bill Knight (17) 36 points
3rd Dennis Willett (10) 35 points
B Flight (handicaps 19-36)
1st Alex Backlund (19) 37 points
2nd Ian Kidd (36) 35 points
3rd Paul Kraft (30) 35 points
The Square Ring
by Howie Reed
Because there were so many delicious morsels on the The Square Ring
plate last week, we had to cut short on the interview with Chatchai
‘Dutchboy Gym’. Chatchai talked about what many in boxing see as the problem
with Thai boxers. He places it in the context of Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and a
fight that would make him an international name to contend with.
Asked about Pongsaklek he said, “Yes, he’s very skilled but many fans are
disappointed he hasn’t fought Jorge Arce. He wants to be in the Hall of
Fame. He doesn’t want to fight him because he doesn’t want to take a chance
on losing to Arce. If Arce fights him in Thailand, maybe Pongsaklek will
beat him. If they fight outside Thailand, it will be more difficult for
Pongsaklek to win. Fighting outside Thailand is always hard for Thais.”
Asked about about whom he rates as the hardest puncher he faced in the ring
Chatchai was unequivocal; “Manny Pacquiao... one good punch from him and I
was out. He has very heavy hands.”
Chatchai’s comments on Pongsaklek fit in, as any regular reader may
remember, with those of The Square Ring which didn’t think much of his
recent contest with Mexican Keb Baas. It was a rather lopsided UD. I was
dropped on an e-mail that set the record straight however:
“For your information (if you have not already seen the contest), it was a
very good, high-quality fight, much more competitive than the scores
(superficially) might indicate. As someone neatly described it, Baas went
1-2-3 all the time but, unfortunately for him, Pongsaklek went 1-2-3-4 all
the time.” There you go... record straight!
OR went on to ask me about last week’s big fight in the States: “I forgot to
ask you a question about the fight. I didn’t see Shane Mosley’s dad in his
corner during the fight. Did they part company, and who is the new guy with
him? Also, did I hear correctly that Mosley is going to go back down to
welterweight? I think it would make sense to be where he could get some KO’s
again.”
Ol’ Rugged has got an eye like an eagle. The new corner man for Shane Mosley
is John David Jackson who trains fighters in the Southern California area.
Mosley 86’d his Dad after the loss to Winky Wright. Welterweight, 147lbs,
will be the next stop for Mosley, although there is talk of a re-match with
Vargas. Those that saw the fight will realize that Mosley did re-invent
himself, something that most boxing ‘experts’ said couldn’t be done. So much
for experts, it was a heck of a week that just passed in the Square Ring.
For the first time in many ‘moons’ the action inside the ring surpassed that
outside
At an ‘Injun’ casino in Santa Ynez, California, Vic Darchinyan (24-0), the
IBF fly champ, was trying to stretch his winning streak to 7 victories in a
row with 7 KO’s. The task was difficult as Diosdado Gabi (26-2-1) had never
been dropped, counted out or stopped. The young lad from the Philippines had
a 12 fight winning streak of his own. This was not only a bout between two
darn good fighters but two great trainers - Jeff Fenech for Gabi and Freddie
Roach at the controls of Darchinyan. The winner could look forward to an
important match with either Jorge Arce or Lorenzo Parra. The best in the
division, Pongsaklek Wonjongham isn’t in the mix for reasons printed at the
beginning of this brilliant column.
Many times it’s the preparations that make the difference. Prior to the
fight Gabi said, “I know that Vic is a good boxer. He throws a good amount
of punches. He has very good movement when he boxes.” Not even close. Vic
Darchinyan has one punch power that is unexpected in the flyweight division.
He proved that Saturday afternoon when in the 8th round he landed a single
devastating left that ended the fight. Gabi got back to his feet on pure
heart to beat the count but referee David Mendoza wisely stopped the
proceedings at 2:42.
Another fight that could stand all on its own as a “major” attraction was
fought in Indonesia between the two men recognized as the best at 126
pounds. Mexico’s Juan Manual Marquez (44-2-1) is best remembered for his
brawl with Manny Pacquiao last May. Down three times in round one he came
back for a ‘disputed draw’. Disputed draw? Yep, the fight in Las Vegas had a
Nevada judge (Burt Clements) who forgot that with three knockdowns in a
round it’s scored 10-6 for the guy doing the hitting, not 10-7. He scored
the fight as a draw. Marquez also got a break when French-Canadian judge Guy
Jutras had it 115-110, which can only mean that he was either drunk, blind,
just plain stupid or any combination of the three.
Local guy Chris John (36-0-1) has gotten maybe a bum rap for not traveling
to fight the best in the division. By luring Marquez to Tenggarong City a
win would validate his career. Consider Chris Johns, (37-0-1) now validated.
While Johns only had an inch or so reach advantage, he used all that to stay
outside, earning a unanimous decision (116-110, 116-112, 117-111). For
Marquez the inability to get in close had to cost him or maybe at 32, age
just jumped up and bit him on the bum. All hail Chris Johns.
IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (20-0) is one of those guys that
fights on home turf, builds a great record then whines when critics mention
that he hasn’t fought anyone. Abraham, fighting in Oldenburg Germany, tossed
a whitewash on Aussie Shannan Taylor (120 all around) to retain his useless
IBF title.
The same criticism has sometimes been leveled at Joe Calzaghe (40-0). On
Sunday last he met Jeff ‘Left Hook’ Lacy (21-0) at the MEN Arena in
Manchester for the WBO/IBF super middle titles. Calzaghe countered those
complaints by saying, “I wanted to fight all the best but they didn’t want
to fight me.” Frank ‘The Weasel’ Warren, Calzaghe’s promoter, would make
unreasonable demands then say, “They don’t want to fight us.” This time Lacy
called the Warren bluff... Big mistake!
‘Left Hook’ Jeff Lacy got his ass kicked at 2am (local time) in the MEN
Arena in Manchester, England by an oft maligned and still undefeated, at
42-0, Joe Calzaghe. All three judges gave Calzaghe 11 of the 12 rounds. From
the bloody nose Calzaghe inflicted on Lacy in the 2nd to cuts over both eyes
in the 4th it was a coming out party for the 8-year world champion. When
Lacy came out for the 12th knowing he needed a KO to win, it was Lacy that
hit the deck. It was a great performance by Calzaghe and a poor one from
Lacy.
At Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Puerto Rico, WBO jr. welter champ Miguel Cotto
improved his record to 26-0 with an almost perfect performance against
Gianluca Branco (36-2-1). The stage was set early on when Branco landed only
one punch in the first round. Cotto continually used his left hook to batter
Branco’s right side. When the bout was stopped at 49 seconds of the 8th,
Branco had a swollen eye, a possible broken jaw and a shoulder injury that
presented the opportunity for the willing Italian to say “Non avere piu di;
non avere altro”
I’m raising a pint of the golden liquid this week in a toast to pal Patrick
the ‘Flying Frog’ on the birth of his daughter. Ms. Patty Van Den
Berg-Canchai entered this world at a trim fighting weight of 3kg on February
27 at 3pm. As Patrick will find out, “daughters can drive a man to drink.” I
wish I could thank them all... Congratulations!
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