League gets tighter as top three teams lose

Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League

Bowlers - Rich, Bill, Tue, Leo, La, Lance

Second place House of the Golden Coin took on first place Café Kronborg and took all 4 points and first place. Grape Vine by way of 3 wins over Three Sisters moved back into second place. France held on to fourth with 4 points from VFW Post 9876. Friends moved up a position taking 3 points from Mai’s Thai Restaurant even with Rich having the best series of the day with 639 pins. With Pisamai shooting 602, Domicil captured 4 points from Montana and jumped from eleventh place to ninth. Café Ole’ got 3 points from Shenanigans while Jack & Tar and Brother D with Nang coming in with 601 pins, split there match.

Hobie Cat Championship in Pattaya: A portent of new events

Story and pics by Peter Cummins

The waters off South Pattaya were a blaze of action and colour, as almost 40 Hobie Catamarans, blasted around the course in three days of spectacular racing, out off the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, last month.

Hobies head out to do battle off Varuna.

In a top-class fleet of some of the world’s best Hobie sailors, it was ‘home-towners’ from the Sattahip yachting facilities, Damrongsak and Sakda Vongtim, who left no doubt as to who was in charge. With six first placings and a second, in the seven best races counted out of the nine sailed, the Vongtims, on eight penalty points, were 13 points ahead of Aussie’s finest, Bruce Tardrew and Sarah Turnbull.
In the second Hobie event, raced simultaneously, perennial winners, Claire and Simon Medd kept the visitors busy, scoring 11 points, to the second-placed Peter/Brenda Davies and Jean-Philippe-Damien Proust.
Royal Varuna sailors, Stefaan de Vos / Saranya Makinson were fifth, another Varuna entry, Richard Eyre / Dave Littlejohn were sixth and Schle Wood / Thanin and crew were eighth.
The quality of the racing, nevertheless, can be gauged by the performance of Bruce and Sarah, who won this event in Thailand in 2004 and are the 2006 Grand Master Hobie World champions, an event sailed in torrid conditions off South Africa.
Furthermore, Bruce - this time with Gerard Ryan, survived; in fact finished third - in the just-completed Philippine Hobie Challenge, the first leg of which was 70 nautical miles, sailed in “horrendous conditions” which landed several craft on reefs off the Veramaris Resort.
The first 15 placings in the Thai Hobie Cat 16 Championship 2006, read like a “who’s who” in Hobie Cat racing, with four visitors - Grahame Southwick / Vasquez J, Sam Wood / Susan Etherington, Tong Shing / Ronnie Lee and Christian Wright / Susan Macdonald following in 3rd to 6th places, before Varuna sailors, Leo Wienands / Mikael Pophillat (7th), Suwan Poopoksakul / Pairode Matturanont (9th), Sebastain / Rolf Lehmann (12th), the Rockeys, Bud and Gaile (13th) and Holger / Jens Michael (15th).
There were a total of 19 overseas teams and the event was sponsored by Hobie Cat Australasia, Blue Wave Water Sports Asia, Yacht Pro Sail Training, Heineken and the Pattaya Mail, Pattaya Blatt and Pattaya Mail on TV.
This championship too, is having a very positive feed-back from the participants and it has been announced that the Hobie Cat Asian Championship will be held next year at Pattaya and it is even mooted that the highly-prestigious and, well-funded Hobie Cat Worlds could be heading Pattaya way in a year or so.
Meantime, Damrongsak, the reigning Hobie Cat maestro, has just gone on to win the Beach Cat Division of the just-finished Top of the Gulf Regatta, by an equally big margin. Some years ago, his dad, Vinai Vongtim, became the first Thai sailor to win a world championship - the Top Cat Worlds and, it could well be that son Damrongsak could become the first Thai Hobie Cat World Champion. He was, after all a graduate from Optimist training and has won a few national championships along the way!

The Aussies enjoying some Thai/Varuna hospitality.

Home are the sailors - home from the sea.

Sports Quiz

Apologies to those who tried to answer question 1 of last week’s quiz. It should have read 4 England captains – not 5. Graham McDonald was the first to answer all the questions correctly so congratulations to him. In case you were wondering about the answers, here they are:
1) Name 4 post war England soccer captains whose first and last names begin with the same letter of the alphabet
Answer: William (Billy) Wright, Mick Mills, Kevin Keegan, Anthony (Tony) Adams
2) Which two countries regularly compete in cricket test matches that have been going longer than tests between any other two countries, ever?
Answer: England & Australia. (Surprisingly the oldest cricket fixture between 2 nations is Canada & USA)
3) One of the most famous dog sled races is the Iditarod. It is run every year to commemorate what event?
Answer: The emergency diphtheria serum run of 1925 to the town of Nome, Alaska
This weeks Questions are:
1) Out of the 92 football teams in England (Premiership, Championship and Divisions 1-2), which ones are situated geographically the furthest North, South, East & West?
2) Greece traditionally leads out the parade at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Which nation leads the parade at the closing ceremony?
3) The Agnelli family of Fiat motorcar fame are the major shareholders in Juventus football club in Italy. Who is the second largest shareholder? a) Ford Motor Co., b) Gucci, c) Bill Gates & Microsoft, d) Gadhaffi (Colonel)

B.J’s moment of glory

IPGC golf from The Haven

Monday May 1
Noble Place, Stableford
1st Simon Spaulding, 39 pts.
2nd Sunny Khanna, 38 pts.
3rd Trevor Schirmer, 35 pts.
4th Brian Carruthers, 34 pts. cb9/18
5th Rick Holmes, 34 pts. cb9/17
Spurning the opportunity to don their clogs and dance around the maypole on May Day, the intrepid golfers from the Haven sped up the 331 to one of the best-maintained courses in the area and one not charging too much on the bank holiday. Apart from a few plaintive May Day calls from those players straying into the bunkers, which were fair but deep, the majority enjoyed the day out whilst not being able to better their handicaps.
The notable exceptions being Simon Spaulding playing off a handicap of 4, who stroked it round in one over gross to claim first place and Sunny Khanna, who also played well enough to record a two under net for second place.
Trevor Schirmer as always was the epitome of steadiness as he laid claim to third ahead of Brian Carruthers who took fourth by countback from Rick Holmes
In the first division the “twos” pool was shared between Al Rolnik, Trevor Schirmer and Stewart Keane whilst Sunny Khanna holed the only one in the second division.
Before presenting the prizes Richard Livingston, the resident PGA teaching professional welcomed new members Tracey Brown and Stewart Keane, he also welcomed back Jeff McLaury, Martin Grimoldby, and Simon Spaulding. He also gave a fond farewell to Brian Carruthers who was returning to Scotland to work on his game with Sandy Lyle, before returning in the near future.
Wednesday May 3
Khao Kheow, Better Ball
1st Trevor Schirmer & B.J. Smith, 45 pts. cb 25
2nd Keith Emerson & Mike Dabanovich, 45 pts. cb 19
3rd Barry Traynor & Norman Isherwood, 43 pts.
4th John Desmond & Peter Emslie, 42 pts.
An outstanding back nine by B.J. Smith saw him knock it round in one over gross and with the advantage of a handicap allowance of nine strokes, it was enough to see off the weak finish of Keith Emerson and Mike Dabanovich, after they had opened up with a scorching 25 points on the front nine.
Indeed Trevor Schirmer was reduced to keeping score as all of his efforts on the back were an unnecessary expenditure of energy. Fortunately he had scored on a couple of holes on the front, so only had to put up with about four and a half hours ribbing from the crowd at the prize giving. It was also the best nine holes that B.J. had ever achieved which was worth a few extra rounds at the bar, a short quiz on all the world famous Aussie world beaters, Australian flag waving and a rendition of their National Anthem, which was all very exciting for the massed throngs at the bar.
Barry Traynor and Norman Isherwood were a couple of shots further back in third place following a typical workmanlike display from Norman while Barry twinkled from time to time but it was just enough to ensure a small advantage over the fourth placed team of John Desmond, now happily able to take a normal stance and at least titter at small jokes, and the old sea dog Peter Emslie.
The “twos” competition was suspended for the days play due to the format allowing for advice from the partners.
Prior to the presentation of the prizes Richard welcomed back Keith Emerson.
Friday May 5
Green Valley, Stableford,
1st Frank Pilkington, 36 pts. cb9 20
2nd Tony Barritt, 36 pts. cb9 19
3rd Jeremy Masse, 35 pts.
4th Martin Grimoldby, 34 pts. cb9 19, cb6 14
5th Mike Dabanovich, 34 pts. cb9 19, cb6 13
Frank Pilkington made a rare visit to the Haven and made sure it was a memorable occasion as he took the day’s spoils by the slimmest of margins on count back from Tony Barritt, who at last put together a sensible round and even managed to record the scores and sign the card in a legible fashion. In the event 19 on the back was not quite good enough as Frank birdied the last hole to win by a hair’s breadth.
Jeremy Masse, also making an infrequent appearance took third place with a solid round that was perhaps marred by the double bogey on the third hole and resulted in a round of catch up that didn’t quite make it.
Martin Grimoldby, having just returned from his holidays in the UK, was quickly back into his stride and although his game is not yet up to scratch it was enough to squeeze out Mike Dabanovich by a shot on the back six.
In the “twos” competition, Werner Kuhr slipped in the only two in the second division to sweep the pool whilst the first division was shared between Martin Grimoldby, Trevor Schirmer and Norman Isherwood.
Back at the Haven Richard welcomed back Jeremy Masse before presenting the prizes.

Panthers left looking for their teeth

The Chris Kays Pattaya Memorial Rugby Tens

The Seventh Pattaya Tens was the best Tournament so far. As ever it is the people that make the tournament, and it would be an impossibility to mention everybody that helped, lent advice and even just turned up.
On the field of play it was a hard fought competition with the local team, Pattaya Panthers getting off to the worst possible start by losing all three games on day one. This despite the presence in their ranks of Harry Roberts, the ex South African International.
Although some of the players were nursing a few ‘sore heads’, the second day of action proved to be as equally entertaining as the first. In the Ladies Cup, The Wontoks over came the Lion Reds in the final whilst in the Bowl event, Ladkrabang scored 26 points to overcome hosts Pattaya Panthers, who only scored 12.
The popular winners of the Plate were Abbey Rugby Club who rattled up 22 points with no return from the Singapore Cricket Club, and the deserved winners of the Cup were the Ratcha Navy, who scored 19 points without reply from The Hsis Chu Whistlers.
The Prize Giving was held around the attractive Horseshoe Point pool side where the prestigious Chris Kays Memorial Trophy, which is presented to the person that everybody feels has contributed most to the tournament both on and off the field, was awarded to Uton Peters of the Southerners for outstanding work both at Rugby and drinking. The player of the tournament award went to Siam Pong (Yam) from the Ladkrabang University team.
Be sure to check out next week’s Pattaya Mail for a full report of the 2-day Pattaya 10’s tournament including pictures from both the on and ‘off field’ activities.

Star-studded nominations for 2006 Laureus Awards

A glittering collection of the world’s greatest sports stars has been nominated for the 2006 Laureus World Sports Awards. Among those short listed are Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong, world tennis No.1 Roger Federer, brilliant Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho, and foremost golfers Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods.

After a brilliant 12 months on the court, Roger Federer will be hoping to retain the mantle of Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
The Laureus World Sports Awards is the only global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 42 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a collection of the world’s greatest sportsmen and women: The living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today.
The names of the winners will be announced during a televised Awards Ceremony staged at the Parc del Frum, Barcelona, Spain, on the evening of May 22.
At the announcement of the 2006 Nominations in Barcelona, Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: “This has been a vintage year for sport and the Academy are going to find it extremely difficult to decide who to vote for. We have great names in every category. The nominations reflect the immense strength of sport at the moment. I congratulate those who have been nominated before and those who have been short listed for the first time.”
American Lance Armstrong, who won a record seventh Tour de France in 2005, Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who won his third Wimbledon crown, plus the US and Australian Opens, and Tiger Woods, who won the US Masters and the Open Championship, have been nominated again for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award, which they have all won. In addition to Ronaldinho, in that category they will also be up against Spain’s Fernando Alonso, the youngest ever winner of the Formula One World Championship, and Italy’s Valentino Rossi, five-times World MotoGP Champion.
Two football teams, Spanish club FC Barcelona and Liverpool, the English team who won the European Champions League last year, have been nominated for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award, along with the winning Croatia Davis Cup team, the New Zealand rugby team, who won 11 out of 12 Test matches in 2005, Formula One Constructors World Champions Renault and basketball team San Antonio Spurs, who won the NBA Finals for the third time in seven years.
Dutch wheelchair tennis champion Esther Vergeer, a winner in 2002, has been nominated once again for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award. Other nominees are Germanys Kirsten Bruhn, who broke nine Paralympic world swimming records in 2005, Hungary’s Zsuzsanna Krajnyak, who won four gold medals in the European Wheelchair Fencing Championships, Finland’s Leo-Pekka Tahti, who won two wheelchair racing gold medals in the IPS European Championships, South Africa’s Ernst van Dyk, who won the Boston Marathon wheelchair race for the fifth straight time, and Kenya’s Henry Wanyoike, who broke the visually impaired world marathon record twice in seven days.
Sadly Italian hang-glider Angelo dArrigo, who was nominated for the Laureus World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year Award , was killed in an air crash in Italy on March 26, but it has been decided that his name should remain on the list of nominees
Last year’s Awards Ceremony, in the presence of His Majesty The King of Spain, was attended by members of the Laureus Academy and Hollywood stars Jackie Chan, Morgan Freeman, Teri Hatcher and Marcia Gay Harden. Among the award winners present were Roger Federer, Kelly Holmes and Greece football coach Otto Rehhagel.

The Beautiful Game?: Gunners pip Spurs to fourth

Riz Taylor
With both the title race and the relegation squabble already settled, all eyes were on Highbury and Upton Park on Sunday as the race for fourth place in the Premiership finally reached its long-awaited climax.
Although the money in football has already reached distasteful levels, one welcome development in the division is the battle for the lucrative fourth spot, particularly on the last day when the title and relegation squabbles were already decided. Whilst the players may dream of playing in Europe’s premier competition, chairmen rub their hands at the thought of the huge extra income generated merely by participating in the Champions League.
So it was, then, that Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal went into their respective matches on Sunday in the knowledge that the next ninety minutes would determine not just this season but influence the next two or three as well. Spurs were already guaranteed their highest Premiership finish and could seal their fantastic year by beating West Ham at Upton Park to clinch fourth place, whilst Arsenal’s final match at their famous Highbury stadium was to be not just nostalgic but also crucial.
The shock news before the derby at West Ham was that Tottenham’s squad had been laid low by food poisoning picked up the previous evening at a London hotel. You may wonder why a side from London were staying in a London hotel the night before a football match in London, and I have no answer for you. Edgar Davids, Michael Carrick, Aaron Lennon, Robbie Keane and other key players were amongst those affected by a nasty dose of the runs, but because Spurs were still able to field a side, even a heavily weakened one, postponing the match was not an option.
Instead, after a dose of Imodium (a product that as residents of Thailand you’ll be most familiar with) a familiar Spurs line-up took to the pitch, but it quickly became apparent that the players were seriously affected by their illness as West Ham sliced open the Spurs defence almost at will. After ten minutes a 30-yard shot from Carl Fletcher gave the home side a deserved lead, just as Spurs supporters learnt that Arsenal were leading at Highbury.
Tottenham salvaged an equaliser through Jermain Defoe, but after half time it became clear that they’d be unable to find the energy required to force victory. A missed penalty by former White Hart Lane legend Teddy Sheringham gave hope, but ten minutes from time a strike from Yossi Benayoun ensured that Spurs’ Champions League dreams were at an end. At the same time Thierry Henry was capping a predictably brilliant performance with a penalty of his own to seal a hat-trick in front of the North Bank. The famous end went wild for the last time before the club moves to Ashburton Grove. Whether it’s the last chance for Arsenal fans to cheer Thierry Henry at their home ground remains to be seen.
So it’s Arsenal that will play in next season’s Champions League whatever the result of this week’s final in Paris - a weight off Arsene Wenger’s back as he prepares his side to face Barcelona on Wednesday. Spurs and their young talents will be forced to play in the less glamorous UEFA Cup, but that’s something that their fans would have grabbed with both hands at the start of the season. The real test comes next year.
Cup Finals Ahoy
The Premiership season may be over but two cup finals will captivate the attention this week. First up tomorrow comes the FA Cup Final between Liverpool and West Ham United in Cardiff.
Meanwhile Arsenal’s midweek opponents Barcelona discovered they had wrapped up the Spanish title during half time at their trip to Celta Vigo last week. Nearest challengers Valencia lost earlier in the evening and the news filtered through to the Barca dressing room, prompting celebrations amongst the players. One ordered pizza to be delivered to the ground, whilst others sang songs. Gracious hosts Celta also laid on champagne for the champions, although this was to be consumed at full-time only. “We didn’t want to go out pissed for the second half,” said midfielder Gabri.
After chickening out of predicting a Liverpool win on penalties last year I’m going for it this time around - Arsenal to win 2-1 in extra time on Wednesday and the Scousers to disappoint the Hammers 2-0 tomorrow.
Token Scottish news
Alex McLeish was moved by the reception of the Rangers fans as he bowed out of the job at Ibrox on Saturday. “I am very humbled and very honoured,” said McLeish of the reaction. “It was a moment I’ll never forget. It’s not really my scene, going out and bowing or taking applause, but it felt appropriate today and I was very touched by the response.”
Across the city of Glasgow, Shaun Maloney has become the first player to be voted both the Player and Young Player of the Year by his fellow professionals in Scotland. The 23-year-old striker was a crucial part of Celtic’s SPL title win and looks set for a bright future.
“It’s not been done before so it’s a big honour and I feel quite proud,” he said, before spouting lots more predictable rubbish that I won’t bore you with. He’ll remain alongside ageing Welsh fat boy John Hartson at Celtic Park next season, who looks set to stay after being rumoured with a move South.
Fan covers himself for the worst
Finally a football fan in Britain has taken out a one million-pound insurance policy to cover himself against the trauma of England being knocked out early from the World Cup.
Paul Hucker told the Press Association that he paid 105 pounds (around 7,000 baht) for the policy with an unnamed insurer. If he’s to collect any compensation England will need to be knocked out of the tournament at the group stage, and a panel of five commentators will need to ascertain that the exit was premature. In addition, Mr. Hucker will also need to prove that England’s early disappearance has caused him severe mental trauma.
“I feel very patriotic and very optimistic,” he said. “To have psychological trauma and depression is something I don’t want.”

Mark Brittain scores ‘hat trick’ as Seaboard FC outshoot Robin Hood

Following a disappointing run of form recently Seaboard FC looked to return to winning ways in Bangkok last Saturday with an MBMG International League fixture against the Robin Hood.
Manager Rick Bryant has had to chop and change his starting eleven due to the unavailability of players over the past few weeks and this has been a large factor in his side’s recent poor results. However, he was very pleased to welcome back the clubs top scorer Mark Brittain on Saturday to form a strike partnership with Paul Derbyshire that would surely provide the firepower required to overcome a Robin Hood full of new signings.

The Robin Hood keeper collects as Seaboard FC’s Francis Taku (11) looks on.

Seaboard kicked off the game playing into a slight breeze that was appreciated by the players on both sides on yet another hot afternoon in Bangkok. Seaboard quickly got into their stride and were clearly keen to get their passing game going early. Although having a lot of possession in the early stages, Seaboard failed to create any chance of note until the 4th minute when a neat ball from Brittain found Derbyshire in space on the edge of the box and his turn and shot went just wide.
Young Jake Baker was given another start in this game and managed to find space on the right on 11 minutes, but his cross from the bye-line eluded everybody and the Robin Hood defence managed to clear the ball to safety.
Seaboard eventually had the ball in the back of the net on 12 minutes, when a corner from John Campbell on the right was headed home by Brittain, but the linesman flagged as the ball had curled out and then back into play and the goal did not stand.
Both Seaboard full backs were making penetrative runs into the Robin Hood half and Pierre Ngalamo nearly broke the deadlock on 18 minutes, when a move down the left resulted in him finding space in the box to shoot, but his low drive was well saved by the legs of the Robin Hood keeper.
The goalkeeper’s legs were also to deny Derbyshire 2 minutes later when he managed to get in a shot after collecting the ball from a long throw by Keng.
Halfway through the half Seaboard had another excellent opportunity to take the lead when a knock on from Emmanuel Tshuma found Baker and his clever ball inside was met by Brittain but he shot over from 18 yards out when he should have done better.
It was Brittain again, 2 minutes later, who had a glorious chance to score when the Robin Hood defence pushed up leaving Brittain onside with a clear run on goal but the keeper again saved well. One minute later and it was to be Francis Taku who should have scored following a corner from Campbell and a flick on by Derbyshire, but he could only look on as his angled shot crept just the wrong side of the upright
Manager Bryant must have been wondering if his side would ever score but the first goal of the game eventually game 8 minutes before the break when a long ball found Derbyshire who squared unselfishly back to Brittain to score with ease.
Two minutes later Seaboard were to go further ahead with probably the goal of the game. Seaboard were awarded a free kick a full 35 yards out and as the wall was lining up expecting Campbell to take the kick, Dave Brown quickly raced in to bend the ball the other side of the wall and into the far corner of the goal leaving the Robin Hood goalkeeper completely wrong footed.
Half Time Score - Robin Hood 0 Seaboard FC 2.
Seaboard came out early for the second period and thought they had gone further ahead in the first minute of the second period when Taku headed home from a cross from the right but he was adjudged to be in an offside position.
James Tatlock, another one of Seaboard’s young players was making the most of his chance of 1st team football and was showing some nice touches on the ball.
Seaboard seemed to take their foot off the pedal for a ten-minute spell at the start of the second half but with Gary Munro and Dave Brown strong in the heart of the Seaboard defence and Torn showing a safe pair of hands in goal, chances were at a premium for the Robin Hood.
It was not until midway through the second period before Seaboard were to go further ahead. Derbyshire receiving the ball and holding it up well before giving a perfectly weighted pass to Brittain who drove home firmly from 18 yards, giving the keeper no chance.
With 10 minutes remaining it was to be Campbell who was to add a fourth when after another of his tireless runs, he played a neat one - two with Derbyshire before producing a clinical finish from the edge of the box.
Jake Baker was to be the focal point of the next passage of play when having missed two golden opportunities in a minute, he finally managed to steer the ball past the Robin Hood keeper after latching on to a cross from Ngalamo.
Frank Weinberg was introduced up front for Seaboard and he was soon to make his presence felt, wriggling past a couple of defenders before a last ditch tackle prevented him from getting in a shot.
But it was to be Mark Brittain who was to have the final say in this contest when 3 minutes from time he was once more fed the ball by Derbyshire and he coolly dispatched the ball past the keeper into the far corner for his third goal of the afternoon.
This was to prove the last action of note with the final whistle heralding a further 3 points for Seaboard and their 9th away victory of the season.
Final Score - Robin Hood 0 Seaboard FC 6.
Manager Bryant was a much happier man this week and was clearly delighted with the performances of some of his youngsters especially Jake Baker and James Tatlock. But his highest praise was saved for his ‘Hat Trick Hero’ Mark Brittain who had put in another match winning performance on his return to the side.
Seaboard’s final fixture of the season is an away game against the Dubliner at Patana School in Bangkok on Sunday 14 May Kick Off 4:00pm.

Favourites win at Khao Kheow

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral

The Pattaya Golf Society’s first fixture each month is always a fun format tournament and so it was on Tuesday, when Khao Kheow’s “A” and “B” nines formed the backdrop to a pairs scramble competition which drew a large field.
The course was in excellent condition under a hot sky as the field set out. There were to be few surprises as Richard Kings and Chris Holmes, thrown together for the first time, carried themselves well to post a score of 69.8 for third place. Stuart Thompson and David Thomas, bearing the day’s lowest combined handicap of 2.4 returned a fine score of 69.6 for second place, but a long way behind the pre-tournament favourites Dannie Larsen and Sunny Khanna who brought all their “nouse” to bear during their fine round of net 63.4 to win by a relatively large margin in scamble terms.
The day’s only birdie “two” was achieved by Paul Quodomine as he drove the par-three “A” fifth and sank the putt with ease, leaving partner Denis Smith as nothing more than a spectator. Ian Kidd and Tony Kitchen received the Booby Bevy for turning up at the presentation and bearing the highest scoring card. After an excellent day at Khao Kheow here’s to the next fun day out with the Pattaya Golf Society, a “two from three” better-ball event at Phoenix at the start of June.
Quality shows at Green Valley
The Pattaya Gofl Society made its monthly call at Green Valley on Thursday, to play a stableford event on one of the hottest days of the year so far. Both flights wilted in the heat and high scoring was at a premium.
With the cut at nineteen and under those in the second flight found the course challenging and scores reflected this with Tony Kitchen returning a meagre score of 28 points which took third place. John Mason finally came good after four months of intensive and enjoyable golf with a score of thirty points and it was good enough to share the top spot with Dannie Larsen. It was also to be John’s swansong with the PGS as he was to soon to return to UK. For Dannie it was his second successive victory of the week.
In the top flight Sunny Khanna and Jesper Hensen, playing together, both posted scores of 33 points for a share of second place but they were ultimately undone by the absolute quality of Mike Allidi’s round. Mike shot a gross 70 to give him a staggering forty points and bring his ambition of being a scratch golfer a touch closer. Amazingly his round failed to register a birdie “two” and thus the pot was carried over to the following week.
The Booby Bevy should have gone to master-of-ceremonies Denis Smith for signing a card which bore a handicap of 3 and would have given him a score of two points, but his embarrassment was saved when he recalled that Stuart Thompson had left his golf bag at the OK and was only able to compete when the ‘Good Samaritan’, Denis, had seen it and picked it up. Thus Stuart was able to enjoy his round (and bevy), but not as much as Mike Allidi, whose golf shone with quality at Green Valley.

Big ‘Mac’ has a week to remember

PSC golf from The Bunker

Monday May 1,
Great Lake,
Medal
Great Lake Golf and Country Club was chosen for the Bank Holiday medal competition and what a mistake that was. The course was in very poor condition with the fairways bare in many places and the rough much too overgrown. It’s a shame because most golfers agree this could be a superb course if it was maintained better but, sadly, it looks like The Bunker Boy’s will have to remove this course from their schedule for the foreseeable future.

John McDonald who had a clean sweep at Great Lake.
Not many golfers made the effort because of the venue and only one player had a good day’s golf. That was Aussie John McDonald, playing off nine handicap who won the competition and walked away with all four near pin prizes.
Wednesday May 3,
Noble Place,
Stableford
Wednesday saw The Bunker Boy’s play a Stableford competition at Noble Place Golf Resort and Country Club. With the cut at 16 and under we had a tie for first place in the B Flight between Jim Wooler and Tony Geeland, who both scored 35 points and Bryan Rought claimed third spot, one behind on 34.
The A flight was closely contested between the lower handicappers with American Bruce Lawrence coming out on top with 34 points, one shot ahead of Scotsman Rab McDonald who was also one shot ahead of Aussie John McDonald. Both finished with 33 and 32 points respectively.
The long par three’s proved as elusive as ever with only two of them being hit, so the spoils were shared between Tony Geeland and Gary Austin.
Friday May 5, Plutaluang,
Medal
The Thai Royal Navy Golf Course played host to the week’s final medal round and it was Geoff Parker who stole the show with a fine return to form by winning with a net 71, ahead of Gordon Tarapasky who finished with net 72 whilst John McDonald claimed third place with a net 75.
Near pin prizes were won by Bob Turner (visiting from Bangkok), John McDonald (showing Monday was no fluke!) and that man Geoff Parker claiming the other two prizes to round off a great day for him.

Marty gives a ‘master class’ at Khao Kheow

PSC golf from The Café Kronborg

Monday May 1, Plutaluang,
Stableford
The Royal Thai Navy Golf Course, North & West was host to a stableford competition in two flights, with the cut at 16. With the day being a holiday, the pace of play was slow, but at least we were not charged holiday rates. The course now has a ‘Sports Day’ on a Tuesday, with the green fee rate being 300 baht.

John Swanson (L) Walter Bachli (C), Marty Allred (R)
Walter Bachli took the A Flight on count back from Serge Straeton, both with 29 points, with Ted Morris in third on count backs from Bill Plath and Philippe Berra, all 26 points.
In the B Flight, Big Victor Chance took the honours with 36 points, Karl Beter was second with 36 points and Kevin Dinan third with 30 points.
Thursday May 4, Khao Kheow,
Stableford
The A & B layouts were the test on the day for the players on this fine course. At present not only is this one of the best venues around but with a ‘Sports Day’ and a green fee of 550 baht, this has to be one of the best bargains around.
This is also one of the hardest courses in the area and rounds that beat par are few and far between. However, on this day I played with a man who was on the top of his form, and he turned in the best round I have seen here in Thailand, with a gross 71.
So back in the restaurant and partaking of a cold one, it was time to reflect that not many people shoot sub par, and didn’t the rest of us all have a long way to go. Still the course was super, the restaurant fine and it was suddenly pouring down outside for the groups to come in. It doesn’t get much better.
And so to the results: In the A Flight, 0 to 18, Marty Allred won with a gross 71, which meant 38 points. In second was Bob Rasmusson with 33 points and then back in the dust we had a 4-way count back on 28 points, won by Phil Bystrom.
In the B Flight we had a two-way count back with the only other two respectable rounds of the day, 36 points, which was won by John Swanson with Lionel Rowles in second. In third, way behind was Wayne Koch with 30 points.
Sometimes it takes playing with a good partner to remind oneself of all the hard work that needs to be put in to reach that standard, so with that in mind, I think I will have another beer.
T.T.F.N.
Near Pin: A5 Clive Robinson, B8 Marie Rowles

The Square Ring

by Howie Reed

Because of the Holiday and early deadlines the Square Ring was unable to cover the big Labour Day (May 1) boxing card from Bangkok. Many remember May 1 as the old Communist Workers Day where the glories of the “Ruskie Way of Life” were celebrated. A new twist was added in America this year when illegal aliens, aka ‘illegal ingrates’, held marches in major cities to demand their rights. Strange people those Yanks.
At the 11th Infantry Regiment, Kings Guard in Bangkok, long-time WBC flyweight king Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (61-2) had no trouble in dispatching Daigo Nakahiro (13-2) over 12 rounds. How one sided was the bout viewed by more than 10,000? T’was a shut out, (120-110, 120-107 twice) in the Red Bull sponsored event. The win gave Pongsaklek the record for the most title defences by a flyweight. It looked like the Thai fighter was going to end the affair early but Nakahiro rallied in round 5 through 7 to weather the storm.
Sunday morning, Thailand time, Ricky “The Hitman “ Hatton, (40-0) is supposed to engage Luis Collazo (26-1) for the World Boxing Association welterweight belt. The fight, to take place in Boston has turned into your typical “who the hell’s in charge here” deal. First Hatton tossed his IBF Belt in the rubbish bin (where it belonged); then to further clear the deck for the welter title he tossed away his WBA super lightweight belt.
By tossing the WBA super lightweight belt Hatton also ducks a “maybe” lawsuit from Souleymane M’baye, who he is supposed to give a title shot to. But of course you can’t give a title shot if you don’t have the title. Enough? Well not really. The WBA, at press time has not yet sanctioned the fight because they had already mandated a defence against Oktay Urkul for Collazo. What will happen? The WBA will take the money and the fights on.
This for my old pal O.R. in answer to the question, “Is there life after the Contender?” Well, we can answer, “Yes.” Sergio Mora (18-0), the first Contender champion got a TKO in 7 by stopping Archak “Shark Attack” TerMeliksatian. “The Latin Snake” was the victim of a flash knockdown in the second but was in control after that.
This was supposed to be the ‘main event’ but played second fiddle to the semi main between Alfonso Gomez (14-3-2) and Jessie Feliciano (14-5-3). Gomez had gone out of the Contender Series in the semis but was voted ‘most popular boxer’. It was a heck of a fight and the rubber match between the two. No knockdowns but no lack of action either. In the end it was an 8 round majority draw. Judge Lillian Byrd had if for Gomez (77-75) as the other two had it a draw. Many in attendance and on TV thought that Ms. Byrd’s husband Robert had stopped the Mora fight a little early. Not the best of nights for the Byrd family.
Boxing has always been about “Good and Evil”. In the last 20 or so years there has been darn little good and too darn much evil. Last Saturday night at a major casino in Las Vegas, USA, the good in boxing, (Oscar De La Hoya) destroyed evil in the form of Ricardo Mayorga, (28-6-1) in 6 exciting rounds. Before an overflow crowd of more than 14,000 De La Hoya stood up to the schoolyard bully and kicked his ass. This may not have been Oscar’s biggest win of his 38 but it’ll do for the time being.
In weeks leading up to the fight, Mayorga ran his mouth off like the no class bum he is. After saying some rather uncomplimentary remarks about Oscar’s wife he then told him. “You’re a queer. I never have trouble hitting queers.” At 1:10 of the opening stanza De La Hoya sent a wake up call when he dumped Mayorga on his backside with a right followed by a crushing left. From that time onward, as the crowd howled, it was a matter of “when” not “if”.
The end started at 1:10 of round 6 after De La Hoya had again dropped Mayorga. Mayorga got up but De La Hoya pounced on him like a “lady on a punter when a lady drink is ordered.” Referee Jay Nady stopped the fight 15 seconds later.
With such an outstanding performance De La Hoya will now surly take a week or so to consider his options and then decide a mega fight in September would be just right. Many would love to see Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the opponent. The fight would be a ‘natural’ and probably break all money records for a non-heavyweight fight. There is a major problem with that scenario though.
De La Hoya is trained by Floyd Mayweater Snr. who has said that he will have nothing to do with any fight involving his son. As De La Hoya is not only his own promoter but also Mayweather Jr.’s, he could make the fight happen. It’s doubtful though that he would go into a major fight where he would be the underdog, without Roger Mayweather Sr. in his corner.
So what’s the answer? Maybe the answer will be found on Sunday (Thai time) when Ricky Hatton, (40-0) fights for the first time in the USA against Luis Collazo, (26-1) for the WBA welter belt. Hatton’s in for a tough night but if he wins, a fight against De La Hoya would be a big money event, easy to promote and gain worldwide attention. It would be great for boxing as well.
Setting aside the big fight in Las Vegas, there were a plethora of title fights around the wide world last week. At the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Thai native Eagle Kyowa had to bring his “A” game to defeat Rodel Mayol (24-1) and retain his WBC 105lb title. It was a unanimous decision that could have gone the other way except for a 12th round knockdown by Kyowa that resulted in a 10-8 last round. With scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 117-110 a “kiss your sister” draw’ was in the offing.
IBF straw Guy Muhammad Rachman, (51-7-4) had a lot less trouble when he dispatched Omar Soto, (14-3-1) over 6 at the Tennis Stadium in Senayan, Jakarta Indonesia to keep his belt.
In Düsseldorf, Germany Zsolt Erdei, (24-0) led from the opening bell in a fight that was a total blow out. Australian Paul Murdoch, (25-6-1) had no answers for Erdei’s jab or hooks. Erdei retained his WBO light heavyweight belt, using a knockdown in the 8th from which the challenger never recovered, to stop the brave Aussie at 0:19 of the 10th. Referee Mark Nelson called a halt to the proceedings when Murdock could offer no more defence.
Due to the lingering effects of the broken right hand suffered by WBC light flyweight Brian Viloria, the WBC has ordered negotiations to begin for an interim title fight between #1 rated Juanito Rubillar (38-9-7) and #2 Wandee Singwancha (48-7-1). This ‘cat’ Rubillar is one tough dude. Two of his loses came against undefeated Jorge Arce (44-3), maybe the best one out there. On the other hand he’s faired less than spectacularly against Thai based boxers but may have been a victim of home scoring. He lost three fights in Thailand on spilt decisions and got KO’d in 9 by Medgoen Singsurat.
Eliminate 2003, (he lost all four fights that year), and Wandee’s record gets a lot better. He lost to maybe the best in the division, Vic Darchinuyan (25-0), Peter Culshaw (23-1) and Hussien Hussien. All those matches took place in New South Wales.
Manny Pacquiuao’s trainer Freddy Roach has had it with his star pupil. Roach, from his Discovery Suites in Pasig City threatened to issue an ultimatum to Pacquiuao if the fighter didn’t show up in Los Angeles this week to start training for Oscar Larios on July 2.
“I will ask the promoter to either postpone or cancel it”, said Roach. “There are lots of distractions while Manny is here and we can’t afford to take Larios lightly. It crossed my mind that Manny might not even go, but he guaranteed me that he would.”
“Jeeves my good man, what’s your take on all this?”
“Problems the world must deal with Sir. You’ve had a difficult week and I would suggest some liquid refreshment, a nice cigar and maybe some ladies ‘walking to music’.”
“Jeeves my good man you’ve done it again. I’ll drink to that.”

PSC get their revenge

PSC v Pegs Challenge, 2-4 May 2006

Members of the victorious PSC squad savour their victory over the talented Phuket team

Having been soundly beaten last November in Phuket, the Pattaya Sports Club welcomed the players from Phuket Expats Golf Society to a three-day Ryder Cup competition. Day one was a better ball at Burapha, the next day a scramble at Green Valley and the final day saw the singles at Phoenix.
Sporting a new President in the shape of Peter Wood, Pegs brought 18 golfers including one lady to the party. At Burapha on the A & C course, PSC took an early lead by 6 points to three after an uncharacteristic late start - these Southerners like to lie abed in the morning!
The second round at Green Valley proved to be the decisive one with victory to the home team by 7.5 points to 1.5. This stung the visitors to action and on the final day at Phoenix they earned a very creditable nine all draw to leave the PSC with ample revenge at 22.5 points to 13.5
Stories of individual brilliance and hard luck abounded at the après ski. Pride of place must go to Phuket’s lady golfer; Hong Chen who managed not only to beat Tony Oakes off equal handicaps but also out drove him consistently off the tee. Bob Pearce made mincemeat of Blair Spears, the lowest handicapper in the field playing of three, and dear old Peter Davies finally managed to beat Ian Edwards.
Back at The Carpenter/Willis residences, a sumptuous feast was the order of the day with plenty of liquid refreshment to go round and plans were being made for the next leg in Phuket in November. Must remember to make sure we take the trophy down there this year although defeat is surely unthinkable - isn’t it?
CJ

Peter and Vincent - stars of the show at Burapha

PSC Golf from Tropical Berts

Tuesday May 2, Burapha, Stableford
This is always a favourite day out from Tropical Bert’s, everyone likes Burapha and especially the A & B Layouts. Of course for the golfers at Bert’s, and to make it even better, we play off the white tees. Now while this may not be to the really good golfers ‘tastes, it will do for a fun day out.

Tuesday’s winners: Peter Harris, (left) and Vincent Smyth (right)

So it was off to Burapha to play this great course with a full list of players, and the course was as usual in great condition. The fairways, I am reliable informed were in great shape and I can personally assure you the rough was as tough as normal. Of course the greens were just as unpredictable, but that was only on the ones we missed the puts on.
Back at Bert’s, the players were tucking into his fine food until Tim decided he was full enough and would tell us all who won, whilst also deciding to wake Chris up to do the chase around.
And so the winners: In the A Div, 0 to 18, Vincent Smyth triumphed ahead of Bill Knight in second whilst in the B Div the winner was Peter Harris with the runner up Dick Warberg.
TTFN.
Near Pins: Peter O’Callaghan, Derek Brook, Vince Smyth, Dave Arrowsmith, Gordon Everingham, Colin Cronin, Chris Youngman (2)
Long Put: Mark Brenton, Fergus Brennan, Brian Noguer, Dick Warberg