|
Golfers do battle at Phoenix for a worthy cause
HomeHunters 2006 Phoenix Park Charity Open
Phoenix Golf & Country Club was the venue for the 2006
Phoenix Park Charity event. The main event sponsors were: HomeHunters,
project managers for the prestigious Phoenix Park development on the golf
course; The Bunker Bar, where the golfers play most of their golf and The
Buffalo Bar who provided most of the evening’s entertainment.
 Who
said playing golf is no fun?
The competition was a singles Stableford event with 2 divisions, the split
falling at hcp18 and below. Playing out on the Mountain nine and back in on
the Lakes, the golfers were very lucky to find the course in excellent
condition - many remarked it was the very best they had seen for a long time
- and the rain held off too, which made for a great day’s golf.
Competition was strong as always: B Division was closely fought until the
end, with 3rd place being awarded after a count back to Brian Rought with 31
points; second place went to Graham Howell on 33 points and Division B
champion for 2006 was Clark Alexander with 35 points.
In A Division we saw third place needing to be decided on count back with
Gerry Cooney prevailing. Second place with the lowest gross score of the day
78, was Paul Smith on 38 points and the 2006 Phoenix Park champion with a
fine score of 44 points on the day was Thomas Ruegsegger - Congratulations
Thomas!
After some ‘light’ refreshments back at the Bunker Bar everyone congregated
at the Buffalo Bar for the prize-giving ceremony. This turned out to be an
inspired choice of venue as the girls really went out of their way to make
everyone feel at home and provided everything needed for a great evening.
The prizes were presented by Parinda Malone, director of HomeHunters:
Technical prizes were awarded first and the ‘Longest Drive’ of the day went
to Paul Smith, with a prodigious effort on the 9th hole of the Lakes whilst
the ‘Longest Putt’ was won by Gerry Cooney on the 9th hole of the Mountain
nine. ‘Near Pin’ prizes went to Gerry Cooney, Thomas Ruegsegger, Geoff
Parker and Ian Edwards.
The evening concluded with what seemed like an endless array of draw prizes
generously donated by the sponsors. A special thank you goes to HomeHunters
(property magazine & Development Company), Selina at Apple Honey Cider
Importers, Pattaya City Mini-Golf and the Art Café in Naklua for their
generous support. All proceeds from the draw and the day’s events went to
the very worthy cause of the Pattaya Orphanage.
The golfers enjoy the company
and the scenery at the beautiful Phoenix Golf Club.
Memorial Bike ride for Jon Wilson
Jon was a member of a
fraternity of literally hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts.
Jon “Horse 158” Wilson was a person who was larger than
life and had the heart to match. He was well known in the Pattaya community
for his charity efforts, and in Thailand and the region’s motorcycling
fraternity. Jon loved to ride, but a tragic accident brought his life to an
end on Feb 20.
 Jon’s
death was mourned, but more importantly his life is once again being
celebrated on June 10.
The “Mad Dog” MC, of which Jon was a member, will be honoring Jon on June 10
with a memorial ride. The ride will begin at 12 noon at Sally’s Bar on Soi 5
in Jomtien (the same soi the new Immigration Office is located on).
A police escort has been arranged from the starting point to Jon’s memorial
stone along Lake Marpachan. From there the local race track has agreed to
allow the riders a lap around the race course. From there we will ride to
the Officer’s Club in Bang Saray for lunch, then on to Bang Chang for more
refreshments. The ride will conclude at “The Other Bar” Soi 4 (also in
Jomtien) where a barbeque has been arranged along with live music.
All participants will pay 700 baht, which will include food items at both
the Officer’s Club and the “The Other Bar”. The first 50 riders will receive
a free memorial t-shirt. Half the money raised will be going to Jon’s young
daughter and wife.
For more information, contact Dale at 09-771-6297
House of the Golden Coin and Grapevine increase their lead
Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League
200 Bowlers - Tue, Mark, Mai, Bill, Konrad and
P.K.
House of the Golden Coin won all four points from Three Sisters and Grape
Vine got four from VFW Post 9876 and both teams increased their lead over
the rest of the teams. Café Kronborg remains in third after taking three
points from Mai’s Thai Restaurant. Fourth place France beat Café Ole three
points to one. Friends split their match with Domicil with each team getting
two points. Montana won three from Jack & Tar and Shenanigans took three
from Brother D. Kran, Café Kronborg rolled the best series of the day
knocking down 559 pins.
Thai boats excel at the 5th Koh Samui Regatta
The keelboats move hard to port
during the testing Day 1 conditions at the 5th Samui Regatta
by Peter Cummins
With good placings in three of the four classes comprising the 5th Koh Samui
Regatta, Thai skippers and Thai-built boats fared remarkably well, especially in
the multihull class, where Thai-built craft from Samui, Pattaya and Phuket
filled six of the eight places.
But, it was Frank Pong, helming his huge 25-metre Reichel Pugh-designed sloop,
“Jelik”, out of Hong Kong, with four straight wins in the IRC 1 Class who was
unbeatable, even after a dismal fourth in the penultimate race and the
cancellation of the last race. Frank racked up four straight wins for 4 penalty
points. One could almost wax Shakespearean of Frank: He came, he saw and he
‘Hong Kongered’!
Much interest was shown this year, by the regatta participants and, of course,
the large press contingent following them, in the first Chinese entry Adam Wu
Yi’s “Konka Hummingbird” which finished a good third, behind Aussie entry “Team
F5 Foxy Lady.”
A basically similar story to Frank Pong’s dominance of the IRC 1 class was also
played out in the Premier Cruising class, where Aussie Geoff Hill’s Lyons 49
“Strewth” had a perfect five-win score.
But not all were so fortunate - such as Kin Thomas who saw his mast go overboard
during Monday’s front-line squall and his multihull finally broke up and sank.
Sponsored by Central Samui Beach Resort, the home of the “Tropical Island
Regatta”, Land Rover and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, with official
suppliers CAT Telecom, Jack Daniel’s, QBE Insurance and Sabai Wine Spritzer and,
of course, Singha Beer, the Samui Regatta has truly become an international
yachting event, as it attracts boats from all over the Asia-Pacific region, as
well as many from Thailand.
A major difference between this and the earlier four Samui regattas, is what the
Paul Poole Company, the sponsorship experts, call a ‘Media Partnership’,
involving some specialized travel and life-style magazines, spreading the
message of the Samui Regatta and the beauty of the island and its environs, far
and wide.
As regatta secretary Peter Plant noted: “It is encouraging to see an increase in
the companies supporting the regatta this year (which) also sees the
introduction of ‘Media Partners’, designed to spread the word to a larger
international and domestic audience”.
After the wild opening day, when a storm raged in at 45-knots, wrecking one
multihull, there were several days of inclement, unpredictable weather. But, the
final day was close to perfect, with 5 - 6 knot south-westerlies, shifting
further west as the day wore on, slight seas and a blue, blue Koh Samui sky.
But, too perfect as it transpired - the wind dropped to zero and by 12.30, the
race management called off the last race, leaving the first five to count
With the opening party taking place at Central Samui Zico’s Brazilian Bar and
Grill, it was a week to celebrate life - both on and off the ‘ocean waves’. The
Samui Sabai Beach Party, introduced the Siam Winery’s exotic wine spritzer to
the world, the Dhevatara Properties/Samui Villas & Homes Party at Ban Kinaree
was an exotic escapade in the hills overlooking the island and then, on the lay
day, there was an island adventure in the Land Rovers, followed by the Land
Rover Party at Le Paradis, Chaweng Beach.
And all through the week, Happy Hour (++) was well patronized by the yachties
and other ‘regattarians’: the Central’s beachside Regatta Tavern was always full
- even when it rained. No doubt the free massages offered and the exotic girls
wearing slinky Jack Daniel’s outfits were as much a lure as the Sabai Wine
Spritzers, Singha Beers and snacks.
The grand finale was a splendid awards ceremony and gala dinner party, sponsored
by the home of the regatta since its inception, the Central Samui Beach Resort.
The full results of the Fifth Koh Samui Regatta are as follows:
IRC Racing:
1/ “Jelik” (Frank Pong, 4); 2/ “Team F5 Foxy Lady, (Bill Bremner, 7); 3/
“Konka Hummingbird” (Adam Wu Yi, 10); 4/ “Ffree Fire” (Sam Chan, 15).
Premier Cruising:
1/ “Strewth” (Geoff Hill, 4); 2/ “Hocux Pocux 2” (Dennis Bonutto, 8); 3/
“Moonblue 2” (Peter Churchouse, 13); 4/ “Lawana” (Suwan Popooksakul, 14); 5/
“Intrigue” (Ian Nicholson, 24).
IRC Racing 2:
1/ “La Samudra” (David Lindahl, 6); 2/ “Happy Endings” (Jonathan Maloney,
8); 3/ “Abraxas” (Greg Coops, 12); 4/ “High Jinks” (Pascal Leray, 15); 5/
“Lunchcutter ll” (Keith Dunn, 16); 6/ “Foreign Exchange 2” (David Pollard, 17);
.7/ ‘“Platu 114” (Mike Duffy, 21); 8/ “Billy Yo” (Richard Colman, 31); 9/ “Image
Asia Bintang” (Grenville Fordham, 32 ).
Multihulls:
1/ Moto Inzi” (Roger Kingdon, 9); 2/ “Coco Blues” (Armind Kundke, 9; 3/
“Vivace” (Francesco Brancaccio, 12); 4/ “The Sting” (Henry Kaye, 13); 5/ China
House (Jacques ?, 15); 6/ X-Ta-Sea (Damian Kimball, 19); 7/ Nok Talay (Martin
Peters, 22); 8/ “Siamese Cat” (Kim Thomas, 36).
Revellers enjoy the atmosphere at
Zico’s Party - one of many held during the week long event.
Chinese entry, “Konka Hummingbird”
whips up a spray as she prepares to tack around one of the course markers.
The beautiful scenery around Koh
Samui was as much a delight to the sailors as was the actual racing.
Sports Quiz
Congratulations to Fred Theobald who was the first to
answer all 3 questions for last week’s quiz. Thanks to all who tried and in
case you were wondering about the answers, here they are:
1) Which cricket player holds the record for the most run scored in a single
test match?
Answer: Graham Gooch – (456) - 333 & 123 against India at Lords 1990.
2) In rodeo calf roping what is the rope in the roper’s mouth called? Is it
a) Lasso, b) Pigg’in string, c) Goat rope or d) Dally
Answer: Pigg’in string
3) Along with Greece, which is the only nation to have taken part in every
modern day Olympic games?
Answer: Australia - (However, Great Britain have also competed at
every games – first as Great Britain & Ireland and then as Great Britain &
Northern Ireland)
This weeks Questions are:
1) Which 4 countries have appeared in soccer World Cup finals but
never won the trophy?
2) Which bridge(s) are crossed in the London marathon?
3) What was used in the 1973 FA Cup Final and never used again?
The Rock plays tough
IPGC golf from The Haven
Monday May 29, Green Valley, Stableford
1st Martin Rock, 38
2nd Peter Johansson, 37
3rd Brian Vale, 36
4th Barry Traynor, 35 c/b9 17
5th Paul Hartley, 35 c/b9 15
6th Tom Parks, 35 c/b9 14 c/b6 9
7th Russell Exley, 35 c/b9 14 c/b6 8
Green Valley on a Monday, with hardly another group on the course is as
good a start to the week as one can reasonably expect, and when the
weather is fine when everywhere else it is making golf impossible, one
could be forgiven for thinking that you were truly blessed. Such was the
background for a memorable day.
Martin Rock, making a long awaited return to playing, showed why he
sports a low handicap as he swept round the front nine in level par
gross. Unfortunately the wheels not only came off, but went permanently
missing, so much so that “Liverpool Barry” had to open up his car boot
(trunk) for inspection before leaving the car park. But enough had been
done over the first twelve holes that victory was assured even with no
points on the last three holes.
Peter Johansson, who is at last starting to recover from the birth of
his daughter, was desperately unlucky to have found Martin in such good
form as he vied to secure his first triumph in a while, but at least he
can now parade around the showers without caring too much about the
stretch marks.
Brian Vale took sole possession of third place ahead of a log-jam of
four players who had to be separated by count back; these were led by
Paul Hartley who is still having treatment for his swag-back strain, but
is progressing nicely.
There were no “twos” holed in the second division, but the first
division pool was shared between Norman Isherwood, Rick Holmes and Serge
Straeten.
Before presenting the prizes Richard Livingston, who has now almost
recovered from his throat problems, welcomed back Tom Parks and Martin
Rock.
Wednesday, May 31, Khao Kheow, Monthly Medal.
The day’s competition had to be cancelled due to excessive
rain halfway through the round, even though we had started out in fine
conditions. Having completed between 9 and 12 holes, the whole field
stopped in its tracks as the rain lashed down for hours during the late
morning and afternoon, leaving the fairways and greens totally
waterlogged. Even the lucky ones, able to shelter immediately in the
nearby refreshment bars, were drowned as they straggled back to the
changing rooms after finally giving up for the day. This was definitely
total payback for the proud thoughts of earlier in the week. Such is
golf.
This was the first time in over 11 years that the Haven, and previously
as The Hare House golfers, had been unable to complete a competition,
and it was additionally unfortunate that it was also the May ‘Monthly
Medal’. The loss of this Medal round will mean one less contender in
each of the divisions at the close of year Gold and Silver Medal
competitions.
On returning to The Haven the players made up for the lack of golf with
a surfeit of food and drink until late into the evening, with the
competition moving to the snooker table in the Pub bar, where The Doc
proved to be a very liberal benefactor in the side things, but at least
he could get all round the table during the games, a big improvement on
his traipsing round on the golf courses.
Friday, June 2, Phoenix, Stableford
1st Peter Johansson, 37
2nd Barry Winton, 36 c/b 9 19, cb 6 14
3rd Alan Griffiths, 36 c/b 9 19, cb 6 13
4th Paul Hartley, 32 c/b 9 19
5th Trevor Schirmer, 32 c/b 9 16
After an extended hiatus, the IPGC returned to Phoenix having secured a
mutually beneficial arrangement with the course management, with a
stableford competition out of The Haven. The lack of playing experience,
on the course, showed as only one counting competitor matched their
handicap or played within the buffer zone, which resulted in the CSS
rising two shots to 74, which ensured an additional cut in handicap for
the first three on the podium.
This was very surprising as the course was in tip-top condition
excepting that the bunkers were still overflowing with hour glass-sand
and even with the IPGC local rule of placing in the bunkers in play, it
still made for an almost impossible shot to get near to the pin. But all
in all, an excellent day was had by everyone with hopefully many more to
come before the high season arrives.
Following his disappointment earlier in the week, Peter Johansson just
did enough to snatch his first win for many months ahead of Barry
Winton, who could not make local knowledge make up for the several
missed putts. Alan Griffiths continued his run of form to take third
spot after losing the countback. Paul Hartley once again featured among
the winners with a very good back nine after a poor start to just
squeeze out the on-course organiser Trevor Schirmer.
Prior to the prize giving, Richard welcomed back Barry Winton and Hans
Eriksson and also made a sad farewell to some of the Gosnells boys,
namely Rod Crosswell, Darryl Paull and Brian Vale. It was also a
temporary farewell to Ole Stamnes, who has been called back to Norway to
dig out his snowbound ‘ex’ and their six, yes six, unmarried daughters,
who have been trapped in the house since he left for his Thailand
business trip.
The Bennetts take the road trip
IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s
Sunday, May 28,
Green Valley - White Tees,
Stableford
A Flight
1st Simon Philbrook, 42 points
2nd Nick Strasshine, 40 points
3rd Jim Wickstrom, 40 points
B Flight
1st Norm Adre, 48 points
2nd Ray Dell, 41 points
3rd Don Lehmer, 37 points
C Flight
1st Stan Dismuke, 42 points
2nd George Jackson, 37 points
3rd Mike Craighead, 35 points
D Flight
1st Geoff Kubas, 39 points
2nd Jez Lees, 39 points
3rd Poo Supaporn, 37 points - c/b K4
The round of the week, and in recent memory, was turned in by the
soft-spoken Norm Adre, who scalded his handicap with an incredible 48
points - resultant from a superlative gross 74. It made Ray Dell’s
excellent 41 points seem a bit ordinary in second place. The Lady’s Man
was still enjoying the glass of wine bought with his count back third
place finish (at the expense of Simon Kendall), regardless of whether it
was eleven points adrift, or not.
Two members of A Flight, Simon of Philbrook and Jim Wickstrom, were both
Low Gross on the day with even par 72’s, however, Simon’s nominally more
forgiving handicap, 6 versus 4, buoyed him to First Place. The two par
shooters were divided by big Nick Strasshine, whose 40 points were
better distributed towards the inward nine then the trio of Jim, Darren
Smith and Wacko Jacko.
Stan Dismuke’s 42 points were a Flight winner in C, five clear of second
place One-Ball and yet another clear of The Mechanic.
Geoff Kubas got an A in Math, but not from the Principal, whom he out
pointed on count back to take the Junior Flight. The First Lady rounded
up the day’s prize giving, but only at the expense of the count back
losing K4.
Tuesday, May 30,
Laem Chabang - B & C - White Tees, Stroke/Medal
A Flight
1st Kevin Taylor, net 66
2nd Jim Brackett, net 72
B Flight
1st Seamus Cotter, net 71
2nd Adam Schoenfeld, net 72
2’s: Simon Kendall, Mark Allen
On a day where the numbers were a bit modest given the Royal Hill road
trip, old friend Kevin Taylor returned with a good bit of zeal as he
enjoyed a 6 stroke gap in A Flight, thanks to a fantastic net 66,
between the triumvirate of Jim Brackett, Mark Wood and Brian Holden.
Jimbo nicked The Scotsman and the Demon Deacon on count back.
Seamus Cotter made a surprise mid-week visit and made the surprise a
pleasant one as his net 71 was good enough to edge second place Adam
Schoenfeld by a single digit
Friday, June 2,
Crystal Bay - B & C - White Tees, Stableford
1st Simon Philbrook, 38 points
2nd Paul West, 38 points
3rd John Emmerson, 37 points
4th Geoff Kubas, 37 points
Even though the road warriors had returned, the day’s numbers were
impacted by travel lag, as the one Flight event was taken by Simon of
Philbrook. The GM was bracketed by mates Paul West and Geoff Kubas, as
both first and third were taken by the (what seemed to be the order of
the week) count backs.
Road Trip to Royal Hills
Tuesday, May 30
1st Peter Hynard, 40 points
2nd Harvey Samuel, 40 points
3rd Robbie Bennett, 38 points Jeremy Masse
4th Ray Dell, 38 points
Wednesday, May 31
1st Bob Lindborg, 41 points
2nd Robbie Bennett, 39 points
3rd John Emmerson, 39 points
4th Roy Thornton, 38 points
2-Day Eclectic
1st Mol Thongkiew, 50 points
2nd Robbie Bennett, 49 points
3rd Bob Lindborg, 46 points
4th Harvey Samuel, 46 points
Thursday, June 1 - 4- Person Scramble
1st Robbie Bennett, Mol Thongkiew, John Hillier, Ray Dell -
net 64
2nd John Emmerson, Colin Davis, Stan Dismuke, Noy Pimmoen - net 65
3rd Trudy Chadbourn, Kevin Moraghan, George Jackson, Peter Hynard - net
67
Thirty-three golfers, accompanied by their courtesans, took a mid-week
hiatus to the destination resort northwest of Bangkok, Royal Hills. The
itinerary, other than the expected copious amounts of food, drink and
friendship, was to have two days of Stableford competition, woven
together by in an additional 2-day Eclectic. Then getaway day was a
four-person scramble, with teams drawn one each from the A, B, C and D
pools, adjudged on ability by the omnipotent GM.
Although the winners were many, with twenty-four prizes awarded, the
unquestioned grand champions were the Bennett household of Robbie and
Mol. Robbie came third and second in the two Stablefords. Mol edged him
for first in the Eclectic and they teamed with John Hillier and Ray Dell
to take the Scramble! Congrats to Robbie and Mol, and thanks, from your
road-parched fellow-competitors, for your bell ringing generosity back
at Lewiinski’s.
New venue caters to suburbanites
A large gathering of Pattaya golfers descended
on the Peacock Place Bar & Restaurant for their inaugural golf outing.
Expat golfers living in the expanding residential areas east of Sukumvit
Road have formed a golf society based at the Peacock Place Bar &
Restaurant on Country-Club Road across from the Maupachan Reservoir
(approximately 16 km East of Sukumvit, a bit over one km before Papa
Ray’s home). The first outing took place, Thursday, June 1 at Nobel
Place. Future events are scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays with
departures at 9 AM from Peacock Place. Not only golfers living or
visiting in East Pattaya will welcome this new option - area residents
and visitors will find a friendly atmosphere and an attractive meeting
point at The Peacock Place. All golfers, men or women, with a current
handicap are welcome.
Thursday, June 1, Noble Place, Stableford.
Following a complimentary breakfast, transport was arranged,
and 19 golfers made the maiden voyage of the Peacock Place Golf Society.
The sky was overcast when the players arrived at Noble Place, but soon
cleared up and made for excellent playing conditions and outstanding
golf by some fine golfers: Marty Allred with 37 pts off a one handicap,
and Mark Joshua played to his 5 handicap with 36 pts for 2nd place in A
flight (0-13). It is refreshing and note-worthy to see the lowest
handicappers winning a Stableford.
B flight (14-30) was won by Doug Dougle with 36 pts, followed by
Birthday Boy, Phil Smith with 35 pts. Although not in the winner’s
circle, Ken McCarthy also began his birthday celebration at the après
golf gathering at the Peacock. We understand the joint celebration
lasted into the wee hours of Friday morning.
Last, but not least, our esteemed captain, Bob Philp, went solo for a
change and took all the two’s money.
Thanks go out to Dao, GM of the Peacock Place, and her friendly and
lovely staff. The event was a resounding success and this new group is
certain to become a fixture on the Pattaya golfing scene.
Herb hits the heights
as Tully loses his way
PSC golf from The Three Sisters Bar
With threatening weather at the start of the day it
looked like bad news for the golfers. The mist came in with no rain and it
finally cleared to make it another perfect day for golf. Taking advantage of
the situation was Herb Ishinaga - again! He won last week with 38 points and
this week capped it with 41 points to take top honours on the day.
Nipping at his heels all day was Dale Murphy. Dale finally succumbed to
pressure on the 16th as he took a double bogey and Herb managed to escape
with a par. Dale still came in with a creditable 37 points and this put him
in third place as Arron New came in a close second with 39 points.
Another guy looking to see if his return to Thailand would make the
headlines was Marvin Smith. Last week Marvin ended up in the cellar, edging
out Rollie Weese and Jim Tully. This week the oldster of the group came in
with a creditable 28 points to zoom out of the cellar, leaving Tully and
Rollie to fight it out for the bottom spot. Tully had a great front with 16
points but somehow got distracted on the back nine and scored only 1 point
on the homeward leg - Wow!!
Phuket King’s Cup Regatta named ‘Yachting Event of the Year’
The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta was named Yachting Event of
the Year at the second Christofle Asia Boating Awards, which were presented
at a lavish, black-tie gala dinner at The Fullerton Singapore, April 23.
 Warren
Bucklet, CEO Suntee Singapore (left) presents Simon James, Race Director of
the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta (right) with the ‘Yachting Event of the Year’
award.
Simon Jones, Race Director of the event, collected the award on behalf of
the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. Upon hearing the award result, Regatta
President, Santi Kanchanadhu, said, “It is an honour for the Phuket King’s
Cup Regatta to receive this award. Many people have been involved in the
regatta over the last 20 years and this award recognizes their efforts. We
hope to continue to make the regatta bigger and better year on year.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta and
Nigel Cornick, CEO of principal sponsor Raimon Land, commented, “It’s great
to see the event getting the recognition it deserves. We have supported the
event in a big way for a number of years and will continue to do so. The
Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is a perfect fit with our lifestyle property
developments and is good for Phuket, sailing and Thailand as a whole.”
The 20th sailing of the regatta will be held 2-9 December and will be sailed
in the waters off Kata Beach, Phuket. Organisers are expecting a record
fleet in excess of 100 boats and 1,000 crew members, from more than 20
countries, who will compete for Asia’s most prestigious sailing trophies.
“This is a big year for us as we are celebrating 20 years of competitive
sailing,” said Regatta President, Santi. “The regatta was conceived as a
celebration of His Majesty the King’s 60th birthday. This year is also the
Diamond Jubilee, a celebration of His Majesty’s 60th year on the throne.
This is an important year and there will be a number of differences to the
regatta and some surprises in store.”
Pattaya City Council Team win charity golf tournament
Narisa Nitikarn
The Royal Thai Navy Sports Club in Sattahip held a charity golf tournament
May 27 with the proceeds going to the Vocational Training Center Foundation,
which provides support for the underprivileged in the Eastern Seaboard
region and nearby provinces.
A total of 17 teams from government and private organizations, members of
the public and business operators entered the competition with the Pattaya
City Council Team, comprising Wittaya Sirinvornchai, Surin Taengtaptim,
Kamchorn Kingtong, Dusit Kittisarakulchai and Thanet Utomkaew eventually
emerging as the champions with a total team score of 335 points.
This is the second year that the Vocational Training Center has organised
activities to earn income for the foundation: Last year charity walking and
running events were held. This year it was decided to run a golf competition
in the hope of raising the profile of the foundation amongst all levels of
society and business, both in the government and private sectors.
Team Pattaya City Council won the
tournament at this inaugural charity event.
Owen enjoys debut win
IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral
At this time of year numbers are always down and the
combination of home visits, sickness and visa runs all conspired to reduce
the numbers of Pattaya Golf Society members who were tempted to take on
Crystal Bay’s “A” and “B” nines in the Society’s weekly medal event on
Tuesday, May 30. The course was in excellent condition, showing no signs of
the cloudburst which had struck in the early morning hours and the day was
set fair for some fine golf.
Perennial pre-event favourite, Mike Allidi lost four shots on the third hole
and ultimately this, his only blemish, left him on net 76, and in an
unaccustomed third place. Playing partner Jan Eriksen ground out a good
round of net 73 to take second place whilst debutant Irishman Owen McSweeney
put aside all thoughts of an imminent return to his adopted Australia and
masterfully crafted a level-par round to take the day.
Juhani Pylkkanen and Mike Allidi both had the honour of sharing the “twos”
pot whilst Ray Underwood tried twice, but failed by one shot each time, to
match his playing partner’s twelve on a par three, and thoroughly enjoyed
the Booby Bevy on this, only his second OK appearance. The Crystal Bay club
had once again been the perfect host for a fine day’s golf.
Josh is the jewel at The Emerald
IPGC golf from The Caddy Shack
Tuesday, May 30 was a visit to the ever-popular Emerald golf course in Ban
Chang. The clubhouse is taking shape now and the greens are in good
condition - just need to sort the fairways out and this course will be a
gem.
Medal play was the format for the day’s competition and some very good
scores were recorded with Bob Philp shooting a net 70; Don Francis a net 68
but topping the lot and playing off his 7 handicap was Mark Joshua who fired
a gross 70 (net 63) to take the winner’s honours. Mark’s round included a 31
gross on the back nine.
The “twos” competition was also won outright by ‘Josh’ and he scooped the
pool by taking the ‘bananas’ for his ‘mediocre’ front nine.
Our Thursday competition scheduled for Crystal Bay had to be canceled this
week due to inclement weather at the course.
The Beautiful Game? :World Cup Starts Here
Riz Taylor
The day has finally arrived. Tonight will see the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals
commence in Germany, with the host nation taking on Costa Rica at the
all-new Allianz Arena in Munich. Later tonight Poland face Ecuador in
Gelsenkirchen. Neither match would normally be overly enticing to the
neutral, but that won’t prevent millions of fans from across the planet
tuning in to catch the action.
That’s because it’s the World Cup of course. After all, at what other time
would you consider watching Poland versus Ecuador? I’m not sure about you,
but personally I’d rather paint my fence than watch Poland versus Ecuador.
Hell, I’d even paint someone else’s fence.
The other reason is that we’re all after the same thing. Even though that
tees me up for a predictable gag about residents of this town, I refer of
course to an early World Cup form guide. Checking out the competitors with
your own eyes is the only way to do this.
Which brings me onto the tricky business of predicting a winner in advance.
The games mentioned above will constitute the first fixtures of Group A, but
it’s unlikely that this quartet will provide a winner of this year’s
competition. In 1990 a staggering nine out of ten Germans believed they’d
win the World Cup. Today’s squad, led by weird and wacky Beetle-driving,
lentil-soup-eating hippy Jurgen Klinsmann inspire just 20% of the German
public to come to the same conclusion in 2006. The desperate comeback to
draw at home with Japan last week seemed to prove this, and although Germany
always come good in tournaments it’s hard to see them being good enough.
Brazil are hot favourites, as ever, but history suggests that South American
sides traditionally struggle on European soil. That idea is perhaps less
valid these days since so many players from these nations ply their trade in
Europe’s top leagues, but the South Americans - and let’s face it that
really only means Argentina - still have something to prove.
But there are more reasons to doubt the favourites, if you’re desperately
looking for them. Take the star of the last two tournaments, Ronaldo. He
looks like he’s been spending rather too much time glugging Chang in a Soi 7
beer bar and living off 100 baht all-day breakfasts since Japan and Korea
hosted the tournament of four years ago.
And let’s forget Ronaldinho and his mastery, the power of Adriano or the
other endless talents available to Brazilian coach Alberto Parreira, and
instead consider the dodgy defence that underpins the World Champions. The
coach continues to place his trust in ageing full-backs Roberto Carlos and
Cafu, who are both the wrong side of old, and between the sticks is hapless
AC Milan stopper Dida. In Brazil they call this their ‘Bermuda Triangle’.
Every other side in the tournament will certainly hope that something is
lost on the journey to Europe.
England traveled to their temporary home in Baden Baden on Monday with two
40-tonne lorries transporting their equipment, including six pairs of boots
for each player, 200 sets of kit, 576 dairy milk bars and over 1600 Jaffa
Cakes. But more important than the abundance of merchandise is the strongest
squad to represent England in years, Rooney or no Rooney. The young marksman
may still be doubtful to recover from his metatarsal breakage, but even if
he falls short in his recovery race his team have quality players in every
area on the pitch, which is a must for any side considering themselves as
serious contenders.
In 2002 England lined up for their first game against Sweden with
illustrious names such as Danny Mills and Emile Heskey in the starting
eleven, but this time around there are no such obvious weak spots. With the
World Cup not due back in Europe for at least twelve years, you feel that
England must take this chance or face the prospect of at least another
twelve years of hurt.
But anyway, England will spectacularly crash out in the quarter finals after
a dodgy decision to rule out what seems to be a valid Sol Campbell winner
near full-time, then fail in the penalty shootout after having not prepared
for them because “there’s no point in practicing penalties.” Or something
like that.
Spain have a useful looking side, but then don’t they always? They too will
crash out - probably even after the group stages - after superstar Raul is
unable to hit a cow’s backside with a proverbial banjo and his clueless
amigos have been equally poor.
Italy are boring and Holland aren’t quite finished in their rebuilding
process. Portugal and the Czech Republic usually impress, but lack the
firepower to mount a realistic challenge.
France, meanwhile, have flopped at their last two major tournaments and
don’t have the quality that was available in the glory years, but if Thierry
Henry can finally produce on the biggest stage then anything can happen.
Even with fatty Ronaldo, ageing full backs and a dodgy keeper, it’s hard to
look past Brazil. Yet it’s so open that any number of teams could win the
thing, so sit back and enjoy. My tip? I’ll let you know next week.
Five Players to Look Out For
Carlos Tevez, Argentina. Yet another “new Maradona” attempting to
fill the great man’s sizeable number 10 shirt, but the most talented player
still earning a living in South America has amazing ability and will be
eager to secure a megabucks move to Europe. Probably to - surprise, surprise
- Chelsea.
Leo Messi, Argentina. This is the 18-year-old that tormented Chelsea in the
Champions League and stole the headlines from his illustrious teammates,
including Ronaldinho. Watch out.
Peter Crouch, England. Love him or loathe him, the lanky England
forward has come a long way since being relegated with Southampton twelve
months ago, and looks set to start for his country in the opener tomorrow
against Paraguay. His enormous frame will worry defenders, particularly from
David Beckham’s delivery on set pieces. Scored an international hat-trick
last week, albeit against Jamaica, and even has his own dance.
Ronaldinho - because he’s Ronaldinho.
Zinedine Zidane, France. The world’s most expensive player ever will
retire after the tournament, meaning that this is your last chance to see
him in action.
Watch Out, Skivers
Company bosses In Britain are planning to take a hard line on
employees taking ‘sickies’ during the World Cup.
In a survey of 600 small and medium businesses commissioned by the
consultants Employment Law Services (ELAS), 83% of employers said they’d get
tough on unauthorised absences taken during the next four weeks. They also,
bizarrely, expect everyone to be present on Monday July 10, even if England
win the tournament the previous day.
“Allowing staff to phone in sick just because they have a hangover sets out
a precedent which they or their colleagues may seek to exploit long after
the final whistle has been blown,” moaned Peter Mooney, head of consultancy
and Chief Misery Guts at ELAS. “There is no shortage of problems which
employers could encounter during the tournament, from absenteeism and low
productivity to internal frictions caused when well-meaning patriotism goes
too far.”
Sounds like someone needs a holiday in Pattaya. But it’s good to see
somebody’s keeping the workers in line, and also a good reminder of why
we’re all here. Enjoy the tournament.
NB: Don’t forget to check out The Pattaya Mail’s final World Cup
preview on pages 34-35.
The Square Ring
by Howie Reed
OK here’s the deal. You boxing fans got up bright and early last Sunday
morning, had a healthy breakfast, maybe a couple of Bloody Mary’s ready
for what was billed as maybe the fight of the year. From the Thomas &
Mack in Las Vegas it was the final edition of the trilogy called Jose
Luis Castillo (54-7-1) against Diego Corrales for the WBC Lightweight
title.
That final chapter will never be written. Fight off. For the second time
in two scheduled showdowns with Corrales, Castillo failed to make the
135-pound weight. When Corrales came in last October at 138 1/2 the
fight went on with Castillo paying a fine and a penalty to Corrales but
no WBC title. Castillo being bigger and stronger prevailed. The buzz all
week had been about Castillo’s weight which was “supposed to be
monitored”.
His promoter ‘Whining’ Bob Arum claimed, “I put a calibrated scale into
Castillo’s room in Las Vegas. I was told Thursday that Castillo weighed
138.”
Maybe but two hour’s after weigh in Castillo weighed 139 ½ for a fight
at 135.
“He disgraced me and he disgraced everybody else,” Arum said. Arum then
went on to blame “his team” for allowing this to happen.
Arum tried to save the fight with an offer of a penalty and fines but
Corrales said, “You’re kidding”. How mad is Arum? Probably not mad
enough not to fight a suspension and fine that the Nevada State Athletic
Commission will give Castillo. In fact even though not ranked by the
WBO, you can bet your bottom baht that Arum will promote Castillo
against one of his other fighters, Miguel Cotto on November 11 in
Madison Square Garden for a WBO title. That all depends of course on
what penalty the Commission hands out.
By-the-by, Cotto defends against Brooklyn punk Paul Malignaggi on Sunday
in New York. That fight will play second fiddle to Bernard
Hopkins-Antonio Tarver just up the road in Atlantic City.
O.K. here’s another deal. WBC fly king Pongsaklek Wonjonkam (62-2) is
either going to defend his title against Everardo “Zihua” Morales
(27-10-2) in Bangkok tomorrow or he’s not. If he doesn’t then he’ll
defend his title against South African Monelisi Mhikiza Myekeni (21-2)
in Bangkok on June 30. The other alternative is that maybe he’ll fight
both matches. Regardless of which fighter steps in the ring first, the
chances are good that they’ll become Pongsaklek’s 16th victim, when
defending his WBC title.
For Morales he admits that this might be his last chance at a title
shot. How do I know that? Cause he said, “This is my last chance to be a
world champion.” Us professional reporters are paid to pick up on a
boxer’s nuances.
During his reign as champion, Pongsaklek has been 3-0 against Mexican
fighters, defeating Jesús “Changa” Martínez (2002), Luis Angel Martínez
(2004), and Gilberto Keb Baas (2006). Good chance the fight, (if there
is one), will be shown on Thai TV.
Each of the sanctioning organizations in boxing make a great deal about
their annual conventions usually held in some “exotic location”. Never
do you see a boxing convention in places like Omaha, Nebraska, USA;
Chesterfield, England or any place in Bangladesh. Not wishing to buck
the trend, The IBF, (That’s the “I Be Fixin”) decided to hold their
meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Maybe the best fighter in Thailand that does less with his talents than
he should is Fashung 3K Battery, (52-8-1) who made the most title
defences for the IBF. The time frame here is a little dodgy. Three times
in 2005, 3K defended his IBF Pan Pacific super bantamweight title
against lower class opposition. Those three wins came against opponents
with a combined record of 28-22-3. He’s been to the post 3 times this
year going 3-0 against guys that are a combined 19-17-2. One of those
“fights”, in February this year, was against (2-5) Edgar Gabejan. That
contest which was a UD (116-112, 116-112, 115-113) was named Pan Pacific
Fight of the Year.
The award for the most active promoter of the year was Jimmy
Chaichotchuang, who is 3K’s manager. One has to wonder what a year is to
the IBF. How can a fight in February 2006 be the fight of the year by
May of 2006? Whoops, got it. The IBF can do what ever they want.
Wandee Singwangcha (48-7-1), who is also know as Wandee Chor Chareon,
gets a title eliminator chance against Filipino Juanito Rubillar
(39-9-7) on July 12 at Sukhothai-Thammathirat University in Nonthaburi
Province. The winner will fight for the WBC light flyweight title
currently held by Brian Viloria (19-0). Viloria’s ‘riding the pine’ with
injuries suffered in his defence against Jose Antonio Aquirre last
February in Las Vegas.
Naris Boxing Promotions of Thailand won the ‘bid’ to stage the fight,
which is probably bad news for Rubillar. He is 0-5 on fights in the
kingdom: - two of the loses came at the hands of long time world champ
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (61-2).
Wandee should be favored as he’s fighting at home and tossing out the
year 2003 would make him the betting choice. In 2003 he lost to Vic
Darchinyan (25-0), Peter Culsha (24-2) and Hussein Hussein (29-3) all on
the road. Should Wandee win then the Viloria title match would be in the
USA.
Definitely not upcoming will be the July 8 WBO/IBF super middleweight
title fight between Joe Calzaghe and TBA at the Millennium Stadium. In
his title fight against Evans Ashira, September 2005, Calzaghe broke a
bone in his left hand. Last week in training the hand was re-injured so
the fight is off.
Promoter Frank “trust me on this” Warren said: “Like everyone else
involved in the promotion, I am really disappointed that Joe has had to
withdraw because of this latest injury. After medical consultation he
has been advised to rest so we are looking at Joe returning to action in
the autumn.”
“Although Joe’s withdrawal is a blow, I’m delighted to say that the show
will still go ahead and we have a fantastic line up at the Millennium
Stadium with Williams v Skelton, Rhodes v Lockett and young Amir plus a
top quality under-card. This is still a massive, massive show and I am
sure the stadium will still witness Wales’ greatest ever boxing show.”
What part of “Horse Doodle” don’t you understand?
One fight that did take place was WBA “really” heavyweight champ Nikolay
Valuev, at 320 pounds plus, against Owen “What The Heck” Beck at 242.
The TUI Arena in Hanover was packed to cheer on the latest ‘Ruskie’ to
take the German boxing scene by storm.
The result was predictable as Valuev (44-0, 32 KOs) destroyed Owen Beck
(25-3, 18 KOs) with a third round KO. Beck tried to crowd Valuev,
smothering the seven-footer’s punches, but Valuev had some success
landing his jab and rocked Beck with a hard right in the first round.
Valuev dropped Beck with a right hand late in the second round and
nearly finished him off. The Russian then dropped Beck again with a
right uppercut in third and the bout was halted by referee Luis Pabon.
Time was 1:44.
“Valuev, who was coming off two close decision wins, delivered a very
impressive performance in this fight.”
Those were the words written by ringside reporter Karl Freitag. I would
suggest that you take the term “impressive” with a little salt, a shot
of 1800 and a lime.
Jeeves: “Sir I see from reading today’s Mail that last week there
was an American Rodeo question. As a former cowboy did you get the
answer?”
His Lordship: “Actually Jeeves I did. The correct answer is
Piggin String. Do you know why they call it a Piggin String?”
Jeeves: “No sir.”
His Lordship: “Cause a six foot braided hemp rope with a
permanent eye in one end, carried in the mouth and used to tie three of
a calf’s four legs together is too hard to say.”
Jeeves: “That’s a good one Sir. How about a little salt, a shot
of 1800 and a lime to boot?”
His Lordship: “Great idea Jeeves, and maybe a little chaser.
Something cold and wet to stave off dehydration and those ladies that
walk to music.”
Gene Rooney takes the tankard at McAllister’s
PSC golf from McAllister’s Bar & Grill
Herb, Bob, Dennis, Larry and
Gene with the ubiquitous Khun Om.
Being the first Friday of the month, the ‘Champion of
the Month’ tankard was up for grabs at the Emerald. A pleasant day saw a
smaller than usual group of 24 golfers vie for the honours on a course
that continues to undergo a major cleanup. Management has decided to
take on the fairways in a labour intensive operation that pays the staff
by the kilo of weeds collected, necessitating a lift clean and place
rule to be in effect.
‘Champion of the Month’ was Gene Rooney (13) well-deserved with a
creditable 40 stableford points, followed by Bob Lawrence (33) with 38
points, Larry Emerson (17) with 37, Herb Schweiterman (21) with 35, and
Dennis Willett (10) with 34 points. After five-putting an earlier hole,
(including an 8-foot gimmee) Bill Thompson came roaring home, shooting
one-under for the last 6 holes but to no avail.
Back at McAllister Bar & Grill the after-game festivities were in full
swing with most of the regulars back in town and the golfers availing
themselves of the complimentary buffet before getting into stride under
the watchful eye of caretaker night manager Larry Willett.
We look forward to seeing everyone again next Friday - tee off before
8:30am if possible at The Emerald and be assured of a great day of golf
and merriment.
Super ‘Mac’ takes ‘Golfer of the Month’ award
PSC golf from The Bunker
Monday May 29, Mountain Shadow, Medal
For the first outing of the week, The Bunker Boy’s travelled to Mountain
Shadow for a Medal competition.
 John
McDonald - Bunker ‘Golfer of the Month’ for May.
The cut was made at 13 and under and in the B Flight there was a tie for
third place between Bryan Rought and Clarke Alexander, who both carded
net 79’s; second place went to Roger Privett with a net 78 and Keith
Avery won first prize, way ahead of the field with a net 71.
In the A Flight John McDonald came into the clubhouse with a superb six
under par net 66, ahead of Paul Smith net 73 and Dave Arrowsmith net 74.
Near pin prizes went to Granville Swanton, Dave Arrowsmith and two to
Rab McDonald.
Wednesday May 31, Plutaluang, Stableford
A smaller than normal group played the Thai Royal Navy course
on Wednesday May 31, (obviously saving themselves for the big charity
event on Friday).
The format was Stableford and yet again John McDonald took the honours
finishing the month off in style to win today’s competition and to also
claim the ‘Golfer of the Month’ trophy. He scored 41 points, which was
way ahead of second placed William Macey, 35 points and David Johnson
and Geoff Parker, who tied for third place with 32 points each.
PJ Redmond won one of the ‘Near Pin’ prizes along with Donald Hendry
while the other two went to William Macey.
|
