The Nat(ural) has an Ace

IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s

Sunday, January 21, Green Valley – White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Andy Leach (5) 38 points
2nd Dave Mather (11) 38 points
3rd Chas Li (8) 37 points
B Flight
1st Rick Sharp (14) 41 points
2nd Mike Shrosbree (15) 39 points
3rd Ian Grout (13) 36 points
C Flight
1st George Jackson (16) 37 points
2nd Barry Chadbourn (20) 36 points
3rd Roger Koehler (20) 34 points
D Flight
1st Mol Thongkiew (26) 41 points
2nd Pierre Bietry (21) 38 points
3rd John Barrett (28) 35 points
Hole-in-One: Nat Meesuk
Well it started out with a gal being WoM and it ended with a gal taking the 2’s pot with a dodo and grabbing the Title Slot. Mol Thongkiew, ever improving, had a D Flight winning 41 points off her 26 handicap. That 26 handicap is down 10 from what seems 6 months ago, as she adds her name to the list of always quick-to-catch-on Thai ladies.
The Nat(ural), no stranger to the pay podium, nor the Title Slot, has seen her handicap drop to 18 as she canned her tee shot into the bottom of the cup on Hole No. 2, the signature hole of the course.
Mol was followed in D Flight by Monsieur Pierre and his 38 points and a happy John Barrett with 35. Nat’s C Flight was topped off by One Ball and his 37 points. Chad Chadbourn grabbed second with a level to handicap 36. Good Roger had the better of a count back with Irishman Fergus O’Brien.
The Hermit kicked off what might be a return from anonymity with a B Flight winning 41 points. Mike Shrosbree, Esq. had an excellent 39 points. Ian “The Tile” Grout snapped up third with a count back winning 36 points with another Irishman being victimized in the person of the Wee Leprechaun.
Andy Leach, playing off 5, had a better dispersed 38 points than Dave Mather to take A Flight gold. Chas Li continued his fine play with a count back victory over the days Medalist, Grant Jackson (71 off a “0” handicap), and CBT.
Monday, January 22, St. Andrews 2000 – White Tees, 2-Person Better Ball Stableford
1st Paul Shaw & Grant Jackson 50 points
2nd Bruce McAdam & Gordon Kerr 43 points
3rd Einar & Wira Widness 43 points
4th Simon Philbrook & Claus Birk Thomsen 43 points
5th Andy Leach & Mark Wood 43 points
2’s: Paul Shaw, Bruce McAdam, Simon Philbrook, Mark Wood, John Desmond, Chris Sanders, John Emmerson, Pat Regan.
These team events are a day off for most players who just ride the coat tails of their partners. Clearly neither of the winning team of Paul Shaw and Grant Jackson took the day off as they lapped the field with 50 points; that being seven points clear. The balance of the podium all had 43 points with count backs sorting out the size of the checks.
Wednesday, January 24,
Eastern Star - White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Grant Jackson (0) net 71
2nd Vinny Connellan (9) net 72
3rd Andy Leach (5) net 73
B Flight
1st Chaten Patel (16) net 72
2nd Brian Heelan (13) net 73
3rd Ray Dell (14) net 76
C Flight
1st Sean Murphy (19) net 72
2nd Bruce McAdam (21) net 74
3rd Dave McFeely (17) net 74
Near Pin: #3 – Andy Leach; #13 – Brian Heelan
2’s: Grant Jackson, Peter Ennis, John Emmerson, Paul Shaw, Neal Barton
If Monday was a day off for the field, Wednesday was to be hard work, with Medal (Stroke) Play being the order of the day. As he did on Monday, zero handicapper Grant Jackson took the MoM and Medalist honors with a net 71. Vinny Connellan was but a stroke back at 72 with Andy Leach, who was also having a fine week, coming third with net 73.
India’s gift to golf, Chaten Patel shot level to his handicap to take B Flight. Irishman Brian Heelan was second, a stroke off it. “Farmer in The” Dell was happy to see the podium with net 76.
The Irish came first and third, with Sean Murphy shooting his handicap and Dave McFeely coming third, victim of a count back to Aussie Bruce McAdam.
Friday, December 26,
Greenwood B & C – White Tees, Stableford
A Flight
1st Grant Jackson (0) 41 points
2nd Marc Napier (11) 40 points
3rd Jack Spemcer (10) 40 points
B Flight
1st Ed Adams (18) 39 points
2nd Marshall Chernigan (12) 37 points
3rd Don Lehmer (12) 37 points
C Flight
1st Linda Lee (26) 39 points
2nd Bob Lindborg (18) 38 points
3rd Einar Widness (21) 36 points
2’s: Jack Spencer, John Emmerson, Graham Jackson, Marshall Chernigan, Wira Widness, Roger Koehler, Fergus O’Brien
The saddest story of the day was that Pat Hananfin fell all the way out of the money in A Flight with the second best score of the day. It was a three-way tie for second with Marc Napier topping Gen. Jack, and the latter topping Pat. They all had 40 points! Taking the Premier Flight was zero handicapper, Grant Jackson, for his third top finish on the week, with 41 points.
B Flight was taken by newcomer Ed Adams with 39 points, two clear of the triumvirate of Marshall Chernigan, Don Lehmer and Chaten Patel. Canuck Marshall rubbed a maple leaf for good luck and took the best of the count back, while the Lady’s Man snuck into the bronze.
Hooray for Linda Lee! The better looking half of the Lee household, no offense Brian, took her first victory of this extended visit by winning C Flight. The Guru of Green Valley came second, only a point off. The less attractive half of the Widness household, Brian, who is every bit a handsome man, just not as much so as Wira is pretty, took third in the Junior Flight.

What? No Caddies?

PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s

Tuesday, January 23, Greenwood, Stableford
This turned out to one of those days you like to forget. All seemed fine, meet at Bert’s, zoom up the road, get to the course on time, stop, take the bags out, and, there was nobody there but the caddy master.
Yes we have heard of ‘a pub with no beer’, but a golf course in Thailand with no caddies! We never quite got to the bottom of it but many of the golfers ended up going onto the course, towing their own trolley with the caddies catching them up ‘much’ later.
The course itself was in good condition and is nicely tidied up but it just turned out to be one of those days. I now firmly question the adage that says a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work. Still some of the players who managed to get away early seemed to enjoy themselves.
The winner of the A Div was Gareth Weeks with Mick O’Meara in second, Charlie Sheppard in third and Perry McNeely in fourth. The winner of the B Div was Bill Knight, with Henry Cignac in second, John Allcock in third and Colin Cronin in fourth.
T.T.F.N.
Near Pin: Doug Hobbs, Gareth Weeks, Mick O’Meara (2), Mike Wing, Nigel Perry, Peter King
Long Put: Perry McNeely, Doug Hobbs

No change at the top as Banita make a move

San Miguel Lawn Bowls League

Barry Hooper
Melgram still retain top place in Division One after another decisive win over the Bankers to be on 14 but the Hopefuls are still close on their heels on 12 after their own win against the Roo’s.
In the Second Division Harvons still maintain their lead after a win over Tanjo whilst Odd Couple and Austar still hold onto second and third respectively after both secured wins. Banita have made the biggest move this week, up two places into fourth.

Battle at Treasure Hill

PSC 66th Monthly Tournament - Treasure Hill

Tony Oakes
Friday 19th January ... was it a day to remember or to forget? The course was booked months in advance with two starting tees agreed by Fax and also hand delivered instructions. Verbal assurances were received twice from the course that all was well during the 2 weeks prior to the tournament date and so we all set off with high hopes of a good day. Alas, I received a phone call at 7:30am, some 15 minutes from the course to say that 2 coaches had arrived full of golfers.
On my arrival I spent the next two hours trying to dissuade the staff from letting any players onto the course, as they would interfere with our first tee-off time. All to no avail I’m afraid, as the check in staff issued green fees to the newly arrived busloads - smiling all the time of course!
I thought things could not get any worse but they did. Groups of 5 and 6-balls sprung up out of nowhere after being allowed to tee-off in the midst of our comp. Needless to say, the PSC will not be running any further competitions at Treasure Hill for the foreseeable future.
And so on to the competition: the course itself was very dry and the ball was running a considerable distance. Unfortunately many of the hazards were not marked and I am sure there was some confusion as to what was a hazard and what was not.
Playing off the white tees the scores were not so great and only four golfers managed to beat their handicaps on the day: Mam Morel, Matsumoto Masayuki, Joel Flor and Collin Cronin. Well done to you all.
Given the problems of the day the results were calculated quickly although a lot later than usual due to the long round. MC Nigel got the prize giving under way and his amiable manner at least gave me some pleasure on a very trying day. Apologies go out to all PSC golfers who had to suffer a long day and I can assure you that all was done, as usual, to make it as pleasant as possible.
My thanks also go to the committee made up of Nigel, Tim, Vince, Mike, Herbie and Alan for their help, and I am sure that the next tournament will be a good one at Khao Kheow.

Results 67th PSC Monthly
Tournament
A Flight (Medal)
1st Masayuki Matsumoto, (4) 69
2nd Johan Reynisson (9) 74
3rd Jeff Wylie (7) 74
B Flight (Medal)
1st Frank Kelly (17) 74
2nd Brian Blackford (17) 75
3rd Robert Christie (16) 75
C Flight (STB)
1st Colin Cronin (20) 39pts
2nd Andy Galvin (20) 36pts
3rd Jan Lovgreen (22) 36pts
D Flight (STB)
1st Joel Flor (23) 37pts
2nd Andy Spence (26) 35pts
3rd Kikin Pavel (28) 35pts
L Flight (0-40 STB)
1st Somkid (Mam Morel) Bunseim (37) 43pts
2nd Duangsuda Chaemram (27) 33pts
3rd Mam Trayling (16) 33pts
Technical Awards
Long Drive: Anders Pedersson, Mashi Kaneta, Neil Allison, Paul Quodomine, Mam Morel
Near Pins: William Macey, Graham Hiskett, John Guuvag, Vesa Nironen, Pid Overgren, David Arrowsmith, Geoff King, David Foulk, Mam Morel, Johan Reynisson, Kristinn Helgasson, Arthur Bailey, Vesa Nironen, Bang on Tonthong, Robin Lennon, Elias Magnusson, Cees Bosman, Keith Hodges, Mam Morel
Long Putts: David Arrowsmith, Don Richardson, Keith Hodges, Brendon Dougal

Barry & Trudy make it a ‘family affair’ at Treasure Hill

PSC golf from the Peacock Place

Monday, January 22, Century Chonburi, Stableford
A trip to Century Chonburi was the order of the day for a Stapleford competition. The course was packed but play was steady and four and a half hours was great. Anyone breaking 30 points here, with the greens so slick, was playing Tiger Woods golf. After three putting the first three greens it was time to take stock.
Anyway, the winners on the day were: A Division - Frank Frawley (6) with 30 points on count-back over Bob Philp (9) and Jack Mosely (7), both also on 30 points.
B Division winner was Allan Bishop (22) with 34 points on count-back over Harvey Samuels (18) also 34 points, but without the aid of a caddy, and 3rd place went to Geoff Moodie with 32 points.
C Division was a family affair, too close to split, so first and second places were awarded to Wendy Khan.
The only ‘2’ of the day was made by Captain Bob and word has it that he bent the flagstick, the ball was going so fast that if it had missed the hole it would have finished in the lake 40 yards away.
Wednesday,
January 24,
Treasure Hill, Medal
Captain Bob decided it would be stroke play today. It all appeared fine until it was discovered that another association had been booked in for the same tee time as ourselves, and then, of course, another couple of bus loads turned up too, so for a while things at the first and tenth tees were a little bit hectic. A couple of groups managed to get off quickly, but then there was a long delay before the final groups teed off. The weather was kind to us and the course was in excellent condition, so despite the delays everyone had an enjoyable game.
The results were: A Division Mark Joshua (7) in first with net 75 on count-back from Steve Nowells, with John Desmond (7) net 76 in third.
B Division was won by Barry Chadbourne (21) with net 73, 2nd was Mick Leighton (16) with net 76 and 3rd was Trudy Chadbourne (25) with a net 78; yet another ‘family affair’.
Dao, the “Boss” of the Peacock, having seen us all return to the Peacock in high spirits after our games (well, most of us anyway), decided that if she couldn’t beat us, she would join us and had her first outing with us. She must have had a good game for her first attempt as Captain Bob referred to her as Michelle Wei during the presentation.
The Peacock Place runs a very welcoming Golf Society, so, if you are looking for a game with a group of really friendly people, come and join us anytime, or call Bob on 087 941 2474

Kevin beats the weather and the field

I.P.G.C. golf with The Caddy Shack

Tuesday, January 24, Sattahip,
Stableford
The Caddy Shack golfers travelled to the Navy course at Sattahip on Monday. The competition was to be a Stableford event over the very tough North and West courses and with the fairways wet there was no run possible, which made scoring very difficult.
In joint 2nd place were Samantha Taylor and Don Francis, both scoring net 78’s, but with Samantha have the more favourable count back. The winner on the day was Kevin Taylor playing off his 6 handicap who fired a remarkable net 72 for 36 points. Taking into consideration the bad weather this was a very special round.
The 2’s were shared by Don Francis, Dave Smith and Peter Lenoury.
Friday, January 26, The Emerald,
Rainbow Stableford
The golfers from the Caddy Shack chose the Emerald for a rainbow fun event, the format was Stablford and the rules were that each golfer would have to choose 6 shots from the blue tees, six from the red and six from the white tees, in any order of preference. This made some very interesting decisions to be made on each tee box.
The golfers were split into two divisions with the cut being made at 15 and under. In Division 2, Richard Tereszkiewicz managed 30 points to take 2nd place but the winner was our good friend from Boston U.S.A. Scott Chisholm scoring 33 points.
In Division 1 there was a tie for 1st place between Gerry Clooney and John Hughes, with John winning on the greater count back.
The 2’s were shared between Michael Waltschek, Dave Smith, Brian Jacks and Cliff Wilkins.

Ebrahim & Wolfgang share the spoils

PSC golf from The Café Kronborg

Thursday, January 25, Greenwood, Stableford
After playing this course on the Tuesday, and having such a bad experience with no caddies available, it was a wary group of golfers who set off from the Cafe Kronborg, especially as we had an even larger group this time. So it was with a big sigh of relief that on arrival, the caddies were ready to go. In fact with a fast booking-in it was not long before we were on the first tee and ready to go.
Of course, not all goes right and we were behind slow groups in front, and the wind, it did blow, but we still got around in quick time, and the course was in good condition so a successful day.
The A Flight (0-20) was won by Ebrahim with 38 points ahead of Johan Reynisson with 37 points in second. We then had a three-way count back on 35 points, that saw Derek Brook in third, Rob Brown in fourth and Jorgen Fridrickson just missing out.
The B Flight was won by Wolfgang Bade with 36 points, Mark Brenton in second with 35 points, Joop Jasperse in third with 34 points and Jasper Rasmusson in fourth with 33 points.
T.T.F.N.
Near Pin: Johann Reynisson, Ingelise Reynisson, Cees Bosman, Derek Brook
Long Put: Joe McClusky, Rob Brown

An insight with Norrie Whiter

Norrie Whiter (left) talks about his great love of golf with Mike Franklin in this Friday’s INSIGHT interview on PMTV.

Mike Franklin
Living in Thailand, and especially around Pattaya, one meets a lot of people - some interesting, some linked to one’s background, some just through golf, and some who are all of those things and larger than life. That probably best describes a regular visitor to this town, a certain Norrie Whiter.
Born in London, England in 1933, this fit and active septuagenarian was educated at Farnham Grammar School and went on to study an apprenticeship in engineering at the Royal Air Force establishment, Farnborough Hampshire. A natural urge to ‘see the world’ took Norrie to sea with the Merchant Navy as an Engineering Officer following which he went to work with the Ministry of Defense and, in total, completed 52 years service, visiting more than a hundred countries, before finally retiring as a Senior Technical Officer in 1999.
That is about as much as one may say about his career at the Ministry of Defense (MOD). The Official Secrets act prevents publication of any account of his work, so we move on to sport and that, for Norrie, is golf.
He took the game up when he was 38 and was a member at Hindhead G.C., Surrey for 33 years, one of the classic heathland, gorse & heather courses in that part of Southern England. Established in 1904, the course was put together by a group of enthusiasts that include such famous names as George Bernard Shaw and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Playing for many years off a 2 handicap, he recorded his best score ever at Hindhead - an impressive gross 68.
His wide experience of playing golf and knowledge of the game led him to be a professional caddy at Sunningdale G.C. Berkshire, one of the best and most prestigious courses in England.
With Norrie on the bag, even your worst golf will be enjoyable and your best day with him will have you thinking European Tour Qualifying School. Caddying mainly for senior members and VIP visitors at Sunningdale there was occasionally the tour professional to carry for, such as Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley. Much more about Sunningdale Golf Club, Norrie ‘on the bag’, and my own memorable day in a PGA Pro-am in 1988, can be seen in the INSIGHT interview with Norrie Whiter on PMTV, this Friday Feb 2nd.
And incidentally, he is formally titled Sir Norton Whiter ... but we can still call him Norrie!

Cowling on right track at The Emerald

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at the OK Corral

Mr. Denis with the “Player of the Year” winners, (from left to right) Ben Findon, David Thomas, John Cunningham, Len Jones and Ray Underwood. Absentee Tony Kitchen.

The Emerald at Ban Chang was the venue for the Pattaya Golf Society’s weekly strokeplay event on Tuesday, 23rd January, and the large group took to the tee under heavily laden skies, which, thankfully lightened as the day wore on.
The course is still in a tough condition with greens very difficult to manage and tee boxes place at their furthest extent. As a result the day’s scores were uncharacteristically high for the two flights, cut at seventeen and under.
In division one Bill Hewitt produced a card bearing a score of net 77 to take third place, one shot behind the joint winners David Thomas and Andy Parkinson, who are vying for the coveted “Player of the Month” award, such has been their New Year form. In the second flight Mod Churaiska continued to find her golfing feet with a steady round of net 80 to take third place, chasing Rob Dolan’s net 76. It was left to former engine driver, Harry Cowling, to find the right tracks and steam home with the day’s best score of net 75 and win the flight. His round included a birdie two on the fifteenth and for that he shared the 2’s pot with Nick Cardy, whose similar birdie later came on the same hole.
Denis Smith made the fatal mistake of playing the wrong ball which turned out to be that of a following player, not included in the competition, who had played up rather rudely. Well played Denis, enjoy the beer!
A special presentation was also made for the Society’s “Player of the Year” for 2006. The “A” Flight winner was John Cunningham, closely followed by David Thomas and Ben Findon whilst Len Jones took the “B” Flight narrowly from Tony Kitchen and Ray Underwood. All six golfers are to be praised for their golf and demeanour and they have proved to be excellent ambassadors for the Society throughout the year. Here’s to next year’s series
New faces,
old friends
On Thursday the Pattaya Golf Society visited the Royal Thai Navy course at Plutaluang and found the course in fine condition for their Stableford round. The largest field of the year was divided into two flights cut at nineteen and under and saw the return of a few notable friends, including the other half of the Parkinson duo, Jim, twenty-four hours into his stay and reunited on the golf course with a similarly hung-over brother Andy, of whom so much has been written recently!
Two huge slices OB off the fourth tee heralded a rare absence from the podium for Andy and, instead, the second flight saw Barry Pethig, Ian Hart and Mod Churaiska tie for third with 31 points each. In second place Ray Underwood thoroughly deserved the honours for his sound round of 33 points but the winner was the equally popular John Mason who recorded 34 points on a course which is rapidly becoming one of his favourites.
In the top flight Ben Findon found his feet with 37 points, even taking time out to three-putt from two feet, thus relegating him to third place, two behind runner-up Rick Schramm whose presence on the golf course is always a welcome sight. The day’s big winner was rookie Chris Hardy who turned heads with his 42 point card. Chris also shared the substantial birdie twos pot with David Thomas and John Cunningham to complete a profitable day.
As usual it was David Thomas who produced the day’s best gross score of 78. The Booby Bevy went to Keith Hector for some erratic driving as he proceeded to undo the work of course builders by driving his buggy over a newly cemented cart path leaving the tracks for all to see!

The Square Ring: by Howie Reed

The entire world awaits Monday’s early morning, 6:26am, Super Bowl in Miami, Florida USA between Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears but strangely enough Jeeves has some questions about the Ricky Hatton victory two weeks ago. “Jeeves the floor is yours.”
“Your Lordship some boxing fans have said that in the latter stages of the Hatton-Urango fight that Ricky got tired. I very strongly disagree. My take on the last few rounds is that Hatton knew he was ahead and due to the 10-ounce gloves couldn’t score a KO so he tossed one punch and held. That’s a good winning strategy that scores points with judges but not with causal boxing fans. I found it interesting that Hatton’s trainer Mr. Billy Graham used World War I airplane history to keep Hatton on track during the fight. He kept saying, ‘Watch out for those Fockers’.”
Using the eloquent quote from Mr. Graham, heavyweight contender Samuel Peter better “Watch out for those Fockers.” Twice Peter paid a sanctioning fee to the WBC so that his winning fights against James Toney would lead to a heavyweight title fight against Oleg Maskaev. If news reports are true, always a dodgy situation, then all Peter will be getting is the rigid digit yet again.
Vitali “No Heart” Klitschko announced that he is coming out of retirement to fight Oleg Maskaev for the WBC title maybe in Russia on April 21. It was just a few weeks ago when Peter’s manager Ivaylo Gotzev said, “The WBC title is not for sale.” Nice sound bite but probably not true.
For some time Dennis Rappaport the promoter of Oleg Maskaev had been trying to line up a big money bout with Wlad Klitschko. That fell through when Wlad signed to meet Ray Austin on March 10th in Germany. Now Vitali is coming out of retirement and will meet Maskaev in Russia.
Gotzev said of Rappaport: “He’s out trying to sell the belt to the highest bidder and that’s something that should be beneath the dignity of a WBC Champion. We’ve earned our position not once, but twice, so they should do the honorable thing and face us instead of trying to cash out against one of the Klitschkos.”
Nice philosophy but one has to remember that nothing is beneath the dignity of any sanctioning organization. One must have dignity in the first place for something to be beneath it.
“But the rules?” you ask. According to the rules of the WBC, Klitschko is allowed a title opportunity due to his status as a former champion. WBC Rule 1.21 concerning championship defense obligations outlines that a champion must defend their title “either in a voluntary or mandatory defense” against a variety of potential opponents, which includes “former or retired world champions (upon majority vote of the Board of Governors).” Blah, Blah, Blah. Keep in mind that if the Board of Governors hadn’t had a majority vote there would be a new Board of Governors that would find a majority vote.
Samuel Peter’s reaction? “It’s a disgrace! I fought my way into this position without taking shortcuts.”
Peter’s promoters Dino Duva sent a letter to Vitali: “First of all, if you have a desire to come back to the ring, we welcome you. However, do not think that we will stand by and allow you, the cowardly champion Maskaev, or anyone else involved, to interfere with Samuel Peter’s right to fight for the WBC Heavyweight Championship.”
Jeeves sent a note to Mr. Duva saying: “Don’t hold your breath.”
Had a chin wag with Sean O’Grady, the Champ, the other night in regard to Oscar De La Hoya amputating Floyd Mayweather Sr. as his trainer. O’Grady’s dad used to train Floyd Senior in his professional boxing days. It was agreed that Mayweather Sr. should have used some basic math in that $500,000 USD is better than nothing. In addition he was offered a $500,000 bonus if De La Hoya won. Mayweather Sr. called the offer “insulting”.
“Jeeves, send a note to Oscar and tell him that I would be glad to train him for $500,000 and I won’t be insulted.”
Wonder how Mayweather Sr. feels about, “Bye now and thank you?”
“Your Lordship, the way you’re going on might I mention that Aussie light heavy favorite Danny Green had a big win when he KO’d Paul Murdock in 2. Both were coming of losses in 2006. Murdock lost as a WBO challenger to Zsolt Erdei and Danny Green lost in a mega fight to Anthony Mundine in a fight that drew 30,000 fans. And finally former WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison is in more trouble. He failed to show up for a British Board of Boxing Control hearing. Mr. Harrison is in deep stuff. That’s all your Lordship.”
In an interview with the BBC, Wayne “The Pocket Rocket” McCullough suggested that maybe Ricky Hatton might like to cut down on the “night life.” He had ballooned up to 180lbs prior to his last fight with Juan Urango. “A pint with the lads may be OK but when he’s not training Hatton sometimes has a few more than a pint. Nobody’s saying he can’t drink,” McCullough told the BBC, “but it’s up to him to say ‘I’m getting older, maybe it’s time to cut down’ … to put 10lbs or so on [between fights] is pretty normal, but when you go any higher it makes it harder. But that’s Ricky Hatton. He goes to the bar and drinks with the boys. So far he’s been getting away with it and it’s his choice.”
As for Hatton’s next opponent, Jose Luis Castillo, McCullough was even less flattering. “I think [Castillo’s] probably shot. He’s had a lot of tough fights, he’s not a big guy and I think Ricky beats him easy.”
I agree with my pal Wayne. Two great minds - one great column.
“Jeeves have you laid in the supplies for the Super Bowl?”
“Yes your Lordship. I have chicken wings, lots of cold lager and a new supply of your favorite cigars.”
“Why thank you Jeeves.”
“Bloody Yank, watching a stupid game. Good thing we let them win that war. Good riddance if you ask me.”
“What was that Jeeves?”
“I said I think I’ll write my Dear Mom a letter.”
“Jeeves you are a treasure.”

Dan makes his mark

IPGC Jomtien Golf

Monday, January 22, The Emerald, Stableford
An individual competition and also a two-team better ball Stableford was the order of play today for the fourteen teams.
There were some good scores returned to the clubhouse. In Division 2, third place went to Tony Duthie with 34 points; two points better was Les Hall in second but with 42 points and with his first ever win was Dan Tracey.
Equally as impressive in Division 1 was John McLoone whose 41 points gave him prime spot on the podium. Jeff North came in second with 37 points whilst Fred Duffy took third place on 35 points on a count back over Emmet White.
Nearest the pin prizes went to Jeff North, Paddy Wilson, Alan Bissell and Magnus.
Mikael Anderson had the only 2 of the day.
The team competition had some very close scores returned with Ben and Les’s 45 gaining them second prize, but in first place came John Mcloone and Emmet White with a fine 48 points.
Wednesday,
January 24,
Noble Place,
Stableford
Following much confusion regarding our booking, 25 of us eventually started out over the C and A courses.
Les Hall’s 34 points was good enough for third place in Division 2; Jim scored one more for second, but Phil Smith’s 39 secured the winning purse. Similar scores in Division 1 saw Paddy’s beat John Mcloone for third place on count back, Jack Spencer in second with 35 points and Emmet White winning with 37 points.
Nearest the pin prizes went to Jack Spencer, Gordon Toedman, Jim Connelly and Les Hall. There were three 2’s recorded by Emmet White, Paddy Wilson and a rollover by Jim who rang the bell at Paweenas before heading off back to the US. Bon Voyage Jim.

Forty wins the day, with count-backs all the way

January 2007 Diana Seniors & Ladies Open

Mike Franklin
Forty Stableford points was the order of play in the Diana Seniors & Ladies Open at Pattaya Country Club on Thursday January 25. It was a typically good January turnout on a fine day, but with rock-hard fairways that proved advantageous to the shorter hitters - provided they stayed on them.

P. Singh Basi and Ed & Mam Trayling were top of the pile in the January Diana Seniors & Ladies Open.

Steady Mam Trayling carded 36 Stableford points to win the Ladies, and a count-back for runner up between Orowan Sodok and Toy Theobald, both with 34 points, saw Orowan shade it with 19 on the back nine.
Steady Ed Trayling made it a family day by winning the Super Seniors with 40 points, this time in a three-way count-back. His 22 points on the back nine, was just enough to put Ostein Sorensen’s back-nine 21 in the runner up spot, in turn beating Roy Pimblett’s 20.
Yet another 40 points came from P. Singh Basi, winning outright the Seniors. Another back nine count-back on 37 points decided the runner-up, with Robert Avery beating Alan Pearce by 3 shots to take the runner-up spot.
‘Near pins’ were claimed by Bill Fitzgerald, Sean Murphy, Harvey Samuel and Kimomitsu Simamura, who was not on the start sheet and should know better. Nigel Canon and Jerry McCarthy had longest putts on #9 and #18 respectively.
The new faces were warmly welcomed during prize-giving and hopefully will play in the next Diana Seniors & Ladies Open be on Thursday February 22 at Pattaya Country Club. We hope to see you then, so sign-up at the Green Bottle or at the Diana Garden Resort Driving Range.

Leen bowls the best series in the current league

Pattaya Sports Club Friday Bowling League

200 Bowlers – Rich, Maliny, Ken, Mio & Leen.

Leen bowled a great 655 series with games of 213, 215 and 227 to lead Café Kronborg to a four game sweep over first place Montana. Second place Diamond Shop split their match with VFW Post 9876 with each team getting two points.
Mio rolled a 551 series to lead House of the Golden Coin to a three point win over Domicil, Jack & Tar won three from Mai’s Thai Restaurant and Shenanigans got three points from Brother D.
Café Ole led by Rich Montana’s 543 series and Antero’s 543, won all four points from Three Sisters.

The Road to the Super Bowl – Part 5

The ‘Big Game’ is here

Howie Reed
By the time that foot meets ball with the opening kick off of Super Bowl XLI on Monday February 5th at 6:26AM (Thai), over US$100 million dollars will have been bet legally; 1,000 times that many useless words will have been written; and cries of “Enough” will resound around the world.
Those that enjoy the show at Tiffany’s, Simon Cabaret or the Alcazar will probably be eagerly awaiting Prince doing the half time show. For those that have been busy the last two weeks, the game is between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League Champion, i.e. who shall be called the Super Bowl Champion for 2007.
These Chicago Bears have flown under the radar in regards to well-known players. A fan would be hard pressed to name three current Bear players. Their last trip to the Stupor Bowl was in 1986 when they destroyed the New England Patriots 46-10. That team had some certifiable characters like QB Jim McMahon, William “The Refrigerator “ Perry, and Hall of Fame players Walter Payton and Mike Singletary with Head Coach Mike Ditka assisted by Buddy Ryan. That team went 15-1 losing only once on a Monday Night Game to the Miami Dolphins.
The current Bears are coached by Lovie Smith, run the ball well with Jones and Benson, have a couple of pretty good receivers in Brian Berrian, Dallas Clark and Muhsin Muhammad, a good defense anchored by LB Brian Urlacher, an above average kick returner in Dante Wesley. They don’t fumble or turn the ball over and finally they pray that QB Rex Grossman doesn’t screw things up.
They have on occasion had a great pass rush which they’ll need when facing Peyton Manning. Much has been made that in their championship game against the New Orleans Saints the Bears had no penalties and no turnovers while the Saints turned the ball over 4 times. Those that think that’s a coincidence don’t know football.
While this will be the Indianapolis Colts’ first time to the ‘big game’, the Colts (then in Baltimore), played in the game back in 1971, which was staged at Miami’s Orange Bowl. They beat the Dallas Cowboys 16-13. That was just two years after the Baltimore Colts lost to the Joe Nameth New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
The Cowboys were favored but the Colts were ready. Colt Linebacker Mike Curtis summed it up for all the Colts’ players, “No one knows the despair, the abject humiliation we felt that day. The 1968 Baltimore Colts, a perfect football machine that crushed every opponent except one in a tough schedule. I felt great anger inside me that day.”
They beat Dallas that day when Rookie Kicker Jim O’Brien kicked a field goal with 5 seconds left in the game. The only thing similar between those Baltimore Colts and these Colts of today is the same uniform and a great quarterback. The Baltimore Colts had Johnny Unitas and these Colts have Peyton Manning.
There are some truisms in life and as “football mirror’s life” therefore there are some truisms in football. “Don’t change horses in the middle of the stream”, “Dance with the guy that brung you” and “I love you too much” is a renewable energy source. Neither team will vary much from what got them to the game. They won’t install a lot of trick plays or switch to the wishbone offense. The game boils down to “who wants it more and how do the teams match up?”
QUARTERBACKS: The big edge here goes to Payton Manning of the Colts. He’s the most prolific passer in the NFL the last few years and one of the few QB’s that actually calls plays. With his quick release he’s almost ‘un-sackable’. He did hurt a thumb towards the end of the Patriot’s game. It won’t make any difference.
The Bears Rex Grossman is a train wreck. “He played well again the Saints?” Yeah right! Going into the 4th quarter he was 5 for 20. He does throw the long ball but a good pass rush sometimes leaves him “bumfuddled”. The first 5 games of the season Grossman was the top passer in the NFL. That was playing against Green Bay, Detroit, Minnesota and Seattle. Against real teams he didn’t do as well. Big edge for Manning.
RUNNING BACKS: Got to go here with the Bears duo of Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones as they combined for 1,857 yards during the year. Benson and Jones had only 44 catches coming out of the backfield for barely 200 yards.
The much maligned Colts running attack with Joesph Addai and Dominic Rhodes gained 1,722 so it wasn’t exactly chopped chicken liver. They did a little better than the Bears catching the ball with 76 grabs for almost 700 yards. The edge here has to go to the Bears but not by much.
RECIEVERS: The Colts with Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, TE Ben Utecht and Dallas Clark are given the edge. It doesn’t hurt that they have Manning tossing the pork-skin to them. The depth here is important.
The Bears with Muhsin Muhammad, Bernard Berrian and Desmond Clark are OK, especially if they can get open long. You won’t see them go across the middle often which should make it easier to defend against them.
OFFENSIVE LINES: Pretty much a push here. Both lines do a good job. Bears probably run block better with the Colts getting a slight edge in pass protection. That Colt edge is helped because Manning gets rid of the ball so quickly.
DEFENSE: Early in the year the Bears “D” would have been given the nod but they lost Defense Tackle Tommy Harris which has affected their effectiveness. DT Tank Johnson will play thanks to a Federal Judge who allowed him to travel even though he’s going on trial for gun possession. Bears’ LB Brian Urlacher is the gold standard.
The Colts run defense stunk during the regular season but during the playoffs has limited opponents to less than 100 yards rushing. The front 4 have the ability to put pressure on Grossman with tackle “Booger” McFarland and end Dwight Freeney. Bear fans don’t want to hear “pressure and Grossman” in the same breath. The Colt linebackers are OK.
The Colts defense may have a big problem if CB Nicolas Harper can’t play with his ‘bum’ ankle. That would force the Colts to move safety Marlon Jackson in to cover Bernard Berrian one-on-one. Whoops. The hard hitting Bob Saunders has made a world of difference for the Colts secondary. Probably a wash here.
If there is a chink in the Colts amour it’s on special teams and especially kick coverage. New England’s Ellis Hobbs took one for 80 yards and the Bears Darren Hester is a “premier” punt returner. It will be up to Colts’ punter Hunter Smith to either kick away from Hester, out of bounds or suffer the consequences.
By kick off the Colts will be favored by 7 and it should be 10 or 12. The Bears’ offense, especially with Rex Grossman at the controls, is a car looking to get a flat tire. The Bears defense faced only one good offense all year and that was in the slush of Soldier Field against the Saints. The Colts have just too much offense and enough defense to win a shootout.
The field will be in great shape with the temperature in the 60’s or 70’s. Beautiful weather for a Colts skinning of the Bears. Bears fans there is hope though. Here’s a Prayer for the Bears: Our Papa, Whop art a bear, Hallowed by thy fame, Thy championship come, Thy play be run, At home as it is away, Give us this day our Sunday win, And forgive us our turnovers, Though we pounce on those who turnover against us, And lead us not to fourth and long, In the name of Ditka, Butkus and the Holy Payton as it was in 1985, So shall it be in 2007, reign without end. DAAAAAMEN!