Christmas Scramble a very tight affair

Golf from the Travellers Rest

Barry Hooper
Monday, December 22, Mountain Shadow - Stableford
1st Frank Kelly (15) 39pts
2nd John O’Leary (16) 36pts
3rd Chuck Carriere (12) 35pts
4th Eamonn Murtagh (18) 35pts
5th Fergus Brennan (10) 35pts
Our first outing of the week was on Monday, December 22 to Mountain Shadow. There was a very good turnout on this trip to a great golf course - just the one division but places given to fifth.
The boss himself Fergus was fifth loosing on count back to Eamonn Murtagh and Chuck Carriere all on thirty-five. Second was John O’Leary at thirty-six and the winner was Frank Kelly, three up on the field at thirty-nine.
Five 2’s were recorded by Chuck Carriere, John O’Leary (2), David Walter (2) and Nijole Murtagh who scored one on the same hole last time she visited this course.
Wednesday, December 24, Phoenix – Texas Scramble
On Wednesday (Christmas Eve), instead of our usual Tuesday outing we went to play Phoenix Mountain and Lakes and held a Texas Scramble event. This was a big change from our normal stableford format which we usually employ and it proved to be a good decision as everyone who took part enjoyed themselves immensely - and the scores recorded were so tight that at the end it was decided by going down to quarters and eighths of a point.
The eventual winners after much deliberation were the team of Ted Senior, Danny Whelan, Brendan Moore and Jack McNamara with fifty-nine and a half. The runners up, only one quarter of a point back on fifty-nine and three quarters, were George Pittam, Mike Clifford, Dan McCarthy and Wilf Wellman.
Afterwards, all returned for a very nice Christmas buffet laid on by Fergus and his lady at the Travellers Rest which rounded off the day’s excursion extremely well and was a good start to the Christmas festivities that followed.
There was no Tuesday or Thursday play last week because of the Christmas Holidays. I must also apologise that there is also no report on Saturday’s play either as the deadline for the local papers had to be brought forward to accommodate the New Year Holiday. Please find a full update in my next report.

Young Spanish golf sensation selected for Royal Trophy

Pablo Larrazabal has put the seal on “an incredible year” by being named as the eighth and final player for Jose Maria Olazabal’s European defense of the Royal Trophy.
The Spaniard’s amazing victory at this year’s French Open catapulted him to the position of the Continent’s hottest golf talent. The twenty-five year-old had to come through a 36-hole pre-qualifying event at Chantilly the week before the European Tour’s elite would arrive at Le Golf National at Versailles. He proceed to tame a field that included many of the world’s best golfers to win and secure his first Tour title - in one of the great sporting stories of 2008. As a result, the flamboyant Larrazabal was voted the European Tour’s 2008 ‘Rookie of the Year’,

Pablo Larrazabal.

He admitted to be overwhelmed at being named by European Team Captain Olazabal for an event that was conceived by his illustrious compatriot, Seve Ballesteros. The Barcelona native commented: “It is such a great honor to be chosen to represent Europe at such an early stage in my professional career.”
“Spain has a very strong connection with the Royal Trophy. Seve was a driving force in the creation of the event and Jose Maria Olazabal has taken over from him as Captain of the European Team. Playing for Europe at the Royal Trophy is something I will always treasure and I cannot thank Seve and Olly enough for showing so much faith in me;” added an emotional Larrazabal.
“Everyone in the golfing world was delighted when Seve left the hospital after his recent brain tumor operation - and my only regret is that he will not be in Thailand to see me play, as he continues to recuperate at home.
“But I will do my best to show that he and Olly were right to select me by doing whatever it takes to win as many points as possible - just as Seve and Olly did so often when they played together in the Ryder Cup. This has been an incredible year for me, and this has rounded it off in the best possible way;” said the young Spanish golf sensation.
Larrazabal’s dramatic achievement at France’s premier golf tournament was the starting point of a series of strong performances, which included a third place at the Madrid Open and a fourth in the traditional Hong Kong Open, and culminated with the young Spaniard representing Spain for a second place finish at the World Cup of Golf only a few weeks ago. That result was clear confirmation of Larrazabal’s proficiency in the foursomes and four-ball formats and notice that the five-foot ten-inch aggressive player has the potential to carry on the tradition of Spanish success in team golf competition.
“Pablo is my eighth and final selection for the European Team. He has played great in 2008 and showed that he can produce golf of very high quality in team competition at the World Cup. He adds youth and energy to our European Team and I am confident that he will secure his fair share of points at Amata Spring;” said the two-time Masters champion Olazabal.
Larrazabal joins a powerful line-up of players brought together by the thirty-time title winner Olazabal which includes former Open Championship winner Paul Lawrie, former Open Championship runner-up Niclas Fasth, Europe’s current number two player Oliver Wilson, 2008 Ryder Cup player Soren Hansen, multiple European Tour title winners Johan Edfors and Nick Dougherty and team golf living legend Paul McGinley.
The Europeans will face a highly motivated Naomichi ‘Joe’ Ozaki’s Asian Team featuring Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng and Thongchai Jaidee; US PGA star Charlie Wi and S.K. Ho of Korea; 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Liang Wen-chong of China and the Japanese trio of Toru Taniguchi, Hideto Tanihara and seventeen-year-old sensation Ryo Ishikawa.
The Royal Trophy will be played on January 9-11, 2009 at the exclusive Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi. The Continental competition will feature foursome matches in the opening day, followed by four-ball matches in the second day while eight singles matches will be played on the final Sunday.

Jaycock jives at Green Valley

PSC golf from P J Pool Bar

The combo gathering raise their glasses at Peacock on Monday.

Neil Duncan
Monday, December 22, Green Valley (White tees) - Stableford
We linked up with our chums at Eastside Friendly Golf Society for a combo pre-Xmas jamboree event. Two groups teed off, one slightly later than the other but all were swiftly round the course in good order.
Proceeding to The Peacock there was a distribution somewhat in keeping with the Milo Minderbinder business model so that ‘everyone had a share.’ The A division was won by Tiger Jumparnit with 38 points, the B division by Dennis Jaycock with a huge haul of 43 points and the C division by Steve Black with 32 points.
The group then sat down to enjoy an excellent, traditional Xmas board of turkey with trimmings and pud all washed down by copious quantities of red wine. A great day was had by all, even the many ‘bah humbugs’ amongst us. Most agreeably, no one had to be punched on the nose for over ho, ho, hoing or dunked in the pool for wearing a santa hat.
Later on, Aka O’Reilly fell nose first into a flowerbed but strongly maintains that this was because he was tripped and then pushed. Fortunately Aka’s beer belly cushioned his impact with Terra Firma and so little physical harm was suffered.
Wednesday, December 24, The Emerald (White tees) - Stableford.
1st Frank Waterhouse 34pts
2nd Ken Hole 31pts
3rd Bev Ewens 31pts
4th Mike Jackson 30pts
5th Willy Nachbur 29pts
6th Jim Fortune 29pts
Seventeen of us rocked up to play The Emerald, most regrettably leaving Jim Walton behind due to his late arrival. Sorry Jim but when it says 7.30 for 8.00 on the board, that was it, because we had been warned to be on the first tee on time due to a vast posse of Outbackers following on.
Near pin bonuses went to Jim Fortune, John Roddis, Neil Duncan and John Aylott whilst Steve Lunt sunk the longest first putt on the 18th green.
Friday, December 25, Greenwood (White tees) – Stroke Play.
Nineteen of us decided to enjoy Boxing Day with our monthly medal round at Greenwood, which was in tip top condition with weather to match.
Two pseudo British Columbians tussled it out head to head for the trophy wine glass sponsored by P J Pool Bar with the scribe oddly contriving to keep his cool on the 18th hole to take top spot and also the A division with net 68. Mike Jackson (a proper Canadian albeit a ‘Newfy’) was runner up, also with net 68, and a now cleaned up Ken Hole came in third with net 71.
Our man from India, Charles Raj, topped the B division with net 75 with Jim Fortune in second place with net 76 and Jim Walton in third place with net 79.
Ken Hole had two near pin bonuses and Bob Drumm had one. Scrim hit the last of the many, many shots on his golfing holiday into the cup on the 18th green for a consoling longest putt prize.

Chiang Mai girls lead the way

Thailand place third at ACC International women’s cricket tournament

Graeme Monaghan
Thailand showed their mettle by finishing third from the eleven countries contesting the Asian Cricket Council’s Under-19 women’s tournament, conducted at the Chiang Mai Gymkhana Club and Prem Centre from December 13-23.

Chiang Mai cricketing superstars: Parn, Oil & Jeen.
Their good showing was largely due to the excellent performances of the three Chiang Mai girls representing their country. Between them they took 34 wickets in the six matches played with Piraorn Kamla (Parn) leading the way with 16 including an excellent 4 for 17 against the eventual winners, Nepal. Porntira Olarakchat (Oil) took 12 and Pimpika Jindakam; six. Their success was made even more meritorious by the fact that all of them are only thirteen years of age.
The competition was wonderfully managed and orchestrated by the ACC at considerable cost, and treated, as any international event should be, with great professionalism. Top class umpires, referees, scorers and other officials were always on hand to ensure the smooth running of the games and even medical staff was provided.
Eventual winners, Nepal, were undefeated throughout and looked the better side from the start. The other favoured team was Hong Kong who were beaten twice by Thailand, both in exciting matches.
In the runoff game for third place Thailand, chasing Hong Kong’s 74, crashed to 6 for 42 and their search for victory looked beyond hope. But steady batting by Nathakan Chanithan and Pimpika Jindakam (Jeen), who kept cool heads and attacked anything loose, saw Thailand home with Jeen hitting the winning four runs with a powerful pull shot.
It was a wonderful exhibition of cricket and sportsmanship throughout and enjoyed by a daily increasing number of spectators.
January 7-14 will see another international tournament in Chiang Mai with the men’s ACC Challenge Trophy between Bhutan, Brunei, China, Iran, Maldives, Oman and Thailand.

Jeen hits the winning run against Hong Kong to give Thailand 3rd place.

England win beach football trophy

Saksiri Uraiworn
Defending champions England defeated the Thai challengers 5-2 to retain their trophy at 4th Pattaya International Beach Football Tournament played at the Jomtien Beach multi-purpose field on December 23. Ireland came in third and Holland fourth.
In the final game Thailand attacked early on but were unable to get through the stiff England defence, superbly marshaled by the English goalkeeper. England countered, scored first and then sauntered into a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead. Thailand hit back with two goals in the last quarter but it was too little too late and England ran out comfortable winners with the final score being 5-2.
Itthipol Khunplume, Mayor of Pattaya City, presided at the closing ceremony with Wattana Jantanawaranon, Deputy Mayor of Pattaya City, and handed out trophies to the winners.
The Mayor was pleased to see the tournament encouraging strong sporting relationships between citizens of many countries who reside in Pattaya, while also helping to promote a healthy and sporting image for the city.

The victorious England team with the champions trophy.

Irish eyes are smiling after beating Holland in the third place playoff.

The Thai team receive the runners-up trophy from Mayor Itthipol Khunplume
and Deputy Mayor Wattana Jantanawaranon.

The Dutch team brought along their own colourful cheerleading squad.

A short story of the Siam Cup

The sporting link between Britain’s most southerly point and exotic Siam

Stuart Ling
I would guess it’s one of the most frequent questions travelers are asked: Where do you come from?

The Siam Cup.
In my case people usually think I’m American when I answer, until I explain to them it’s not New Jersey, but Jersey in the Channel Islands (C.I.). Most people have never heard of it, and searching around for it in an atlas can be pointless, the island’s size (14km east to west, and just 8km north to south) means it’s not even shown on many maps. However, the conversation does take on a more interesting angle when I’m talking to people of Thailand about Jersey.
Amazingly, the two rugby union teams of Jersey and Guernsey (the second largest of the five Channel Islands) play an annual game for, arguably, the oldest rugby trophy in existence, the Siam Cup.
During the early 1900’s, a group of Channel Islanders were working in Thailand (formerly Siam); C. Norman was a Jersey man and former Old Victorian, whist E. Trotter, R. Bainbridge, H. Forty and S. Groves were Guernsey men who had attended their local Elizabeth college.
News reached the group that their former colleges were no longer to play against each other at rugby. After some discussion they decided to donate a trophy and send it home in the hope of encouraging the event to continue.
As the materials to be used were Ticals (Siamese silver dollars) they needed authorization from the King to use the coins. As fate would have it, S. Groves was, at the time, equerry to HM King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), as indeed he had been to his father HM King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). Not only did the King grant permission, but he also instructed the highly skilled court silversmiths to work on the trophy. The result was (is) a magnificent work of art.
The Siam Cup stands 33cm high (inclusive of plinth) and has a diameter of 25.5cm. The pure Siamese (Thai) silver is decorated with elephant heads and dancing girls beaten out in the traditional relief fashion. The ebony plinth bears the names of the winners as far back as the 1928/29 season, as well as the names of the original five donors.
And so this sporting link between a tiny portion of Britain and a far off exotic kingdom continues to this day. The Siam Cup final is the climax to the rugby season in the Channel Islands and is usually played in May.

Samuel & Waltschek win by a street

PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar

Joey’s Column
Monday, December 22, Burapha - Stableford
The adopted ‘home’ venue for the Outbackers attracted 64 golfers playing in four divisions to the wonderful A & B course. As mentioned last week, Capt’ Bob put the D division (handicap 21+) off the white tees, whilst the remainder played from the blues.
It was another beautiful day with a varying stiff breeze and once again the greens were pretty slick. If there is a down side to the course, and it applies to many in the area, why does the green keeper apparently over-water the approaches to the greens, and then give you a front pin to get at? It can make it very frustrating when the ball stops dead.
Jack fired the best score of the day, amassing 40 stableford points; after being one over gross with four to play; a disappointing end to the round, but it did include the two very long par fours into the guts of the wind on the A nine. Second in the Div A was Pat Regan with a creditable 36.
Div B featured a count back between Steve Plant & Charlie Sheppard for 1st & 2nd, and another series of count backs for 3rd, 4th and 5th.
William Mooney won Div C with an excellent 37 points from the in-form John Kittilsen with Bob Lindborg in third with 35; a long way back in fourth was Ivan Plunkett on 31.
Johnny Spiller took advantage of the forward tees to take Div D with 35, just one ahead of Jum and David Davies, both with 34.
Amongst the winners of the free green fees were Paul Bourke, for the third successive time, and Steve Giles for the second time, and Bob Lindborg.
There were only three ‘2’s today from Jum, David Davies and Pottsy.
Div A (0-12)
1st Jack Moseley (10) 40pts
2nd Patrick Regan (9) 36pts
3rd Dave Porter (10) 35pts
4th Eddie Smith (8) 34pts
5th Paul Greenaway (12) 32pts
Div B (13-15)
1st Steve Plant (13) 35pts
2nd Charles Sheppard (15) 35pts
3rd Paul Lavender (14) 32pts
4th Frank O’Neill (14) 32pts
5th John Kottaridis (13) 32pts
Div C (16-20)
1st William Mooney (18) 37pts
2nd John Kittilsen (19) 36pts
3rd Bob Lindborg (16) 35pts
4th Ivan Plunkett (19) 31pts
5th Paul Quinn (18) 30pts
Div D (21+)
1st John Spiller (21) 35pts
2nd Jum Karagit (33) 34pts
3rd David Davies (23) 34pts
4th Jorma Liila (29) 33pts
5th Wayne Hansen (25) 33pts
Wednesday, December 24, The Emerald - Stableford
Forty-seven Outbackers descended upon this busy little course just outside of Ban Chang, to play their Christmas novelty game of golf. The chosen format, a rainbow multiplier.
Well, today Capt’ Bob got the elbow from Flash Jack who took control and made all the arrangements. Multiplier; bloody hell what a game and what a start as it was a draw for partners, Jack had to go off first as there was no other complete team on the tee boxes. It took a while but was finally sorted and the game began; I’m sure Jack had something up his sleeve when he thought this one up.
I know my partner was looking at his sand wedge on some occasions and looking at the back of my head with something other than golf on his mind, especially when he had a 4-pointer and I had a blob; great for public relations.
At least some of the golfers could play the game and it was reflected in the scores but the winners were playing a different course to the rest of us. All in all it was a really great day and one thing is for sure, everyone enjoyed themselves.
The eventual winners were Harvey Samuel & Mike Waltschek with a magnificent score of 74, absolutely miles in front of the field. Next were the also-rans: Eddy Smith & Norm Martin on 66, in third were Barry Chadbourn & Kevin Fitzgerald with 65 on a count back over Kevin Moraghan & Jack Moseley, also with 65. Next were Pottsy and the Capt with 62, sorry Pottsy mate.
Joey would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone the best for 2009, hopefully it will be just as good, if not better than this year.
There were three ‘2’s coming from Eddie Smith, Barry Copestake & John Kottaridis
1st Harvey Samuel & Michael Waltschek 74
2nd Eddie Smith & Norm Martin 66
3rd Kevin Fitzgerald & Barry Chadbourn 65
4th Jack Moseley & Kevin Moraghan 65
5th Bob Philp & Campbell Potts 62
Friday, December 26, Siam Plantation - Stableford
Another tough day at the office as the Outback Golf Bar was joined by a large contingent from the Golf Club, giving a total 45 golfers playing in four divisions. This week was the turn of the spectacular Sugarcane nine and the tough Tapioca, unfortunately for some, still from the true white tees. Next week there will be a return to a composite tee box course, reducing it’s length to around 6,500 yards.
The unusually low A Division (all single figure handicappers) was won by Capt’ Bob with the moderate score of 32, from Grant Mongomery with 31. John Emmerson, relegated to the B Division, was beaten on count back by Bobby Driggs, both with 33.
Top score of the day came from Jeff Calrow with a remarkable 39 points, seven clear of Paul Huneker in second. Regular Outbacker, John Kittilsen, notched up another good result taking Div D with 34 points on count back from Lee Ibbottson.
There were only three ‘2’s coming from Bob Philp, Harvey Samuel & Rainer Helling.
Div A (0-9)
1st Bob Philp (6) 32pts
2nd Grant Montgomery (8) 31pts
3rd Jouni Varjonen (7) 30pts
Div B (10-14)
1st Bobby Driggs (12) 33pts
2nd John Emmerson (11) 33pts
3rd Barry Tregurtha (14) 32pts
Div C (15-17)
1st Jeff Calrow (15) 39pts
2nd Paul Huneker (15) 32pts
3rd James Bryan (16) 30pts
Div D (18+)
1st John Kittilsen (19) 34pts
2nd Lee Ibbottson (21) 34pts
3rd Jean Bruneau (18) 30pts
Friday, December 26, Plutaluang – Stableford
The usual split venue prevailed this Boxing Day Friday, with another 21 Outbackers visiting the parkland Navy course. Playing the North & West nines, the brilliant score of 38 by Pete Gibson stood out five clear of the rest of the field. Second in Div B was Norm Martin with 33 and third was Jorma Liila on count back from Chris Ronnblad, both with 32.
The best Div A could do was 33 from Pete Takkunen, beating Bruce Milner and Sugar Ray who both scored 32.
There were two ‘2’s from Bruce Milner & Norm Martin
Div A (0-18)
1st Pete Takkunen (10) 33pts
2nd Bruce Milner (14) 32pts
3rd Sugar Ray Handford (18) 32pts
Div B (19+)
1st Peter Gibson (29) 38pts
2nd Norm Martin (27) 33pts
3rd Jorma Liila (29) 32pts
That’s all for now, if you have any thoughts, scandalous stories or suggestions, why not drop me a line at [email protected]. The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. All are welcome to come and join us for a beer and a hit. Just call in and put your name down on the list or give Bob a call on 087 941 2474. More information can be found on our website www.outbackgolfbar.com.

Sus & Bill Key bag some early Christmas presents

PSC golf from The Three Sisters Bar

The lazy scribe decided to consolidate Dec 16 & 23 results, no excuse. Sus Ige (40pts) and Bob Benda (38pts) were the winners on Dec 16 and Bill Key (40pts) and Bob Benda (34pts) took the top two places on Dec 23. Bill is just getting back into form after a harrowing and painful motorcycle accident a couple months back. He is driving a car these days!

(Left to Right): Bill Key, Bob Benda and Sus Ige.

We had great conditions at the Pattaya Country Club on both occasions with occasional wet spots here and there. A good breeze helped dry the course and also push high shots the way you didn’t want them to go.
On both outings, after a tough 18 holes, the groups retired to Caddy Shack II where Herbie’s famous sausages were on hand along with a large quantity of chilled brewed beverages of an alcoholic nature that was available to wash them down.
Our next golf day will mark the end of the month and the winner will have his or her name etched into the Three Sisters Trophy.

Chris Knapp and Mark Cooper take Gold

Bosman and Robertson blaze a trail at Phoenix

PSC golf from The Bunker Bar

Monday, December 22, Greenwood - Stableford
A Flight
1st William Macey (11) 37pts
2nd Dougy Crowe (8) 37pts
3rd Geoff Cox (13) 36pts
B Flight
1st Jan Van Spellen (20) 41pts
2nd Colin Stokes (26) 39pts
3rd Jack Robertson (23) 37pts
Near Pins: Alan Sullivan, Hai Sul Chung, William Macey (2)
Yet again the management at Greenwood moved around the tee boxes, putting the white tees where the yellow tees should be and making the course shorter and throwing up some high scores.

Cees Bosman and sparring partner Kevin Dunne
Playing stableford, the highest score of the day was scored by Jan Van Spellen in the B Flight who ran away with the pot scoring a huge 41 points, ahead of Colin Stokes and Jack Robertson who came in second and third place respectively.
It was close in the A Flight where a count back was needed to split William and Dougy Crowe; William having the better back nine holes to take the honours and third place went to Geoff Cox one point behind.
Wednesday, December 24, Pattana Sports Club - Stableford
1st Ken Ellemore (18) 35pts
2nd Gerry Cooney (10) 32pts
3rd Hugh O’Donnell (23) 32pts
4th Jan Van Spellen (20) 32pts
Near Pins: John Truman, Mashi Kaneta, Dougy Crowe.
Pattana was in poor condition for this time of the year with the greens in particularly bad shape, but this didn’t pose a problem for Ken Ellemore who ran away with first prize today with 35 stableford points. There was a clutch of players behind him all finishing with 32 points and it makes a pleasant change to be able to report that Gerry took second place, actually WINNING on a count back ahead of Hugh O’Donnell in third and Jan Van Spellen in fourth.
Friday, December 26, Phoenix - Medal
A Flight
1st Cees Bosman (17) net 64
2nd Tony Scambler (7) net 68
3rd Mashi Kaneta (11) net 71
B Flight
1st Jack Robertson (23) net 66
2nd Thea Van Spellen (23) net 68
3rd PJ Redmond (21) net 72

Jack Robertson
Near Pins: Cees Bosman, Dougy Crowe, Kevin Dunne, Gerry Cooney.
Playing a Medal round at Phoenix is usually a little easier than some of the more challenging courses around, but not as easy as some of The Bunker Boy’s made it look today!
Dutchman Cees Bosman had the best round coming in with a fantastic eight-under par net 64, which he says is the best round of his life, to win the A Flight by a mile. Tony Scambler had been optimistic when he posted his score of four-under par but had to settle for second place and Mashi was also under par but had to make do with third.
In the B Flight the scores were almost as impressive, Jack Robertson winning with a six-under par round and lady golfer Thea Van Spellen took the runner-up spot with a four-under par score. PJ Redmond finished with a level par round for third place.

Highs & lows at Emerald

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar

As a pre-Christmas warm-up the Pattaya Golf Society visited The Emerald course in Ban Chang for their weekly stableford event on Tuesday, December 23, and found the course in need of some festive cheer with parched fairways and tight lies.
Having played the course only three days previously most hopes were high of repeating the good scores of that occasion, but on this day things were different as a strong wind blew for a few hours at the start.
Despite this a few golfers got off to a flying start with Chris Voller’s nineteen points on the front nine holding promise of another fine round. But, as the wind dropped so did the scores and ultimately David Thomas and Bill Pickersgill found themselves in third place with 32 points each. One point ahead in second was Ray Banks, his score of 33 points being ten less than his epic card from seventy-two hours previously.
Evan Millar had scratched the first hole and then amazingly recorded twenty five points on the next nine holes. Surely this heady stuff could not continue? Two more scratched holes in the final five put paid to any hopes the canny Aussie had of breaking par and he ended with 35 points for a hard won victory.
Dave Cadwallader and Paul McNally shared the 2’s pot, the latter recording his birdie on the thirteenth which was played from the blue tee box for the first time in many people’s memory.
The aforementioned Chris Voller suffered the Booby Bevy as the wheels came off his round “big time” with only seven points being recorded on the back nine, his 19 - 7 split just edging out Evan’s 23 - 12 contribution. But that’s golf as we all know it, hot and cold in one round, a heady mix of elation and frustration. Tell us of anything in life that is a finer challenge.

It’s not the money - it’s the “Principal”

IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s

Sunday, December 21, Green  Valley - Stableford
A Flight
1st Paul Bray (5) 39pts
2nd Simon Kendall (9) 39pts
3rd Phil Mitchell (6) 38 pts
B Flight
1st Ian Halfpenny (13) 44pts
2nd JJ Wright (14) 39pts
3rd Don Lehmer (12) 36pts
C Flight
1st Jez Lees (17) 44pts
2nd Colin Davis (16) 40pts
3rd Bruce Mcadam (17) 37pts
Near Pins: #2 Loz Shaw, #9 Eddy Beilby, #12 Ian Halfpenny, #16 Ian Halfpenny
Baan Jing Jai hidden six: 1st Simon Kendall 2nd Ian Halfpenny 3rd Jez Lees

Ian Halfpenny and Jez Lees both scored 44 points at Green Valley.

“The Principal” and Ian “Loose Change,” took Green Valley by storm, both carding an incredible 44 points each and giving them co-man of the match status.
Jez “The Principal”, who for a while has been in the golfing wilderness, won C flight with ease but this could have been even more impressive as he missed a two-foot putt on the eighteenth. Colin “The donkey” Davis, who has himself been out to pasture for a while, secured second place with a super 40 points. Bruce “Skippy” Mcadam took third on a count back over “Captain Fantastic” but Eddie did have some consolation in a ‘2’.
Ian “Loose change” Halfpenny, who is always there or there abouts did the same as “The Principal” to win B flight. JJ Wright from across the road returned a good 39 points for second, including a rare Eagle two. Don Lehmer and Seamus VC tied on even par 36, Don’s back nine proving the deciding factor for third place.
The senior flight was a very close affair, Paul Bray winning with 39 points over Simon Kendall on a count back. Phil “The Diver” Mitchell with 38 points also needed a count back to win third spot over Paul Shaw. Ian Loose change also pocketed a couple of 2’s.
Monday, December 22, Phoenix - Stableford
A Flight
1st Paul West (11) 37pts
2nd Benny O’Connor (12) 35pts
B Flight
1st Gebi Kindle (22) 38pts
2nd Tom Breslin (19) 37pts
Phoenix was the venue for Monday’s stableford game, played on the Mountain and Lakes layouts.
Paul West took the senior flight with a very good 37 points, followed in second place by County Kerry’s Big Benny O’Connor on 35. The junior flight was won by Gebi Kindle with a best of the day 38 points and second place was filled by Tom Breslin with a very good 37. Tom Breslin, Chris Miller and Albert Bruce shared the 2’s pot.
Lewiinski’s welcomed back the Right Honorable Robert Sellick NR.
Wednesday, December 24, Green Valley - Stableford
A Flight
1st Steve Mulberry (12) 41 pts
2nd Ian Halfpenny (12) 39 pts
3rd Mark Wood (8) 38 pts
B Flight
1st Colin Davis (16) 41 pts
2nd Jim Elphick (22) 39 pts
3rd Eddie Beilby (17) 36 pts
The sign up sheet was for Crystal Bay, but the venue was changed to Green Valley at the last minute. The reason given was that Green Valley promised to put on a free buffet as a thank you to Lewiinski’s for all their custom. The course was in great condition, which suited “the Donkey” and Steve Mulberry who both carded 41 points.
Steve won A Flight followed by the in-form Ian “Loose Change” on 39 points. Mark “Happy shoes” filled out the rostrum with 38 points, but only after a count back over Paul Shaw.
The junior flight was taken care off by the management: “The Donkey” won at a canter, followed in second place by partner Jim Elphick on39. Eddie “Captain Fantastic” rounded out the flight with an even par 36 points
Jim Elphick, Dave Mather, Grant Jackson and Odder mat German shared the 2’s.
But what happened to the buffet, Jez asked scratching his head?
Friday December 26, Pleasant Valley - Stableford
A Flight
1st Benny O’Connor (12) 41pts
2nd Paul Bray (5) 38pts
B Flight
1st Mick Shrosbree (15) 36pts
2nd Ray Philips (23) 36pts
A large quality field left Lewiinski’s to play Pleasant Valley for the first time. This course has some tight, tricky fairways, but that did not stop the big Kerry man Benny O’Connor amassing a superb 41 points. This was good for man of the match and a flight glory. Paul Bray carded an excellent 38 points to secure second spot and Jack “Bilko” Spencer was a further one shot adrift for nowt.
B Flight was a battle between Mick Shrosbree and Ray Phillips, both locked together on 36 points. Mick’s Back nine gave him the top spot, relegating Ray into second.
Note: Lewiinski’s is situated on Pattaya Land Soi 1, Beach Road Soi 13/3 near to Walking Street. Anyone wishing to play with us just pop in and add your name to the list or call Bob on 080 096 8232. Transport is provided.