United go down to league leaders in Bangkok

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Pattaya United traveled to Bangkok last Sunday to take on the league leaders Bangkok Glass in what would be a true test of the aspirations of the Pattaya team. Despite it being Songkran weekend here on the Eastern Seaboard, United’s renowned support was much in evidence and the match had to be switched at the last minute from the Leo Stadium to the Chalermprakiat Field to accommodate the large band of traveling fans.
The home team went into the match minus the suspended Roungroj Sawangsri and injured midfielder Kose Kasim, and their Nigerian striker Agarcy Samuel was also dropped to the bench after a recent run of poor form.
Pattaya, feeling confident after securing their first win the previous week, chose Brazilian Paolo Oliviara to lead the front line ahead of a central midfield pairing of Rangsarit Suthisa and Santi Chaipuak.
After a cagey opening to the match in which clear opportunities were rare, Bangkok Glass finally got on the score sheet when Tansopa was given a chance in the 18th minute and he coolly finished past the advancing Pattaya keeper.
The home team nearly scored again 5 minutes later when Tansopa fired in a shot to the near post that was well saved by Narit Taweekul in the Pattaya goal. If this was to serve as a warning to United it went unheeded as Chatree Chimtalae was on the end of a swift breakaway on 37 minutes to double the home team’s advantage.
Pattaya emerged from the half time break in much more determined mood and were desperately unlucky not to pull a goal back when Chaipuak played the ball in to Madenku Emanuel whose shot struck the Bangkok post before rebounding to safety.
Bangkok replied by going up the other end of the pitch and Nantawat saw his own shot bounce off the far goal post and out of play.
Finally on 80 minutes Pattaya found a way back into the game when Amon Thamnam’s shot curved over the Bangkok keeper’s head and into the net to reduce the deficit to just one goal with 10 minutes remaining. United pressed forward from the restart and nearly tied the scores when Sompob Nilwong’s goal bound shot was blocked by a defender with the keeper looking beaten. It turned out to be the final chance for either team and the final whistle blew soon after with Pattaya losing a close fought match by a 2-1 score line.
Pansak Ketwattha, the Pattaya United coach, said that United had been too slow in the first half, possibly as result of the hot weather, and had underperformed. However, against opposition of this class, United had shown they could compete and had very nearly obtained a share of the spoils with a much improved second half performance.
Pattaya face another away game in the capital this coming weekend when they take on Bangkok United on Saturday, with kick-off at 5 p.m.

Pattaya United (red & white stripes) take on Bangkok Glass
in the Chalermprakiat Field stadium in Bangkok. Sunday, April 19.
(Photo : Mod Newcastle/Pattayautd.com)

Songkhran relief in Khao Yai

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar

For the first time in its proud history the Pattaya Golf Society forsook the excesses of Pattaya at Songkhran for a sedate road trip to Khao Yai to play some golf on “new” courses in a cordial and dry atmosphere.  The weather stayed hot throughout and the golf was ably organised by Stu Thompson and thoroughly competitive during the five days.
The first day saw the large group take on Bonanza Country Club, a course which drew immediate memories of Burapha, Laem Chabang and the Plantation with its immaculate setup but the greens were shamefully slow and uncut, making putting a lottery.  The course was stunning though with great scenery all around.
The second day saw the field play at one of the finest courses in the area, Voyage Panorama, cut out of the jungle with vast elevation changes, splendid vistas and superbly prepared fairways and greens.
Weekend golf was confined to the “base” venue, Rooks Korat Golf Club and the immediate verdict of the players was that it was a rich man’s Century Chonburi, a fine track but in need of some maintenance, especially the bunkers.
Finally the trip came to an end at the beautiful rolling Forest Hills (Sir James) Golf Club near Saraburi with an easy front nine and a challenging back nine.  The overall tour winner was the clinical and consistent Aussie, Phil Knight, and his best four total of 141 points just took the honours from lady golfer Mam Morel.
Bonanza (Day 1): 1st Jean Morel 39pts, 2nd Phil Knight 38pts, 3rd Peter Biggs 36pts;
Voyage Panorama (Day 2): 1st Mam Morel & Stu Thompson 35pts, 3rd Tony Thorne 33pts; Rooks Korat (Day 3): 1st Phil Knight, Rob Lamond & Joop Medze 36pts; Rooks Korat (Day 4): 1st Mam Morel 39pts, 2nd Rob Lamond 36pts, 3rd Peter Biggs 35pts; Forest Hills “Sir James” (Day 5): 1st Peter Biggs 39 pts, 2nd Ian Hart 33pts, 3rd Rob Lamond 31pts: Overall (4 best rounds): 1st Phil Knight 141pts, 2nd Mam Morel 140pts, 3rd Rob Lamond 137pts.

Pattaya rugby festival 2009

Raimon Land Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament

The weekend of May 2-3, 2009 will see the tenth staging of the Pattaya 10’s Rugby Tournament, which is now known as the Chris Kays Memorial Tournament to perpetuate the memory of the former Pattaya Panthers captain, who was tragically killed in the Bali bombing in October 2002. Raimon Land will again be the major sponsors of the tournament and there will also be significant support from MBMG International, Fluid Asia Pacific and Omega Logistics Thailand.

Enjoy some great Rugby 10’s action at the Raimon Land Chris Kays Memorial Rugby Tournament.

Once again the tournament will be staged at The Horseshoe Point Resort, the location is superb and with the support of Chainarin Srifuengfung, Jate and his staff, we are sure that everybody will love playing or watching the rugby in such attractive surroundings. There will be a 10’s Tournament for men and the Junior Division (Under 18’s), which was introduced last year to enable the youngsters to display their potential will be expanded to further help the Thailand Rugby Union’s development of the game. Ladies touch rugby will also make a welcome reappearance this year much to everybody’s delight.
There will be 16 teams in the tournament and as usual this year there will be a very strong local influence from the British Club Bangkok, the Southerners and the Old Bangkok Bangers and of course crowd favourites The Bangkok Japanese. The 2006 Champions the Thai Barbarians will make a welcome return and we will also see The Thai Legends and Youngblood making a return. There will also be a strong academic influence with Kasetsart University and a side of teachers from Shrewsbury School.
Old friends from abroad include The Singapore Cricket Club and the Buccaneers from Australia and a combined team from the Reading and Abbey clubs in the UK playing under the guise of “ Kaysies Crusaders “ and led by Chris’ father Ray Kays. The hosts have been training hard under Captain Eoin Quirke and are promising to provide a few surprises, after all Ireland did win the 6 Nations Grand Slam! There will also be the nostalgic return of many former Panthers players who will form the Panthers Exiles side.
The Panthers would also like to thank the other tournament sponsors Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, Group 4 Securicor, Modern Industries, Mackenzie Smith Law, CR Asia Ltd., RSM Thailand, Waste Management Services Thailand and Cranes & Equipment Asia.
Players and friends will get together on the Friday night prior to the tournament for a “welcoming party and training session” at Jamesons Irish Pub, the spiritual home of rugby on the Eastern Seaboard. Disco music will be provided at the field and throughout the weekend by popular DJ Russell Jay and his Soundzgood Discotheques. The tournament may also feature on live radio Southshore FM.
The action begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday and concludes around 5 p.m. Sunday in what should be a memorable weekend festival of rugby. There will be almost 24 hours of entertaining rugby action during the two days.
“The weather is forecast to be fine and the venue is in perfect condition so we have no doubt that this will be the best tournament yet.” said Chairman of the Pattaya Panthers, Jim Howard.

City in a New Year hammering

MBMG International League 2008/09

Bullshead go on the attack against Pattaya City FC in Bangkok last Saturday. (Photo/Chris Sanderson)

Paul Frain
Pattaya City FC arrived in the capital last Saturday buoyed after their fine win the previous week and they received the good news that both of their main rivals had fought out a 0-0 draw earlier in the day. This meant that a win against Bullshead would send them clear at the top of the league.
With six players out through injury or unavailability, a tough match was expected, but Pattaya were confident of the outcome. However, the Bullhead team had different ideas and started the match in bright fashion and exhibited a good passing game. The City defense was stretched, but holding, and Pattaya were restricted to breakaways.
Livewire City forward, Jake Baker, was one of the few causing problems for Bullshead and he brought a fine save out of the opposition keeper, but he was later sidelined with a hip injury. At the other end, the Bullshead forwards tried to force the issue but hard tackling kept them at bay and then City’s forward Ernest Dipita just failed to open the scoring after trying to lob the goalkeeper, but the keeper just got his finger tips to the ball.
City forced three corners in succession but all were wasted and slowly the Bullshead midfield began taking control and in the 16th minute, in bizarre fashion, Bullshead took the lead when a long ball up the middle of the pitch was headed over his own keeper and into the empty net by City’s centre half.
It was a soft goal to give away and to make matters worse City were two nil down within a minute when a four man passing move by Bullshead found their centre forward, who drilled the ball home.
City tried to reply but their opponents’ defense was in no mood to give any room to any of the City attacks and chances were few. Bullshead kept the pressure on and only good saves by the City keeper kept the score to two nil at half time.
In the first part of the second half the Bullshead team had the City defense chasing shadows and it was no surprise that they went further ahead after only two minutes to make it 3-0.
Emmanuel Tshuma teamed up with City’s player of the match Ernest Dipita to bring a couple of good saves from the opposing keeper but it was too little too late. The attacking surge from Bullheads gave the City players no rest and they were just glad to get the ball upfield.
Bullshead went further ahead when a slick passing move left four of them in front of goal with only two defenders and they scored with ease to make it 4-0. It was one way traffic to the City goal and the keeper was called into action on three more occasions to keep the score down but he was totally beaten for the fifth time when a free shot went into the top of the net. City were lucky not to go even further behind and were glad to hear the final whistle.
This was an inept performance by the City team and they will have to pick themselves up for their last home game of the season at Horseshoe point this Saturday against BC Casuals, kick off at 4 p.m.

A lady comes to the fore at the Outback Royal Hills Classic

Outback Golf Bar Songkran Road Trip

Friday, April 17, Royal Hills (Day 1) - Stableford
No more than two and half hours away up the 331 is the beautiful Royal Hills Golf Resort & Spa near the Sarika Waterfall just outside Nakhon Nayok. Some 29 golfers, many accompanied by their good ladies swelling the number to over forty, made the trip essentially to escape the madness of Songkran in Pattaya.
Arriving late morning on Thursday, April 16, in time for a practice round in the afternoon before the start of the three day tournament, the course, which is nestled in a valley south west of Khao Yai, was in excellent condition, even though the greens were found to be a little slow. It was swelteringly hot and although some chose to walk, many agreed that the next day a cart would be a necessity.

Henry, Paul & Paul getting the Outback Royal Hills Classic underway.
After the round, the Outbackers enjoyed the evening over a few drinks and sampled the mostly Thai cuisine of the resort’s restaurant; which is handily situated immediately adjacent to the first tee. There were reports also that their pizzas were pretty good as well.
On to the tournament proper, which teed off just before 10.30 a.m. on the following day, Friday 17th; there was a surprise first day winner of Div A, as General Jack got half a game together to scramble 36 points from wily old Bill Hewitt (35) and two sharing third place with 32 points, Pat Regan & Paul Greenaway. Pat’s good lady Jum had the best score of the day (40 points) to easily take Div B by six shots from Joachim and late entrant Mark Riggall, both with 34.
There were four ‘2’s for the overall ‘2’s pot coming from Ian Heddle, Gary Saunders, Steve Plant & Bill Hewitt.
Div A (0-16)
1st Jack Moseley (12) 36pts
2nd Bill Hewitt (13) 35pts
3rd Patrick Regan (9) 32pts
4th Paul Greenaway (13) 32pts
5th Eddie Smith (8) 31pts
Div B (17+)
1st Jum Karagit (25) 40pts
2nd Joachim Oestreicher (25) 34pts
3rd Mark Riggall (17) 34pts
4th Gary Saunders (21) 30pts
5th Henry O’Brien (20) 29pts
Saturday, April 18, Royal Hills (Day 2) - Stableford
Another swelteringly hot day, with regrettably a slow round due to the weekend and the number of professionals here practising for the upcoming Royal Hills Classic, an event on the All Thailand Golf Tour. Nevertheless, it’s a great course which produced a variety of scores ranging from very good, to, one could say, moderate.

The overall winner Jum (center) with runner up Gary (left) and third placed Ray (right).
Gary Saunders was the star today with 41 points and another ‘2’, winning Div B by two from yesterday’s winner Jum (39) and another of the girls in third, Orawan Sodok with a fine 37. Div A was won by Ray Dell, who often does well on these away trips, with 37 points, three ahead of Paul Greenaway & Ian Heddle both on 34.
There were seven more ‘2’s to add to yesterday’s four, coming from Ray Dell, Paul Quinn, Pat Regan, Mon, Gary Saunders, Robbie Bennett and Jum.
Div A (0-16)
1st Ray Dell (13) 37pts
2nd Paul Greenaway (13) 34pts
3rd Ian Heddle (3) 34pts
4th Jack Moseley (12) 33pts
5th Steve Plant (13) 33pts
Div B (17+)
1st Gary Saunders (21) 41pts
2nd Jum Karagit (25) 39pts
3rd Orowan Sodok (26) 37pts
4th Henry O’Brien (20) 36pts
5th Robbie Bennett (17) 32pts
Sunday, April 19, Royal Hills (Final Day) - Stableford
A freak storm came over the hills and down the valley early Saturday evening, bringing with it high winds that blew beer bottles, papers and dominoes all over the place and the inevitable heavy rain. Fortunately, however, it was short lived and by Sunday morning it was going to be another beautiful day, albeit a little windier than the previous days, in paradise.
All golfers lovers should have a serious look at coming here to play, to a resort with arguably better facilities than Soi Dao, an excellent golf course and probably a little closer. The Pro’s were out early again but not in the abundance of five balls experienced on Saturday, enabling a reasonable pace of play for the final day of the Outback’s version of the Royal Hills Classic; it could even have been Singha sponsored given the amount of Singha consumed by Capt’ Bob, General Jack and the many other Outbackers.
If there had to be one major criticism of the course; it would have to be the thorough state of confusion everybody was in concerning the distance markers. It was difficult to get used to standing next to a 150 yard marker and the caddie saying 170, or next to the 100 marker and the caddie saying 120. Then on the very next hole, when alongside the 100 marker, thinking 120; the caddie would say 100!
There were various theories put forward, the distances were in meters or they were to the front of the greens; nobody knows, best one takes a distance measurement machine.
Capt’ Bob, who had done nothing since the practice round on Thursday, came to life today, benefiting from his caddie of four days, himself a 20 handicapper; who clubbed the Capt’ with such precision that paved the way to 36 points, to win Div A, just ahead of that man again, Ray Dell with 35.
Div B was a different story with Orawan Sodok apparently out of it with a mere 9 points on the front nine, perhaps daunted with playing in such illustrious company as Ian Heddle, Paul Greenaway and Henry O’Brien, Henry illustrious?? Whatever it was, she overcame it, scoring a magnificent 25 points on the back to amass 34 points to win Div B from Chris Ronnblad with 33. Gary Saunders, who had been let down a little by his short game, scraped into third whilst Corporal Cannon found himself on the podium at last, in fourth with 31.
There were another bundle of ‘2’s today from Bob Philp, Mon, Harvey Samuel, Mark Riggall, Bill Hewitt, Orawan Sodok and Ray Dell; bringing the total to eighteen for the three days.
Div A (0-16)
1st Bob Philp (6) 36pts
2nd Ray Dell (13) 35pts
3rd Paul Greenaway (13) 34pts
4th Keith Hector (15) 33pts
5th Ian Heddle (3) 32pts
Div B (17+)
1st Orowan Sodok (26) 34pts
2nd Chris Ronnblad (19) 33pts
3rd Gary Saunders (21) 32pts
4th Nigel Cannon (21) 31pts
5th Joachim Oestreicher (25) 30pts
Royal Hills Overall
There are always light hearted moments on these away trips, many of which get forgotten in amongst the drinking and joking, but one that didn’t was Mac’s remarks concerning Robbie’s pink Outback shirt. So much so, that Robbie washed it overnight and wore it again on the final day. Mac meantime decided to present him with a suitable memento to match the shirt, a pink golf ball!
Jum always looked as though she had a big enough lead after two days to win the Outback Royal Hills Classic, but playing in the last group out with her three nearest challengers was going to be a first time daunting experience.
She had a shaky start but fortunately for her, apart from Jack who birdied the first hole for four points, so did the rest of the group but by the end of the front nine Gary had closed the gap to only four. Nobody was playing well and it was time to look ahead as the winner might be coming from the group in front. However, as the news travelled down the groups it seemed all the potential winners were having a tough time and all Jum had to do was to pick up a couple of four pointers to ensure her victory.
Standing on the eighteenth tee, Gary had closed to within one and sensing that he had a great chance to steal the win, went for a big drive only to hit a worm burner that came grinding to a halt in the long rough. In fact he found himself playing his second shot before Jum had even teed off. Probably a case of trying too hard. Gary’s chances had long gone when Jum chipped in for a par to collect her four points and seal the win by five. Well played Jum, your name will be added to Outbacker Outings Honours Board.

Ray tries his luck on the Par 3, Pro tee.

Overall Results                                                   Day 1         Day 2       Day 3          Overall Pos.   Name                 H’cap     Score         Score       Score        Points 1         Jum Karagit         25                40                39              29          108 2         Gary Saunders     21                30                41              32          103 3         Ray Dell              13                30                37              35          102 4        Paul Greenaway   13                32                34              34           100 5         Orowan Sodok     26                28                37              34           99 6         Ian Heddle            3                 31                34              32           97 7         Jack Moseley     12                36                33              28             97 8         Bill Hewitt           13                35                28              32            95 9         Patrick Regan      9                 33                31              31            95 10    Joachim Oestreicher 25               34               29               30            93

Gary’s the boy

IPGC golf from Lewiinski’s

Sunday, April 12, Green Valley - Monthly Medal
A Flight
1st Gary Blackburne net 64
2nd Ian Grout net 67
3rd Ben O’Connor net 68
B Flight
1st Joe Mcardle net 65
2nd Nick Payne net 67
3rd Seamus Cotter net 69
C Flight
1st Jerry McCarthy net 67
2nd Sean Connoly net 70
3rd Eddie Beilby net 72
Near Pins: #2 Semus Cotter, #9 Geoff Doody, #12 Jim Munns, #16 Jerry McCarthy
2’s: Eleven
Baan Jing Jai Hidden sIx: 1st Seamus Cotter, 2nd Peter Henshaw
As predicted by Gypsy Rose Jackson two weeks prior to this weeks monthly medal, ‘Golden Boy’ Gary Blackburne has achieved category one status. This he did in outstanding fashion, waltzing round the course and firing a fantastic net 64 for man of the match and A flight honours. Garry also advances to the Gold medal later in the year.
Ian “Giza fag” Grout thought he had done enough to win three shots back. Ben O’Connor, playing his last game before returning to Ireland, made a fight of it while carding an impressive net 68. Lewiinski’s wishes Ben a safe journey home and hope he returns soon.
B flight was full of broken hearts, none more so than Joe “lederhosen” Mcyodel who shot a scintillating net 65 but came up one shot short of MoM honours. Bad luck Joe. Then there was the man on form, Nicky “Two Gloves” two shots back. Seamus Cotter filled the flight with a super net 69.
C Flight was just as exciting although the scores were slightly lower; Captain Eddie grabbed the third spot with an even par round, Sean Connoly took second with a two under par score, and another super round, net 67, by Jerry McCarthy took the flight.
Mussels Bonner was in a shell of his own, picking up on the second hole thinking it was a stableford comp and finishing up shooting 40 points. Well he won his stableford and a handicap cut, a case of all prawn and no brain. “Take the cotton wool out he’s left.” I hear you thinking it must have been easy out there; well just ask oneball and Smoking Joe Tynan.
I heard it on the Wireless
Brian shouts to his Caddie! “Caddie, stop looking at your watch.” The caddie replies “It is not a watch sir, it’s a compass.”
Lewiinski’s Sonkran Tour - Tuesday April 14, Royal Hills
1st Bob Newell, Barry Brooks, Gordon Kerr and Tore Eliassen
2nd Mark wood, Nick Payne Mick Beresford and Gareth Gill
Lewiinski’s decided that the sensible thing to do for this week was to head to the hills. Royal Hills to be precise, while the mayhem that some call fun descended on the city.
The format was a four man team event, the best two scores to count. The course and facilities were fantastic and the weather was blistering hot
Wednesday April 15, Royal Hills
Today the gang held a team stableford comp with three scores to count from four, and the addition of an individual stableford event. The team winners were Bob Newell, Jack Spencer, Gordon Kerr and Gareth Gill and the individual winners were in first Peter Lenoury 36 points and second Bob Newell on 35 after a three way count back; the count back victims being Nicky two gloves, and Barry Brooks.
Near pins went to Jon Hagen and Bob Newell.
Thursday, April 16, Soi Dao
Thursday was a change of venue, the gang moving on to Soi Dao for a three man scramble event. In first place came Mark Wood, Jon Haugen and Gavin Knox with a net 58.6 and the runners up were Jimmy Day, Colin Davis and Gordon Kerr with 61.2.
Near pins went to Jim Munns and Tore Eliassen.
Friday April 17, Soi Dao
Friday was an individual stableford, and a blind pair’s comp. Jon Haugen took top spot with 34 points on count back over Barry Brooks, while Gavin Knox was in third just one point back.
The blind pairs winners were Barry Brooks and Peter Lenoury and near pin awards went to Gordon Kerr and Barry Brooks.
Saturday April 18, Soi Dao
Saturday’s format was the same as Fridays and Jon Haugen once again came out on top, this time with a 35 point score. In second place came Jack Spencer on 32 and jack also picked up one of the near pin prizes with Gavin Knox claiming the other.
The blind pairs winners today were Nick Payne and Barry Brooks, Jon Haugen and Sim Davis.
The overall stableford winner for the week was Barry Brooks with 100 points, Peter Lenoury came second with 99, and Jon Haugen was third on 98 after a count back over Jack Spencer.
Note: Lewiinski’s is situated on Pattaya Land Soi 1, Beach Road Soi 13/3 near to Walking Street. Any one 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.

No flies on Fitton

PSC golf from P J Pool Bar

Neil Duncan
Tuesday April 14, Century Chonburi (White tees) - Stableford
We all practiced our ‘Aussie waves’ at this venue which was infested with flies of many different sizes and varieties. We adopted our usual practice of playing preferred lies through the green which had zero impact on improving our scores that returned a well low average for the day of just 26.8 stableford points.
Mike Jackson took top spot with 30 points, pushing Roddo back into second place after a count back. Ian Wheeldon came third with 28 points. Allan Cassin, the scribe and Mike Jackson nabbed near pin bonuses.
Roddo wore his new wet-joys today. At the drinks hut at the 7th tee he said “my new left shoe is hurting me” and pulled it off to investigate. Out fell the spike spanner that comes with the shoes!
Thursday, April 16,
Greenwood A & B (White tees) - Stableford
I for one am pleased that Greenwood’s cost structure has returned to being within ‘the bracket’. This is a good venue and now road 331 has been upgraded it is an easy drive to get to. We found the allocated course to be in great shape although there had obviously been some very heavy rain in the recent past.
Fourteen of us out today, so just one division which Peter Fitton won comfortably with a neat 36 pointer. Second, third and fourth places went to Roddo, the scribe and Willy Nachbur with 32, 31 and 30 points respectively. Near pin bonuses were paid out to Rob Gandley, Dennis Jaycock, the scribe and Roddo whilst Jim Walten sunk a good longest first putt on the 18th green.
Aka O’Reilly - who is still in recovery - pointed out to me when I visited him with some grapes that in his opinion the difference between a wife and a girlfriend is upwards of 20 kilos.
Note: Any golfers seeking to play with our group that wish to know about the group’s format please visit P J Pool Bar & Restaurant on Soi Watboonsamphan (Soi Kanoi) or phone Neil on 089 511 0575.

McGarvie top scores in Songkran week

Golf from the Travellers Rest

Tuesday’s winners: Alan Evans, Stuart Banks, John Pegrum and Frank Kelly.

Barry Hooper
This week’s golfing activity at the TRGG was somewhat truncated by the national holidays and Songkran. There was no play on Monday because of the general hike in costs at the courses over national holidays, however, a deal was struck with Greenwood for Tuesday which allowed for one of our regular outings and Phoenix honoured our agreed weekly costs on Thursday.
But no weekend play because many of our players decided to go out of town either on family trips or as a large group did and venture to Soi Dao on a three day golfing package (hope to bring you a report next week)
Reminder:- will members and friends who join us please take note that I have been advised that in future a policy of first come- first served is being adopted when signing up for events with the TRGG. Sign up early and you will be teeing off early.
Tuesday, April 14, Greenwood A & B - Stableford
Division 1
1st John Pegrum (12) 34pts
2nd Roger Wilkinson (14) 33pts
3rd Frank Kelly (12) 32pts
4th John Dean (31) 31pts
Division 2
1st Stuart Banks (22) 39pts
2nd Alan Evans (25) 37pts
3rd Larry Bland (17) 37pts
4th Andy Galvin Jnr (25) 35pts
On Tuesday it was off to Greenwood and I was able to join in due to it being a holiday. I must say I was impressed with the presentation of the course having not seen it for some time. The greens were slick and very difficult for my level of play and scores generally were down a little so others must have found things similarly tough.
We had a very good turnout so two full divisions. Top scorer on the day was Stuart Banks with a thirty-nine pointer to take division two. Alan Evans (back on form after last week) was second after count back over Larry Bland, both at thirty-seven.
Division one had John Pegrum at the top of the listings (nice to see him back with us) at thirty-four. Roger Wilkinson (Speedy Gonzales) was second with thirty-three and Frank Kelly third with thirty -two.
There were just two 2’s from Noel Jackson and David McFeely.
Thursday, April 16, Phoenix (Lakes and Ocean) - Stableford
Division 1
1st Bill McGarvie (12) 41pts
2nd Tewin Lamthong (13) 38pts
3rd Larry Simpson (9) 33pts
4th Jimmy Woulfe (13) 32pts
Division 2
1st Rose Jackson (17) 39pts
2nd Larry Bland (17) 36pts
3rd Alan Evans (25) 35pts
4th Kay Molloy (28) 33pts
On April 16 it was another of our regular Thursday outings to Phoenix (Lakes and Ocean). As usual the course was in excellent condition and we had a good turnout, so two divisions.
Division 2 was a win with thirty nine points for Rose Jackson (this division on Thursdays seems to belong to the ladies). The result also meant that she has been cut a shot in her handicap. Tewin and Bill were also cut by the same margin. Second was Larry Bland at thirty-six with Alan Evans third at thirty-five, his second good result in a week.
Division 1 went to Bill McGarvie with forty-one points while Tewin Lamthong found some form and was second with thirty-eight, some five points up on third placed Larry Simpson at thirty-three.
There were three 2’s on the day scored by Dennis Stapura and Mike Sanders at the fourteenth and Larry Simpson at the sixteenth.

John breaks the Crystal and Graham’s run

Kunmond blows the field away

PSC golf from The Three Sisters Bar

The magic of early morning starts brought a nice turn out to the Pattaya Country Club on April 14.

Tuesday winner Paul Kunmond (left) with runner up Richard Hall.

While “cumulonimbus-threatenusrainus” clouds were about, the entire field finished without a drop falling from the sky. The same could not be said however for a few tear drops shed at some really close putts that refused to enter the cup.

Almost everyone was off the course by 10:30 and moved on to Caddy Shack II for some of Herbie Ishinaga’s tasty chicken and pork sandwich makings. As the cards came in Paul Kunmond swept the field with a 41-pointer, followed by Richard Hall with a 35 in second. The remainder of the field followed with considerably lower scores.

Sugar man has sweet feeling at Green Valley

PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar

Tuesday, April 14, Pattaya C.C. - Stableford
The second day of the ‘official’ Songkhran holiday and 16 Outbackers decided to pay the extra baht to play at Pattaya Country Club. The course was less busy than a normal weekday and we were away some 30 minutes ahead of our booked time. We have to ask; if local courses charged the ‘usual’ weekday rate on such holidays would more of the farang community play on these days. Seems the answer would be Yes! However TIT!
With an empty course we were round in four hours or less. The course was in is usual average condition, such a pity – this is a great layout and with a little TLC it would match the other courses in the area.
So on to the results – no one bettered their handicap and just one player, Nigel Cannon (21), equalled it with 36 points - despite a 2 shot cut from last week. One shot behind was the only lady in the field Suzy Lawton (21) with 35 points. In third was ‘The Colonel’, aka Bob Pearce with 34 and in fourth was that old warrior, Arthur Bailey on 33 points.
There were two 2’s from Bob Pearce and John Kittilsen.
The Outback play at PCC every Tuesday at about 10.00 a.m. under the control of Colour Sergeant Barry Chadbourn.
1st Nigel Cannon (21) 36pts
2nd Suzi Lawton (21) 35pts
3rd Bob Pearce (13) 34pts
4th Arthur Bailey (21) 33pts
Wednesday, April 15, The Emerald - Stableford
The last day of the long official Songkran holiday attracted 11 Outbackers to the ever popular Emerald course. Whilst many golfers traditionally get out of Pattaya this time of the year, some stay to benefit from the relatively quiet courses and put up with the water and white power daubs all over their cars.
Mark Riggall, John Kittilsen (second with 36 points) and Henry O’Brien perhaps were sharpening their game ahead of the Royal Hills trip, starting Thursday (see page 54), but they weren’t sharp enough to catch Ron Dickie, who won the day with 39 points.
Welcome to Shin Akatani from New York playing with the Outback for the first time and good-bye to Bob Reid (third with 32 points), who was leaving for Canada later in the week and the usual thanks to Chad for running the day.
There were two ‘2’s from Bob Reid & Chris Dopp
1st Ron Dickie (20) 39pts
2nd John Kittilsen (16) 36pts
3rd Bob Reid (13) 32pts
Thursday, April 16, Green Valley - Stableford
The middle of Songkran week attracted just a few golfers, as most of the regulars had fled the incessant water and powder. Nevertheless there were some good scores, in particular from the Sugarman with a very good 40 points. The Colour Sergeant (37pts), squeezed into second on count back from one of the Canadians in the field, Bob Reid. It’s somewhat surprising to learn that there were any Canadians at all given the number of courses that Jean Guy (the other one) visited before finding Green Valley, The Emerald to name but one.
There were no ‘2’s so the pot was added to the prize money down to fifth place.
1st Sugar Ray Handford (18) 40pts
2nd Barry Chadbourn (19) 37pts
3rd Bob Reid (13) 37pts
4th Dave Boran (15) 36pts
5th Tom Bryne (14) 36pts

McPherson signs off in style

PSC golf from The Bunker Bar

Monday, April 13, Pattana - Stableford
Don McPherson signed off in style today, winning what was his last game of his holiday. Playing a stableford competition, Don won by three points ahead of Tony Robbins while David Day came in third a couple of points further back.
1st Don McPherson (21) 38pts
2nd Tony Robbins (13) 35pts
3rd David Day (13) 33pts
Near Pins: Dave Keats, Kevin Dunne, Tony Robbins and Gordon Melia.
Friday, April 17, Greenwood - Medal
With a lot of golfer’s away for the Songkran festivities and having had no game on the Wednesday, the players were keen to get back on the golf course. It was nice and quiet on the Greenwood course and the nice, leisurely (slow) pace of the game suited Kevin Dunne as he won by two strokes ahead of Mashi who took the runner up spot by beating Colin Stokes into third place on a count back.
1st Kevin Dunne (14) net 74
2nd Mashi Kaneta (10) net 76
3rd Colin Stokes (23) net 76
Near Pins: Kevin and Mashi were the only two to hit a par three green so shared the spoils between them.

Pattaya Sports Club and US Navy join forces for fantastic softball series

The USA Navy team, winners of Game 1

Diego Wells
In the early hours of April 12, a new breed of softballers took to Jimmy’s ‘field of dreams’ in Jomtien and made it a better place. These specimens were swift, strong and ready for the softball Sunday marathon.
The US Navy came to compete against our own Pattaya softball club in several softball games. It turned out to be a marathon as we played 5 games which lasted well over 5 hours in the hot Sunday sun. Over 40 player hit the field to participate, but also to happily enjoy beers supplied by Leo Blues Bar in Naklua (soi 18), hot dogs, burgers and sausages sizzled by Ice, and TV coverage from our local Pattaya news station. It truly was a festive day of softball to ring in the Thai new year, and welcome our valued guests.
The format for the competition was a two game series, followed my mixing the teams into 3 equal units and playing a mini-round robin. Details of the games are listed below.
Game 1
At ten in the morning the first ball was pitched by our organizer and leader, Perry McNeely. The uncharacteristically early start did not help the hungover home team however. Most of their gloves were sleeping for the first two innings, while the US Navy team played solid defensive for the entire game. Our visitors also had hot bats, scoring in four of the seven innings, and always looking dangerous.
Both teams scored 1 run in the first, but it was a comedy of errors by the home team in the top of the second inning that led to their defeat. Errors by infielders Norm and Mike Berg, plus another one by yours truly in left centerfield, gifted the US Navy four runs.
To their credit, the Navy team played tough, never relinquishing their lead. They held off a late 7th inning rally from our Pattya team, to win the contest 9 -7. Co-MVPs went to their pitcher Jason for his defence, and clean up hitter Brian for his clutch hits.
Game 2
PSC shuffled their line-up for game two to ensure all players got a chance to compete against the Navy. Out went Perry and Nick, and in came Mark R. and Mr. Baseball himself (Ron) at 1st base, with Diego coming into pitch. The youthful changes gave a boost to the beaten team, and it must be said that Mr. Baseball played a brilliant game both batting and fielding, even after being absent from the game for over 3 months. We hope to see you back on the diamond regularly Ron, as your presence has been missed.
Back to the game summary, it was the Navy 2nd team that struck first blood. Their excellent pitching by OJ and team defense caused the home team to go hitless for the first two innings. They then showed their offensive power by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the second with hits from Nelson, Bellamy, Brandon, and the poorly named Stephanie in left center. But PSC scratched and clawed their way back into the game with solid singles from Peter, Mike, Norm and a 2 RBI shot Ron. The home boys then tightened up the hatches and played near perfect defense the rest of the game.
The US Navy team threw up goose eggs on the scoreboard for the final five innings. PSC showed our younger, fitter, friends that our aged and battered softballers, are still a tough team to beat. The exciting match was tied at four until the final inning, when tri-MVPs John Stockton, Norm and Mike Berg knocked in key runs to lead the home side to a well deserved 9 to 4 victory.
After drawing the 2 game series, the guests and hosts picked three captains, and mixed players to compete in a mini tournament. The games were modified to last only five innings, and all three games were extremely competitive and went down to the wire. In the end it was Team UNIX that was crowned champs after beating the Marx Brothers team 6-5, and squeaking out victory against Team Dog Style 7-6. Congratulations to the UNIX team members: Jason, Tom, Walt, Matty, Dan, Reed, Brando, K.C., Dan N. and Phil.
All agreed that the games were great, with many new friendships formed. It was a wonderful Sunday, and many thanks go out to John C.F, Alan, Perry, for their organization in pulling off the fabulous feat. Thanks also go to Jim Bob, John C.F. and John Emerson for agreeing to umpire the games. Every Pattaya softballer should give themselves a pat on the back, as our Navy guests really appreciated the hospitality. Remember, we play softball every Sunday at 1pm, so see you there soon.

Pattaya Softball Club, winners of Game 2 (Standing left-right): Rhys,
Steve, Mike, John CF, Perry, Mark, Rick, John Stockton, Norm and Peter; (Sitting): Shawn, Ron ‘Mr. Baseball’, Diego, Jason and Nick.

Bavaria takes over first place

Pattaya Sports Club Bowling League

200 Bowlers: Pao Orawan & Aht Johansson.

This league is looking like it is going to be a very tight race as the first place leader seems to change every week.
Bavaria, led by Antero Ronkainen’s 544 series, took all four points from last weeks 1st placed team Brother D, and they replaced Brother D at the top of the standings. Indiana moved up to second place after they took three points from Sabai Sabai Friday.
Dung Downs bowled a good 558 series to lead Green Chilli to a three point win over Sala Thai Restaurant and Aht Johansson bowled a 570 series with games of 208, 188 and 174 to lead Swethai to a three point win over VFW Post 9876. Canada and Café Ole played to a two-two tie with Ooy Pluemkamon leading the way with a 526 series for Canada. Café Kronborg won three points from Jack Tar as all four bowlers struggled on lanes 11 and 12 which are always difficult to score well on.

Results & Standings April 17 (week 8)
Pos.    Team                                   Score      Standings
1          Bavaria                                 4 - 0          19.5 - 12.5
2          Indiana                                 3 - 1           19 - 13
3          Green Chilli                           3 - 1           18 - 14
4          Sala Thai Restaurant             1 - 3           18 - 14
5          Brother D                             0 - 4           18 - 14
6          Swethai                                  - 1           17.5 - 14.5
7          Canada                                2 - 2           16 - 16
8          Jack Tar                               1 - 3           16 - 16
9          Café Ole                               2 - 2           15 - 17
10        VFW Post 9876                    1 - 3           12 - 20
11        Café Kronborg                       3 - 1           12 - 20
12        Sabai Sabai Friday               1 - 3            11 - 21