Swiss clocks up a big win

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar

The Pattaya Golf Society travelled to Bangpra on Tuesday, July 28, to play a stableford competition on the exquisite course. It was a quality field with the average handicap at only eleven and a close contest was in prospect.
Bob Watson, struggling with his putting at present, still managed to record 34 points for a share of third place with Chris Voller, also suffering a similar downturn in form currently. Both were only one point behind Dave Stockman who has shaken off the disappointing form he displayed in the IPGC annual championship two weeks ago. Dave’s best gross of 79 was well received on a challenging track.
The winner was Switzerland’s John Rehm who continued his regular golfing vacation with his regular good form. Thirty-nine points at Bangpra and you are always in with a shout and his three-point margin win was more than many expected.
Paul McNally produced the sole birdie ‘2’ of the day on the par-three twelfth and Peter Master’s 23 points after ten holes blew up in his face on the back nine, giving him only ten more points thereafter and the Booby Bevy later, back at Rabbi’s in Soi Buakhao.
Bangpra had been a good way to start another golfing week with the PGS.
Winning debut
for Bland
The Pattaya Golf Society from Rabbi’s Elephant Bar travelled to Pattana on Thursday, July 30, to play a stableford competition on the B and A nines from the yellow tees. The day was fine and the relatively empty course made for a very pleasant day’s golfing experience.
The return of old friends Richard Hurley and Peter Marsh showed both had made significant improvements in their game since their last appearance and indeed Richard’s 35 points was good enough for a share of third place with Tony Thorne, Paul McNally and Don Nellis. Len Jones meanwhile made his first appearance in the frame for a few weeks and his 36 points showed frustrating glimpses of what his game may be if his consistency improves.
Larry Bland was making his debut appearance with the PGS and announced his arrival with a score of 38 points for the win.
The day’s only birdie ‘2’ was achieved by Masashi Iizumi on the A 3rd par three island hole but his joy was muted with the Booby Bevy to honour his second consecutive low marker score of the week.
The day ended with the usual presentation back at Rabbi’s and in true golfing style the day’s winner chose to share his joy with a round of drinks for the rest of the field. Well done Larry!

McDonald takes monthly title

PSC golf from The Bunker

Monday, July 27, Bangpra - Medal
Eddie Martin had a lot to say for himself (as usual), beating the rest of the field today by three shots and in the last week of July he fancied himself to catch Rab McDonald in the ‘golfer of the month’ competition. There was a count back to determine second place, William beating Tony Robbins having had a better back nine.

Rab McDonald celebrates winning the July ‘golfer of the month’ award.

Eddie also won a near pin to round off a successful day for him; PJ, Tony and Geoff Parker took the others.
1st Eddie Martin (16) net 73
2nd William Macey (13) net 76
3rd Tony Robbins (11) net 76
Wednesday, July 29, Green Valley - Stableford
Henry O’Brien joined the Bunker Boy’s for the first time in a while and what a return he had! Henry and Peter Habgood had a rare old battle with both going great guns. Henry just edged out Peter by one point to win with forty points and Rab McDonald got one hand on the ‘golfer of the month’ trophy by picking up points for his third place finish as Eddie Martin’s late charge fizzled out with only one game remaining.
1st Henry O’Brien (21) 40pts
2nd Peter Habgood (17) 39pts
3rd Rab McDonald (13) 36pts
Near Pins: Colin Stokes, Peter Habgood, Chris Tubb and Bruce Gladden.
Friday, July 31, Greenwood - Medal
No-one could catch Rab McDonald on the last day of the month so he won the ‘golfer of the month’ trophy before he hit a ball in anger! It was just as well as he had a terrible day and never got amongst any of the prizes but, well done to Rab all the same.
Geoff Parker was a surprised winner today, taking the honours with a fairly modest two over par, just one shot better than his playing partner Peter Habgood, and Dave Ashman had a good day getting third place with net 77.
1st Geoff Parker (16) net 74
2nd Peter Habgood (17) net 75
3rd Dave Ashman (15) net 77
Near Pins: Dave Ashman, Gerry Cooney, Lee Butler and Stan Watkins.

Holy Indifference

1973 British Open champion Tom Weiskopf once played a practice round with Jack Nicklaus and John O’Leary before the 1975 Open at Carnoustie, Scotland.
When they got to the par-3 eighth late in the afternoon, only a couple of spectators remained. The wind was blowing hard from the left, and Weiskopf noticed two elderly gentleman sitting on the left side of the green.
He tried to aim the ball right at them and turn it into the wind. He did just that, the ball landing right near the hole. But there was no response from the men.
He looked in the bunker. He walked over the green. Searched in the trees. Finally, Nicklaus told him, “Can you believe it? Your ball’s in the hole.”
As he left the green, Weiskopf turned to the two men and said, “Excuse me, but did you see my shot?”
“Yes, laddie, we saw your shot,” they replied.
“It was a hole-in-one. You didn’t even clap,” he told them.
“Aye, laddie, but it’s only practice, isn’t it?”

Fred Land and Sid Ottaway scoop the Medals

IPGC golf from The Haven

Monday, July 27, Treasure Hill - Stableford
1st Rick Holmes 39pts
2nd Tony Barritt 39pts
3rd Takeshi Hakozaki 38pts
4th John Squitiero 37pts
A return to Treasure Hill following an extended hiatus provided a very good day’s golf on one of the most underplayed courses in the area. It was also found to be in first class condition, showing very little signs of use, with immaculate fairways and greens and even the tees looked in better condition than some other courses’ fairways.
Playing from the yellow tees with a Standard Scratch of 71 also proved to be a good decision as the field started to recall that from those tees one has to seriously consider whether or not to take the driver out of the bag, and those that played with that in mind had a clear advantage.
One of those was Rick Holmes, who continued to show promise that he will soon be back to the low single figure handicap level with another solid round following his success in the IPGC Championships. Today he garnered 39 points and also a very good back nine to win the count back from Tony Barritt by a margin of 14 to 13 on the last six, having halved the nine on 22.
Takeshi Hakozaki was just a shot behind them in third place with John Squitiero another one back in fourth.
There were no 2’s in the second division but Graham Davis and Barry Traynor shared to pool in the first division.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed back Fred Land from the far north where he had been inspecting the family estates.
Wednesday, July 29, Bangpra - Stableford
1st Rick Holmes 38pts
2nd Peter Buckley 36pts
3rd Tom McCarthy 36pts
4th Tony Barritt 34pts
Bangpra, where the greens hold a lot less terrors than in previous years but still enough to make players very wary of leaving anything above the hole of any length, was as usual in very nice condition with the fairways and green surrounds offering every opportunity to play golf.
Once again it was Rick Holmes that was found to be at the front when the cards were counted with another excellent round at two under handicap that ended up good enough by two from new-comer Peter Buckley.
Peter took second ahead of Tom McCarthy by virtue of a better back nine of 21 to Tom’s 13 after the latter had gone out in 23, five under handicap, and looked certain to win until he started to count up his card with six holes to play and already having amassed 31 points. Another lesson learnt.
Tony Barritt took his second podium placing in the week, another stroke behind.
There were no 2’s in the first division and Peter Buckley had the only one in the second division.
Back at The Haven, the Doc welcomed new member Peter Buckley and also welcomed back John Murphy and presented him with the day’s long drive accolade, he having driven up from Phuket earlier to play.
Friday, July 31, Phoenix (Blue tees) - Monthly Medals
Div.1
1st Fred Land net 71
2nd Tony Barritt net 72
3rd Russell Exley net 74
4th Graham Davis net 74
5th Takeshi Hakozaki net 74
Div.2
1st Sid Ottaway net 74
2nd Tom McCarthy net 74
3rd John Squitiero net 76
Rick Holmes was striving to be only the third player to win out of the Haven three times in a week, and only the second to win three singles competitions. Whether it was nerves or just the quality of golf produced by the rest of the first division that conspired to deny him his position on the medal honours board at The Haven was undecided, but he returned his worst round for over three weeks, slumping to a three over CSS round of 77 and crashing out of contention.
Fred Land, the winner of the second division in the recent IPGC Championships, produced another excellent round of golf, following his recent reduction in handicap to his lowest ever level of 15, to win his first medal of the year with a stunning net 71 to take the first division by a shot from the week’s perennial podium man, Tony Barritt, who must have thought that he would be taking his first medal of the year with his great recent form.
Russell Exley also again matched his handicap to claim third place by count back from Graham Davis with a better return of 23 on the last six as Graham could only manage 25.7 after they had been tied at 37.5 after nine.
Takeshi Hakozaki lost out in the first count back with a worse 38 for the inward half back in fifth place.
The second division also had a new winner in Sid Ottaway as he took away Tom McCarthy’s last chance of a win on this trip with a better back nine of 35 to 37, with John Squitiero getting on to the podium for the second time in the week a further two strokes behind them.
The two new winners in Fred and Sid meant that after eight rounds of the current year’s qualifying competitions for the December Gold and Silver Medal finals, there are now eight different contenders in each of the two divisions which will make for a very exciting end of year shootout.
Once again there were no 2’s in the first division but John Squitiero slotted one in the second division to sweep the pot.
Unusually there were no welcomes or welcome backs but there was a farewell for Tom McCarthy returning Stateside to continue his teaching responsibilities.

Veteran Hugh takes the spoils

PSC golf from the Café Kronborg

Peter Blackburn &
Dave Richardson
Monday, July 27, Plutaluang S & E – Stableford
We left the Kronborg with the usual dozen starters including Hank de Bock and the Detroit commuter Brian Gabe back in the fold. We played the South and East layouts which were in the best condition we have ever seen and even with the great price on offer there may have been maybe only sixty golfers all day on both eighteens.
The winner on the day, finally breaking through although not a straight shooter all day was Doug Maiko with 39 points (Sorry but no photo Doug as the photographer is in OZ at the minute). In second place on 35 points (a good score for him) was Colin Swann. Our old Irish mate Kevin Dynan was ‘turd’ wit 34 points and on 33 points Andre Van Dyk was fourth. Andre commented that of all the courses he has played since the 20th this was his favourite.
Thursday, July 30, Pattana A &
B (Yellow tees) - Stableford
We departed the Café Kronborg with one short of a dozen for starters bound for Pattana Golf Resort to play the A & B layouts. The weather was very windy with overcast skies and a trace of mist in the air. The course was in good condition with fast greens but the sand in the bunkers was a bit soft in some areas so we played “winter rules in the bunkers”.
The oldest man in the field, Hugh O’Donnell beat everybody to take out first prize with 37 points (what’s with these old guys – Richardson, O’Donnell, Maiko??) In second place was Ted Morris with 36 points and in third place was Brian Gabe who just pipped Graham Buckingham on a count back with 35 points.
Just a reminder that the next PSC Members Open is at Pattana on August 14 with food & presentations back at Shenanigans and you can play Pattana the day before (13th) with Café Kronborg just for practice.

Cotton takes top prize in nail-biting finale

PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s

Derek Brook
Tuesday, July 28, Phoenix - Stableford
This was the singular most important golfing Tuesday of the year at Tropical Bert’s. The reason was that it was the climax to the ‘Alan Bolton Golfer of the Year’ competition, and also the ‘Alan Bolton Golfer of the Month’ award thrown in for good measure.

Wanitchaya Bolton (left) presents the ‘Alan Bolton Golfer of the Year’ award to Thomas Cotton.
This year the reason it was so exciting was that as the ‘Golfer of the Month’ competition went, probably so too would the ‘Golfer of the Year’ title. In the monthly one Perry McNeely was leading with 9 points, but Steve Hamstad was second on 6 points. A win on the day would give Steve the monthly title, provided Perry was not at worst one place behind.
If Steve was winner of the monthly, and Tom Cotton was not one place behind, then Steve would also be crowned ‘Golfer of the Year.’ This was because in the fight for the title Tom had 13 points and Steve had 9 points, so a win for Steve would give him 14 points and the yearly honour. Tom was pinning his hopes on Steve not having a great day at Phoenix and winning, or even finishing second if Perry was out of the running. Difficult to follow I know, but let us just say that it was really tight.
Phoenix on the day was in its normal fine condition but we had a strong wind so it seemed that a round under handicap from Steve would be good enough to give him a clean sweep.

Perry collects the ‘Golfer of the Month’ prize from Ann.
I played with Tom Cotton and for a long time he was up there with a chance of winning, but as the round went on he fell behind so he had to leave it to others to drag him through, but would they be able to?
One good thing for Tom was that our third playing partner, Frank Pilkington, played a blinder on the back nine. After only 14 points on the front, Frank shot 26 points on the homeward leg to give him a total of 40 points and set the bar really high.
Sitting in the restaurant at Phoenix the scores came in and we awaited Steve’s round score, and when he came in with 38 points it effectively put him in for the clean sweep as he was in second, with only Perry McNeely to come. Could ‘Captain Chaos’ do it?
We all sat and awaited his card and could he do it? Well the answer was yes, Perry came in with 38 points and by the skin of his teeth Perry won the ‘Golfer of The Month title, and after 12 months of struggle Tom Cotton won the ‘Golfer of the Year’ award. Exciting what?
Back at Tropical Bert’s the most important person in Alan’s life came up to present the winner of the ‘Alan Bolton Golfer of the Year’ award. Yes, Mrs. Wanitchaya Bolton of The Alan Bolton Property team, and we were extremely pleased to see her as now Alan has moved his offices and he is extremely busy. Good luck Alan in your new location.
So the ‘Golfer of the Year’ was Tom Cotton, the ‘Golfer of The Month’ was Perry McNeely, and seeing as so far I have not mentioned it, the winner on the day was Frank Pilkington with 40 points ahead of Steve Hamstad in second with 38 points on count back over Perry McNeely in third.
Well done Tom, or Thomas as he likes to be called when he does well, and to finish a good day, he ‘rang the bell’ and it was heard said around the table, “Glad Tom won - at least we know he will ring the bell.”
Near Pins: Mick O’Meara, Dick Warberg, Doug Maiko, Steve Hamstad
Friday, July 31, Treasure Hill - Stableford
It has been a long time since we visited this course, and the word on the street was that it was in good nick so we decided to give it a try.
With the skies threatening, our small but enthusiastic group of golfers set off after our breakfast at Bert’s. Check in at the course was smooth and the Sport Day green fees were appreciated, although it was understood that starting in August, only two days a week would be designated Sports Days.
With no waiting on the first tee our group was off dodging a few raindrops. As reported, the course was in very good condition with even the bunkers showing signs of recent maintenance. Not even a brief rain shower about halfway around could slow the pace of play and we were all soon back in the clubhouse and ready to head back to town.
At Tropical Bert’s, welcoming a new player and a returning player, Bert and Poo set out a great plate of assorted sandwiches and all dug in with their beverage of choice while the results were tabulated.
All are welcome to come and join us for our friendly competitions.
1st Henry O’Brian (19) 36pts
2nd Mashi Kaneta (12) 35pts
3rd Don Carmody (30) 33pts

Brian’s weekly double proves he’s no con

PSC golf from Lewiinski’s

Sunday, July 5, Green Valley - Stableford
A Flight
1st Brian O’Connor (11) 40pts
2nd Seamus Cotter (7) 38pts
B Flight
1st Peter Webb (20) 39pts
2nd Colin Davis (16) 38pts
Red Flight
1st Jan Webb (11) 40pts
2nd Sim Davis (30) 40pts
Near Pins: #2 Yui Bietry, #9 George Jackson, #12 Chaten Patel, #16 Jez Lees
2’s: Nine
Once upon a time, in a far off land called Thailand ... well that would not sound out of place for the start to this week’s missive - Read on.

Brian O’Connor (right) celebrates his successful golfing week with Pim.

Seven ladies and Michelle the “mechanic” turned out today to warrant a red flight, and winning the flight was Australia’s Jan ‘Funnel’ Webb posting a joint top score of 40 points. Tangled in a web on the same score, but with not quite such a good back side, was the Donkey’s better half, Sim Davis.
Ireland’s Brian O’Connor took the A Flight honors, also posting a great 40 points while Jack ‘Bilko’ Spencer proved a most popular runner up in the senior flight. Guess who was one off the podium?
Talking of which, hitting the near pin marker with your tee shot does not justify moving your ball inside the marker and putting your name on it just because you think it would have been nearer, Brian! In Blackpool maybe, Lewiinski’s no way!
Peter Webb set the scene in the junior flight for a remarkable double; he shot a creditable 39 points for top spot, leaving Colin ‘The donkey’ Davis a shot back and in the same predicament as his better half Sim.
Oneball, making a rare appearance, had a game to remember with 17 double bogeys and an eagle on the par five fourteenth. Funny old game!
The day was completed with a few sherbets back at Lewiinski’s and it was once upon a time with a recital of the nursery rhyme: “There was a spider that sat down beside her!” You know the rest …
Tuesday, July 28, Crystal Bay – Stableford
1st Colin Davis (16) 39pts
2nd Jan Webb (11) 39pts
3rd Barry Elphick (22) 37pts
The beautiful Crystal Bay was host to the Lewiinski’s golfers to play a stableford comp. The day was again contested by Jan ‘The funnel’ Webb spider and Colin ‘The Donkey’ Davis, both locked on 39 points. Colin galloped away with the resulting count back but I would not say that he has the best backside. Barry Elphick filled the rostrum with a solid 37 points.
Jan gained consolation by sharing the ‘2’s pot along with Jez ‘The Principal.’
Wednesday, July 29, Bangpra - Stableford
1st Brian O’Connor (11) 43pts
2nd Mick Fell (25) 39pts
3rd Vic Hestor (13) 39pts
For the second time this week, Co Kildare’s Brian O’Connor notched 40 plus points; 43 to be exact. This gave Brian ‘man of the match’ and the senior flight honors, coupled with a trip to the handicap secretary.
Second and third places were contested by Mick Fell and Vic ‘the man of leisure’ Hestor on 39 points apiece, the scales tipping in Mick’s favor.
Brian O’Connor and Vic Hestor split the ‘2’s pot.
Friday, July 31, Pattana - Stableford
1st Joe Tynan (27) 34pts
2nd Colin Davis (15) 33pts
A depleted group took to the road to tackle the very tough Pattana course.
‘Smoking’ Joe Tynan decided to leave his boxing gloves at home and concentrate on his golf. Joe managed to accumulate a match winning 34 points for the ‘man of the match’ honors. Joe put his success down to the fact that before every tee shot his caddy kisses his balls.
The “Donkey” pushed Joe all the way to take second spot one shot adrift.
No ‘2’s were recorded so a rollover on Monday.
I heard it on the Wireless
“Golf a game that consists of a lot of walking, broken up by disappointment and bad arithmetic.”
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.

Bardy top scores at Green Valley

PSC golf from The Caddyshack

Monday, July 27, Phoenix – Stableford
A short drive to Phoenix was followed by a very long round of golf for the twenty plus golfers on Monday. Five hours was the length of the round and thanks must go to a well known, unnamed golf society for making this happen. In general though, this didn’t put most people off, with some very good scoring on the day.
Coming in third place in B Flight was Jack Hinchley with 34 points. Well done to Jack who is putting in some pretty consistent performances of late and is regularly up there with the leaders. In second spot with 35 points was Ramsey ‘dont mention towels’ Smith, and miles out in front with a massive 40 points was Peter Webb. Also well done to Peter for getting his first win with the Caddyshack and welcome to a new much lower handicap.
In A Flight third place went to everybody’s favourite German, Helmut Helstrad, with 35 points. In second place, with an impressive 37 points, was Jeff North who also took the best left handed golfer of the day award. The winner of the flight, and beating Jeff on count back, was Simon Spaulding.
A Flight
1st Simon Spaulding 37pts
2nd Jeff North 37pts
3rd Helmut Helstrad 35pts
Flight B
1st Peter Web 40pts
2nd Ramsey Smith 35pts
3rd Jack Hinchley 34pts
Wednesday, July 29, Green Valley – Stableford
After Monday’s marathon, we were all hoping that a round at our home course of Green Valley would go a little smoother. Imagine our shock and horror on arrival to discover that we would be following the same unnamed golf society again! And guess what? Another five-hour round was in front of us.
In A Flight, Bruce Tollitt took third place with 33 points and in second spot with 38 points was Jeff North. After a couple of weeks of struggles, Jeff is now back to somewhere near his legendary best, resulting in his second great round of the week. Taking first place with a fine 39 points was Brian Wilkinson.
In B Flight the second place went to John Scutter with 37 points, two shots shy of the winner Paul Spedding. This was Paul’s last round before going home and after four wins in three weeks he’s made a lot of people happy that he won’t be back for a long while.
A Flight
1st Brian Wilkinson 39pts
2nd Jeff North 38pts
3rd Bruce Tollitt 33pts
B Flight
1st Paul Spedding 39pts
2nd John Scutter 37pts
Friday, July 31, Green Valley – Stableford
There was only one flight today for our second visit of the week to Green Valley.
A couple of excellent scores or dodgy handicaps resulted in two people hitting 40 points. Mike Allidi took third place with a 77 gross for his 35 points. A 74 gross from Gary Ritchie gave him 40 points, but it wasn’t anywhere near good enough, as Caddyshack debutant Patrice Bardy cruised to victory with 43 points.
1st Patrice Bardy 43pts
2nd Gary Ritchie 40pts
3rd Mike Allidi 35pts

Bridge in Paradise: by Neil Robinson

Here is another hand to plan the play on.  But this is a bit different - if you find the solution, please let me know!  I played this hand at the regular Sunday duplicate game in Chiang Mai.  The hands and bidding are shown below.  I was sitting South.
You may think that I overbid the hand, and I would have to agree with you.  After all, hand and dummy combined have only 19 high card points, fewer than half.  Whatever, I ended up as declarer in four spades.

South dealer, no one vulnerable

                      S: J984

                      H: 875

                      D: Q5432

                      C: 8              

S: K72                                S: Q5

H: AKQ64                         H: J932

D: K                                   D: J98

C: Q1097                            C: 6543

                      S: A1063

                      H: 10

                      D: A1076

                      C: AKJ2                   

This was the bidding:

South   West      North     East

1C         1H           P              P

1S         2H           2S            P

4S         All pass                

As it happens, I made the contract, but only by way of a defence error (a very understandable error - defence is by far the most difficult part of bridge, because you cannot see your partner’s hand - but still an error).
Two rounds of high hearts were led and I ruffed the second round in hand.  I could see three certain losers - one trump (if I were lucky), one heart and one diamond.  My first thought was to try and limit trump losers.  I played the two top clubs, throwing the last heart from board.  This was to discourage a heart lead which would further reduce my trump holding.  Then, I ruffed a club on board to get there for the spade finesse.
The eight of spades was led from board and ducked round to the king.  West now had a choice of unattractive leads.  He eventually settled for leading back a trump.  I took East’s queen in hand with the ace.  But, I could not yet take out the final defence trump, because that would also take out my last trumps and leave me wide open in hearts.  So, I led the ace of diamonds, which dropped the king, but still left me with a diamond loser, East’s jack.  I then led a low diamond from hand.
West, holding a low trump, trumped this lead.  He “trumped air”, since my diamond loser had gone away, for dummy’s queen will now drop the jack.  This was an error - but many defenders might have been unable to resist the temptation to take a trick with an apparently worthless trump.
Now, I was safe.  The last defence trump had gone and I could win any return and still retain trump control and cash my good diamonds.  All I lost was a heart, the king of spades, and a diamond ruff.
Contract made, but not very satisfyingly, because it relied on a defence error.  I have a strong feeling that there is a way to make this contract with a legitimate play and best defence, but I cannot see how to do it.  If you can, let me know at: [email protected].

Gandley hits purple patch at Pattana

PSC Soi Kanoi Golf Group

Neil Duncan
Tuesday, July 28, Pattana A &
B (Yellow tees) - Stableford
Normally the 41 points returned by Bernie Segrave would be good enough to take the honors, but not this day with Rob Gandley carding a breathtaking 43 points to be ‘The Man’ (manual handicap reductions allocated).

Thursday’s top two: David Clamp (left) and Ian Campbell.

Two of our journeymen golfers tussled it out for third and fourth places with Ted Morris edging out Mike King on a 35 point count-back.
Bernie sweetened his pot with two near pin bonuses, David Clamp and Alan Freeman enjoying the other two. For reasons best kept under wraps the longest first putt on the 18th green frivolity just didn’t happen.
Thursday, July 30, Green Valley (White tees) - Stableford
It is always a pleasure to play this course which we found to be well manicured, but it is most unfortunate that the single person per cart requirement deters participation by our must-have-a-cart chums.
Good scores again today with David Clamp winning the day on 38 points (making it the third manual handicap cut by the group in the week) plus the longest first putt on the 18th green prize. The cure for black newtruckitis has seemingly worked.
David was followed in by John Sommerville (known as Ian) Campbell with 37 points and two near pin bonuses. Mike King scooped the remaining two near pin bonuses.
Note: Any golfers seeking to play with our group that wish to know about the group’s format please phone Neil on 089 511 0575.

Sand storm at Pattaya Country Club

PSC golf from the Three Sisters Bar

Mother Nature could not have been more kind on the morning of Tuesday, July 28; a beautiful sunrise, then the clouds and cool breezes.
The greens at the Pattaya Country Club however could not have been more cruel this day. While all courses need to sand and aireate their greens from time to time, today was unbelievable. The sand was deep and the sprinklers caused small mounds where the water drops hit the sand. No way to tell where the putt may go. On top of that was a hesitancy to ground one’s putter feeling one was in a bunker.
Back at Caddy Shack II the cards were tallied and generally all were a bit lower than usual. Dale Murphy came out on top with a 38 points, Joe St. Laurent was not far behind with 35 points in second.
Between them Richard and Paul managed to four and three putt their way to a huge beer pot donation.
Herbie Ishinage came through with both spicy and regular sausages and there was adequate free beer courtesy of the previously identified gentlemen.

Lane shoots blistering round at Burapha

PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar

Joey’s column
Monday, July 27, Burapha - Stableford
As the 33 Outbackers made their way to the Belfry start, looking down the first on Augusta, round the green and apron was teeming with caddies and grounds people carrying out the seasonal maintenance work, meticulously by hand. As a result, the course today was once again the odd pairing of Belfry & Dunes with Capt’ Bob sparing the players from the tough blue tees, giving them a chance from the whites.

‘Stupid’ - the bar’s favourite dog.

It was great weather for golf, partly cloudy a good breeze and not too hot. It was therefore no real surprise that there were going to be some excellent scores returned.
Dion Lane (h’cap 11), who has already been cut on this trip, had his handicap reduced to 9.0 after the top score of the day, 44 points to win Div A from his stablemate (another Kiwi), Geoff Christie (h’cap 5) who fired 72 off the stick for 41 points. Outback regular, Joe, was back in third with 38.
Bob Lindborg took Div B with a more regular 36 points from Chris Brendle, playing with the Outback for the first time, alongside scratch player and friend Toni Dauth, who holed out his third for an eagle on the Par 5 ninth (B9), to the applause of a Thai group waiting to tee off on B1, just across the pond.
Steve Milne continued his form to win not only Div C with 40 points, but also retain the ‘Roo Cup’ yet again with his partner Mark Riggall (34pts), who took third.
There were three ‘2’s from Joe Mooneyham, Dion Lane & Paul Greenaway.
H’cap adjustments: Dion Lane from 10.6 to 9.0, Geoff Christie from playing 5 to 4 and Steve Milne from 16.7 to 15.8
Div A (0-12)
1st Dion Lane (11) 44pts
2nd Geoff Christie (5) 41pts
3rd Joe Mooneyham (12) 38pts
Div B (13-15)
1st Bob Lindborg (15) 36pts
2nd Brendle Chris (15) 34pts
3rd Barry Copestake (13) 34pts
Div C (17+)
1st Steve Milne (17) 40pts
2nd Ferris Chris (19) 38pts
3rd Mark Riggall (17) 34pts
Tuesday, July 28, Pattaya C.C. - Stableford
The 10 Outbackers who played today were greeted at the Outback Golf Bar with the sad news that the Outback dog (Stupid) had died the night before. Named ‘Stupid’ as she would not stop chasing cars and motorbikes - but stupid she wasn’t. She was with the bar when Bob and Jack took it over and became a firm favourite with regular customers and visitors alike. She will be missed by many and particularly by the staff, Capt’ Bob & Lot.
Dennis, Trudy & Nigel were always saving part of their lunch or dinner for her and no-one will know what to do with the scraps any more. It wasn’t a car that got her; we think she was probably bitten by a snake. She is buried nearby to the bar.
On to the golf and before we went out we were told that the greens had been hollow tined and sanded – that being said, it was the same for all! We welcomed Rich Montana and Rob Heenan, playing with us on a Tuesday for the first time.
You cannot keep a good man down – whatever his age! You guessed it, the ever popular Arthur Bailey 81 years young had won. Playing off a 21 handicap and achieving 37 points.
In second place was organiser Chad, aka Barry Chadbourn, (20) also with 37 points but with 19 on the back compared to Arthur’s 20.
Third place went to Mike O’Brien (21) with 33 points. There were no ‘2’s so there was a fourth place taken by Norm Martin (24) with 31 points.
The Outback play at Pattaya Country Club each Tuesday at 09.30.
1st Arthur Bailey (21) 37pts
2nd Barry Chadbourn (20) 37pts
3rd O’Brien Mike (21) 33pts
4th Norm Martin (24) 31pts
Wednesday, July 29, Khao Kheow - Stableford
Nearly fourteen months ago was the last time the Outback played this course, 11th June 2008 to be precise, and on that day there was a vicious storm, not so many finished and 26 points won Div A! Not so today, the weather was fine as 35 Outbackers tackled this class course from the yellow tees, playing the C and B nines in that order. The scoring was generally good to excellent although there were a few dismal showings from some of the more regular players.
Tracey Spaulding came out on top of Div A with 39 points from Paul Greenaway (35pts) in second and two more of the Aussie visitors, Brian & Marlene taking third and fourth. Dave Christianson, who only last week wanted his handicap upping because he was playing so badly, came bouncing right back with a great 36 points to win Div B from Chaten Patel (35pts) and Joe (34).
Div C was headed by the unstoppable Steve Milne, with another fine display of golf (39 points) to win the division and once again attract the attention of the handicap slasher. Second place was a battle between the ladies, Jaki Thomson getting the better of Kathy Doody, both on 38.
There were five ‘2’s from Steve Milne, Rosco, Paul Greenaway, Dave Christianson & Harvey Samuel.
Handicap adjustments: Tracey Spaulding reduced from 9 to 8 and Steve Milne from 15.5 to 14.6
Div A (0-11)
1st Tracey Spaulding (9) 39pts
2nd Paul Greenaway (11) 35pts
3rd Brian Thomson (6) 34pts
4th Marlene Cooke (11) 34pts
Div B (12-15)
1st Dave Christianson (15) 36pts
2nd Chaten Patel (13) 35pts
3rd Joe Mooneyham (12) 34pts
4th John Low (14) 32pts
Div C (16+)
1st Steve Milne (16) 39pts
2nd Thomson Jaki (22) 38pts
3rd Kathy Doody (21) 38pts
4th Harvey Samuel (18) 36pts
Thursday, July 30, Green Valley - Stableford
A small field of just seven Outbackers played at Green Valley on Thursday, in complete contrast to the 35 at Khao Kheow on Wednesday and the 60 that were due at Laem Chabang on Friday, just an illustration of how unpredictable the golfing numbers can be in this low season.
Geoff Doody won the day beating Suzi on a count back, both with 35 points whilst the organiser, Chad, disappeared back into the also-rans with a poor 24.
1st Geoff Doody (20) 35pts
2nd Lawton Suzi (21) 35pts
3rd Rich Montana (14) 34pts
Friday, July 31, Laem Chabang - Stableford
An incredible field of 56 turned out with the Outback to play the Mountain (A) and Lake (B) nines at the internationally renowned Laem Chabang course. Teeing off precisely at 10am, the fourteen groups streamed off the first tee at seven minute intervals, with the first on Mountain giving many in the field the usual jitters.
The course was in great condition and played relatively easy from the white tees at around 6,100 yards, as the top scores in all the divisions reflect. During the round, although cloudy throughout, there was only twenty minutes of rain that did threaten to become a lot worse but fortunately for all, it stayed away.
Four hours later the first groups were coming in and it wasn’t long before it became obvious that next week the Outback will have to seriously consider putting the top divisions off the blues.
Simon Spaulding produced the outstanding round of the day with a gross 69 (40pts) to win Div A from Pat Regan, also with 40pts, after an exceptional front nine (23pts) only to fall away slightly on the back. Welcome back to Mark Joshua in third with 39, whilst the other half of the Spaulding partnership, Tracey, took fourth off her new handicap of just 8 as a result of her exceptional round at Khao Kheow on Wednesday. Capt’ Bob & Jim Brackett with matching 37’s were just not able to make the podium, but well played anyway!
Div B was a four-way tie at 38 points each for Rosco, John Low, Don Pavlovic and Mike Shrosbree; finishing in that order after the usual count back procedures. Peter Webb took Div C with 38 points, even with his revised handicap of 19, from Bill Broschart (36pts) and Tony Duthie back in third on 34.
There were seven ‘2’s from Mark Joshua, Simon Spaulding, Tracey Spaulding, Capt’ Bob, Chaten Patel, Brian Cooke and Barry Copestake.
Note: Of the 56 players only 47 played in the tournament.
Div A (0-11)
1st Simon Spaulding (1) 40pts
2nd Patrick Regan (11) 40pts
3rd Mark Joshua (11) 39pts
4th Tracey Spaulding (8) 38pts
Div B (12-15)
1st Rosco Langoulant (13) 38pts
2nd John Low (14) 38pts
3rd Don Pavlovic (12) 38pts
4th Mike Shrosbree (13) 38pts
Div C (16+)
1st Peter Webb (19) 38pts
2nd Bill Broschart (16) 37pts
3rd Duthie Tony (21) 34pts
4th David Day (16) 32pts

Café Kronborg increase their lead

Pattaya Sports Club Bowling League

200 Bowlers: Noodle, Aht, Rich, Mai and Nok.

Sue Murphy bowled a 554 series to lead Café Kronborg to a four point sweep over Green Chilli and Kronborg moved four and one half points ahead of second place Sala Thai. Noodle Russell had a 205 game and 515 series for Green Chilli.
Rich Montana bowled games of 168, 232 and 264 for a 664 series to lead Café Ole to a three point win over Sala Thai Restaurant. Indiana took three points from Brother D with La Montgomery leading her team with a 525 series. Wade Meyers had a 516 series from Brother D. and Tui Amphanon bowled a 551 series to help her VFW Post 9876 team to a three point win over Sabai Sabai Friday. Nok Kennedy had a 546 series for Sabai.
Canada beat Bavaria, taking two and one half points in that match. Ooy Pluemkamon led Canada with a 551 series. Graham bowled a 566 series and Aht Johansson had a 204 game, 533 series, to lead Swethai to a three point win over Jack Tar. Mai Munsitha rolled a 205 game and 530 series for Jack Tar.

Newbie KO’s veteran

Pattaya Backgammon League

Gabriel Davis
This week’s tournament was held on Friday, which is now the scheduled day for the Pattaya Backgammon League, kicking off at 13:00 at Somboons’ Restaurant on Dong Tarn Beach. For a map and more details you can log on to our website www. pattayabackgammonleague. com or www.blot.asia.

For the first time in 6 weeks, this writer was eliminated from the tournament in the very first round! A mathematics professor from Canada by the name of Mr. Lauren delivered the coup de grace and here is a pivotal point in the match.
At the moment of doubling (we were discussing match and game winning probability throughout the match, not all people like to but we did) I had myself at around 73% to win, I remember telling Mr. Lauren, he nodded with a long face, not at all liking his position. However, this was a match to 9 and the score was 6-4/9 in his favor (notice the correct match score annotation 6-4/9) so if he won this position he would go to 8-4/9, which would mean the next game I wouldn’t be able to double him, this is known as the Crawford rule and it’s purpose is to defray variance, and I would be a distinct underdog to come back (leaving me 15% according to Woolsey’s match equity table).
Being up 15 pips (a pip is one unit in a die so 5 ‘pips’ allows 5 spaces to move), I thought this a trivial double and possibly not even a take although I was heavily leaning in thinking it was a take (take = acceptance of the doubling cube). Thinking it was a take I also thought I had some possibility my opponent wouldn’t accept.
With out trying to talk Mr. Lauren out of taking we discussed some of these factors and in the end he accepted and later out rolled me to win the game and match. But this wasn’t the biggest surprise in store for me. Arriving home, I entered this position into the neural network program known as “Snowie” and to my astonishment; it’s not even a double. I cubed too early!
The stats are: I am 70.3% to win this game and of the 70.3% I win 2.8% gammons or double point games. Low gammon chances are the reason why this position isn’t strong enough to give away the cube (double my opponent) and consideration of the match score.