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Charity boxing raises funds for student games
Saksiri Uraiwarn
Burapha University’s goal to raise funds for its bi-annual
university athletic competition proved a knockout with area Muay Thai
fighters firing up the crowd at the charity boxing event to open their
wallets.
 Yodthong
Sriwalaruk (left), chairman of the event, distributes prizes to boxers
Ejon of Slovakia and Khem Sitsongpeennong.
Fairtex Thepprasit Boxing Stadium saw 12 matches Aug. 27, including a
set of women boxers and three matches featuring international fighters.
The highlight came in the third bout, when Khem Sitsongpeennong of
Fairtex Pattaya Gym launched Slovakia’s Ejorn of Kakacy Gyms into the
air with a blow to the chin, ending the fight.
All the fighters in the charity exhibition got sage advice from famed
boxing promoter Yodthong “Kru Tui” Sriwaralak and all proceeds went
toward the staging of the 35th Ratchaphruek Games, a university-level
sports meet sponsored by Burapha and Srinakharinwirot University
scheduled for Oct. 19-25 in Chonburi. The competition will see 6,000
athletes from 18 schools participate in a range of sports, including
Muay Thai.
The crowd certainly enjoyed the fights and got into the spirit of the
event with a number of local luminaries donating to the cause. Pattaya
City Council Member Vichai Rodpia led the pack with a 100,000 baht
donation. Former MP Chanyuth Hengtrakul donated 30,000 baht, Pramuan
Thongbai gave 10,000 baht; Nongprue Council Chairman Suwat
Ratchatawattanakul donated 30,000 baht and Surat Mekavarakul, executive
managing director of Mike Shopping Mall Co., Ltd. gave 20,000 baht.
Good scores thin on the ground
PSC Golf from Mulligans Lakeside
Tuesday, Sept. 1, The Emerald - Stableford
Tuesday saw the start of a new month and it was off to The
Emerald for us. Clear skies, a light breeze and hot, summed up the
weather conditions. The course was in pretty good condition, but as the
headline indicates, good scores were not the order of the day.
Terry Phur (17), just returned from the UK, was best able to show some
semblance of form/ability and won the day quite comfortably with 29
points from Ken Hole (13) in second, and Derek Waterworth (28) hanging
on for third spot.
I have deliberately left off the scores, as they were really that
disappointing!
Thursday, Sept. 3, Mountain Shadow - Stableford
Thursday, we were hoping for some improvement as we travelled
to Mountain Shadow, where we were again met with fine weather
conditions, a golf course in good order, and golfers eager to better
Tuesday’s efforts.
Now as regulars to Mountain Shadow know, it is a course not to be
trifled with; tree lined holes just waiting to punish the wayward shot,
while some water carries intimidate the golfer lacking confidence in
getting the ball in the air.
Barry Mc (15), a frequent visitor from Australia, was the winner today
courtesy of some nice putts, with a respectable 33 points. He was chased
home by an improved Ken (13), with Derek again filling the lower podium
step.
It was the first time visit to this course for a couple of the golfers
and I am sure they will hope for some improvement on their next visit.
Note: Mulligans Lakeside plays golf on Tuesdays & Thursdays from
Lake Mabprachan. Affiliated with the PSC, we access the coupons
negotiated by the PSC, passing on the full discount to golfers.
Currently in Low Season we also utilise Sport Day offers from other golf
clubs.
Give Jeff a call on 089 094 1841 or Ray 081 935 8088 for scheduling
details. Cheers & Good Golfing!
Thais strike Gold - and an air-borne Optimist - in Brazil
The Thai juniors celebrate
their success at the International Optimist World Championships in Brazil.
Story by Peter Cummins Photos Malee Whitcraft
At a ceremony held at Government House recently, Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva honoured a group of young Thai athletes who have brought
great credit to the Kingdom in the world’s sporting arena – particularly
yachting - at a world championship in Brazil.
The air-borne Optimist saga appears later in this story, but two Eastern
Seaboard teenagers, Noppakao Poonpat and Kirati Bualuang, have placed
Thailand clearly among the super-stars of the world yachting firmament.
 A
future and present sailing starlet, Noppakao Poonpat accompanied by coach
Somkiat Poonpat receives the girls champion’s trophy.
Noppakao, an incredibly-talented 13-year old from Sattahip, won the girls
division of the just-held International Optimist World Championship,
finishing fourth overall in a huge fleet of more than 200 of the world’s
best junior sailors from some 50 countries.
A further accolade for Thailand was that, apart from Noppakao’s Gold in the
individual racing event, the Thai team also won Bronze for the total nation
team scores.
 Relaxing
in Rio: The Thai Optimist team pose in front of the Christ the Redeemer
statue on Corcovado Mountain.
For his part Keerati Bualong, also a Sattahip sailor, finished sixth in the
29th Volvo ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship, held among 300 young
competitors from over 50 countries. For the record, “ISAF” means the
International Sailing Federation – a peace-promoting force for good and not
the other ISAF (NATO’S “International Security Assistance Force”, bent on
destruction in the name of peace.)
Both the Optimist and the Youth championships were held in Brazil: the
former in Niteroi and the latter in Buzios, both locations fairly close to
Rio.
The Optimist was designed and developed in Clearwater, Florida by Clarke
Mills in the 1960s. Clarke witnessed the children in the hilly sea-side
resort, who were racing their wheeled “apple-boxes” down the hills, with
many a scrape, bruise and trauma. “Much better they go out on the sea,” he
surmised. “At least, if they fall off or capsize, the water will cushion
them somewhat more than macadam.”
 Teenage
sailing sensation Noppakao has a smile for the camera.
The end result was the Optimist, a little (2.3m) snub-nosed dinghy, aimed at
sub-teen and teen-aged children world-wide and is now sailed by 150,000
under 16-year-olds, in more than 100 countries.
This year represents the first time that Thailand has won Gold and Bronze,
since the competition began in 1964. The five Thai youngsters who travelled
to Rio were from Sattahip and Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Pattaya, namely:
Noppakao Poonpat, Totsapon Mahawichean, Tacharin Narbonne, Don Whitcraft,
Jirawat Jadklay, with coach Somkiat Poonpat, country representative Malee
Whitcraft and team manager Dylan Whitcraft.
 One
young sailor fights for control of his craft as a fierce squall hits the
fleet.
Although a solo Thai entrant in the Volvo Youth Worlds, Kirati was supported
by a coach from Royal Varuna Yacht Club, Gareth Owen, and manager, Royal
Thai Navy’s Veerasit Puangnak, both extremely competent sailors.
According to Malee, country representative of the International Optimist
Dinghy Association (IODA), the optimists sailed in some of the most
difficult wind conditions ever encountered in almost 50 years of
competitions. The bay, although beautiful, was surrounded by mountains,
creating most difficult wind conditions, with enormous shifts and
fluctuations around the compass testing the children to the utmost.
 Keerati
Bualong steers his Laser to sixth place in the Volvo ISAF Youth Sailing
World Championships. (Photo/Dave Kneale)
It was during the team race of Thailand, against the much bigger Argentinian
juniors, that a massive storm, reaching some 50 knots, roared out of the
hills. It became the saga of the first-air-borne Optimist, as Thailand’s
smallest boy and his dinghy were lifted by the ferocious squall, clear out
of the water and deposited a few metres away. The lad, totally unafraid and
unfazed, remarked later that he had flown economy class for some 15 hours to
reach Rio and now, complete with his dinghy, he had a brief taste of flying
business class!
This storm left many boats capsized, including the rescue boat which was
completely turned over and in need of rescue itself. Fortunately, the next
day was a much-needed rest day.
The Thai team was sponsored by the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand,
Equinox, PTT, DKSH (Levi’s), the Tilleke and Gibbons law firm, Blue Wave
Water Sports and the Maduzi hotel complex.
Noppakao has won many international regattas over the last two years. She
trains six days a week at the Royal Thai Navy Base in Sattahip. The coach
Somkiat Poonpat has been coaching the team for 5 years.
Perhaps this talented young Thai lady’s performance could best be described
by the romantic prose of the Brazilian organizers: “Noppakao, a Thai girl,
from humble origins and incredible sailing skills, is the perfect example of
concentration, unwavering attention and swift, light movements on the
water.” The organizing manager added, with the beautiful nuances of
Portuguese, “the wind’s dance on the Bay of Niteroi had found the ballerina
to the star performance: Nappakao Poonpat.”
The calm before the storm as
the Optimists set out to do battle.
Unkindest cut for the scribe
PSC golf from the Phoenix Tuesday Group
Mike Gerrard
Hello golfers!
A good turn out for Tuesday. Sept 1 outing meant we had to book
an extra tee time. It was a lovely day with temperatures quite cool due to
an overcast sky and apparently storms all around, but as happens most of the
time these storms seem to circle the hallowed turf of Phoenix.
After months of making a fool of myself with bad scores, yours truly managed
to hit form and score 40 points to win the day. New guest player Jim Mist
came in second with 38 points, with the now refreshed Stuart Gordon scoring
35 points to claim third place.
Technical prizes went to the scribe (Mike Gerrard), Stuart Gordon (2) and
Graham Dietrich.
Fittingly another newcomer, Ken Akester, managed to be the name picked out
for the lucky draw while the special restaurant voucher went to the lovable
Irishman, John Bartley.
Now that most of our regular players realise that the first drink back at
Toy’s Music Bar is free from the day’s entry fee, we had ten of the 12
players back for the presentation. After a couple of drinks at Toy’s Bar
some of the group moved onto Trattatoria Italiana, with mine host Giorgio
Baccioli taking very good care of us.
The bad news for the winner; after all the drinks were paid for and the
technical prizes were awarded, the reward for scoring 40 points was
basically being cut 1 shot for the rest of the week.
This was carried over to Soi Dao, where some of the members went for 3 days.
Although the ground was very wet due to storms, the daytime play was spared
any rain and a good time was had by all. Well, for one anyway. Graham
Dietrich showed his class by playing some very steady and consistent golf. I
have to say, very impressive.
We won’t go into the rest of the field, except to say it was Graham who
supplied the whiskey for the trip which helped to drown the sorrows of the
bad golf. The scores returned for this trip compensated the one shot cut and
by Saturday’s handicap assessment by the PSC, the one shot cut was
immediately returned.
Note: Every Tuesday at 12.00 noon is our spot and all are welcome: Phoenix
members, non members and visitors. However, although we don’t play for much
we do take the game seriously and official handicaps are required: 28
handicap is our maximum allowed and all players play from the white tees.
Please call me on 087 091 7565 if you would like to join in the fun.
Double delight for Sathrum
Jomtien Golf with the IPGC
There were no games on Monday and Wednesday this week as we were all in the IPGC
monthly medal at Pattana on Tuesday. Please see the PGS report at Rabbi’s
Elephant bar for the results.
Friday, September 4, Eastern Star – Stableford
There must have been some heavy rain here over the previous few days
as we looked out at the course on arrival and saw it had helped to disperse the
sanding and the enlargement of the greens on five of the holes. Jomtien Golf
will be hosting the next IPGC monthly medal at Eastern Star on October 7 and
everything is looking good here.
There had been 5 weeks of rollovers in the ‘2’s in both divisions and at last we
had a birdie on the third hole in division 1; Tom Sathrum was all smiles when he
came back to the clubhouse. He also won the division with 38 points while Bryan
Rought beat Andy Oz on a 22/17 count back for the runner up spot after they both
came in with 36 points.
A cut today in the stableford of 20 plus in division 2 enabled the organizer to
gain first place with 34 points; his first placing for many months. Miss Nang
came in second just one point behind and in third place with 32 points was Peter
Grant.
There were congratulations back at Siam Cats afterwards for the old man, who
after many years has tied the knot with Miss Nom, or I should say now, Mrs.
Foster. Good luck to you both!
New start time for Three Sisters golf
PSC golf from the Three Sisters Bar
The Three Sisters golf group have modified their tee-off time from 6
a.m. to 7 to 7:30 a.m. as of 1 Sep 09. This change was welcomed by
many of the players and all of the caddies. Driving to the Pattaya
Country Club during the hours of darkness was a bit disconcerting
for a few of our Senior Citizen players.
 Winner
Bill Thompson (left) with runner-up Herbie Ishinaga.
Last week the later tee-off also allowed the course to dry out a
bit, which in turn helped the roll out. It is also hoped that some
members who like to sleep in just a bit will now come out and join
the group.
Very light sprinkles greeted the early arrivals last Tuesday but
that quickly stopped and was followed by partly cloudy, cool skies.
Back at Caddy Shack II, spicy and regular sausages were provided by
Herbie Ishinaga. A tally of the cards showed that Bill Thompson came
in with a winning 37 points followed by Herbie Ishinaga with 33.
Carmody comes up trumps at Pattana
PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s
Tuesday’s winners: Dick Warberg,
Derek Brook, Don Carmody and Kevin Dinan.
Derek Brook
Tuesday, September 1, Pattana – Stableford
The first Tuesday of the month at Bert’s is always
Pattana at 0930 tee-off. At least it is until the High Season and then we
may have to rethink, but we will see if they are as kind to us then as they
are now.
This day was just another day in paradise; a cup of coffee on the balcony
overlooking the sea and a misty start to the day then up to Bert’s to see
the players as they tucked into Bert’s ‘golfers breakfast’. A background of
breakfast smells, then an unhurried bimble up to Pattana for a slow, as
usual book-in and quickly to the tee. I say a slow book in because this is
the lengthiest book-in of any course and on this day they even gave me
Mashi’s change, meaning a counting of all the money in my wallet with Mashi
before I realised that had in fact given me Mashi’s 270 baht. Nice try, but
a sharp one is our Mashi, but at least we knew to the baht how much I had.
We started on B1 and this hole that usually costs at least one ball was so
wet that it was difficult to find a place to put the ball. However, on this
day it proved good for the scribe and a rare par started a good day. As said
the course was wet and a strong wind was blowing, however it was a really
enjoyable day and all got around at a good pace.
It was only as I opened my wallet to give the tip that I realised a good sum
of money was missing from my wallet. As said, I knew the exact sum as Mashi
and I had counted it before the start. The point of these comments is to
remind all players that they should not leave their wallet in the front of
the cart as Mashi also knows of two people who have had their wallet go
missing on the round. I suppose I was lucky in this respect. To repeat, only
take the money out that you need to spend on the course. I hope I have
learnt my lesson.
Back at Bert’s we saw that the scores were really good in spite of the
inclement conditions. The winner with 41 points was Don Carmody, and Don was
36 handicap not so long ago but is now down to 22 Handicap. We will catch up
with him soon but it is true that a new golfer comes down fast if he has
basic ability.
In second place was the scribe, Derek Brook, with a fine 40 points, one of
his better rounds, and in third was Dick Warberg with 39 points, also having
a good day ahead of a count back on 38 points that saw Kevin Dinan in fourth
and Bernie Seagrave just missing out.
Near Pins: Kevin Dinan, Owen Walkley, Dick Warberg, Plau
Friday, September 4, Treasure Hill - Stableford
After a successful visit to this course last month, it
was booked once more. This time the rate was a bit higher as they have
restricted sport days to only a couple days a week and that did not include
Fridays. Still, the PSC rate is attractive and with only one other car in
the parking lot when we arrived, it was a breeze to get checked in and down
to the first tee. With a few no-shows this morning, three threesomes were
organized and off we went.
The course was in the best condition some of us had seen for several years.
Bunkers, while containing too much sand, were all raked, rough cut to a
manageable height, and the greens rolling at a reasonable speed.
With no players in sight ahead of our group, all three groups were around
the course in under four hours and pleased with the day out, even though the
scores, except for one who managed to beat his handicap, were a bit lower
than usual. For the most part, the course won today.
Back at Tropical Bert’s much earlier than usual, the scoring was tabulated
while several dug into Poo’s ‘golfers special’ of the day; meat pies with
mash and veggies. We welcomed back Peter Whitehead from an extended trip
back home, and thanking the staff for the excellent service, announced the
results of the day. T.T.F.N.
1st Steve Hamstad (13) 39pts
2nd Daryl Evans (19) 32pts
3rd Don Carmody (22) 32pts
Lavender & O’Conner
crowned scramble champions
PSC golf from The Caddyshack
Damian Trant
Monday, August 31, Crystal Bay – Scramble
This was our annual scramble to celebrate our third birthday
and close to eighty golfers took part in this well organised and fun
event. They were lots of technical prizes on offer and the winners were
as follows.
 The
annual birthday scramble winners: Paul Lavender and Terry O’Conner.
Nearest the pin winners were Archie Armstrong, Keith Johnson, Paul
Lavender and Jim Mcgovern. The longest drive was expertly smashed by
‘Big Boy’ Dave Bramley and the longest putt on the 18th was holed by
‘Mr. Lover Man’ Ted Gardner.
The two other technical prizes went to one of our sponsors on the day,
Charlie Ayres, these being nearest to our giant Thai flag and nearest to
the pin with the second shot.
In the main event it was all so close and exciting that I’ve lost the
scores but I can just about remember who came where. In forth place it
was ‘Mr. Consistent’ Clive Bruce and his very knowledgeable friend John
Hall. Third place went to Caddyshack legend Greg Ritchie and his partner
for the day Jez Tracey. Taking second place on a count back was scramble
specialists Jeff King and Ian Halfpenny.
But nobody could deny the new Caddyshack scramble champions, the
fantastic pairing of Terry O’Conner and Paul Lavender. Paul’s erratic
style blended perfectly with Terry’s steadiness on the day and it was
just about good enough to take victory.
I think I speak for everybody who took part in thanking Keith and Koy
for the wonderful spread and Bruce and everybody’s favourite German,
Helmut, for the first class organisation.
Friday, August 4, Green Valley – Stableford
After all the excitement of Monday it was normal service
resumed as we played our home course of Green Valley. I say normal
service because as normal the scores in general were terrible; with only
one person playing under is handicap.
The field was split into two flights and I’m almost too embarrassed to
give you B Flight results, but here goes. With a magical round of 30
points in second place was William Smith a.k.a. Ramsey. Ben Findon must
have got the shock of his life when his 31 points was announced as the
winning score and for the second week in a row he took first place
without playing to his usual high standard.
A Flight scores were slightly better with Clive Bruce taking second
place with 36 points, one shot behind the winner Mark Joshua.
Colin’s ‘golden balls’
PSC golf from Lewiinski’s
Sunday, August 30, St. Andrews - Stableford
A Flight
1st Bob Newell (7) 40pts
2nd Pat Reagan (11) 35pts
3rd Dave Boran (13) 35pts
B Flight
1st Brad Dippie (28) 35pts
2nd Jum Karagit (22) 33pts
3rd Eddie Beilby (15) 31pts
Near Pins: #3 Bob St Aubin, #5 Bob Lindburg, #10Yui Bietry, #16 Terry
Phur
A change of venue for this week’s Sunday bash as Green Valley was host to a Thai
amateur comp. This led to the Lewiinski’s gang playing the very challenging St
Andrews and needless to say scoring was at a premium.
 ‘The
Donkey’ rings the bell at Lewiinskis.
Brad Dippie led the boys and girls home in B Flight, returning a round of 35
points. He was followed by Jum Karagit with 33 points, leaving a two-way tie for
third between Eddie ‘The Eagle’ and ‘The Principal’, both locked on 31, but The
Principal’s maths let him down as Eddie swooped in for the third spot.
As usual, there is always one who makes a mockery of the course: ‘Seamless’
Newell ripped the course apart posting a flawless 40 points for the day’s
honors. Pat did the same as Jum, nicking second place from Dave Boran after
gaining a count back decision with both posting 35 points. Bob Dibben (welcome
back Mr. and Mrs.), Mike Craighead and Marilyn Hayes split the ‘2’s pot.
The Donkey posted the lowest card of the day to prop up A Flight, but the doom
and gloom changed to delight back at Lewiinski’s as he won the Lou-inskis free
draw - a massive 8,000 baht. Don’t forget you have to be in the bar to win.
Tuesday, September 1, Burapa - Stableford
A Flight
1st Colin Davis (13) 35pts
2nd Mark Barry (5) 32pts
B Flight
1st Bill Broschart (17) 35pts
2nd George Jackson (16) 33pts
A wet and soggy Burapa welcomed the Lewiinski’s gang, so it was decided that
‘lift and place’ on the fairway would be allowed. This helped the players a
little but still no one broke par.
The Donkey, after his good fortune on Sunday night, and an extra helping of
carrots for his breakfast, trotted round the course and returned a 35 point haul
to win A Flight and a share of the man of the match award. Mark Barry got a
count back verdict for second with 32 points, the victim being Peter ‘The
President.’
Bill Broschart joined Colin as co man of the match and B Fight winner with 35
points. George ‘One ball’ Jackson rounded out the flight on 33 points with a
slender count back decision over Raspie Matsie and Sim (The Donkeys better
half).
No ‘2’s were recorded so a rollover to Wednesday at Bangpra.
Wednesday, September 2, Bangpra - Stableford
1st Steven Steele (20) 38pts
2nd George Hayes (28) 34pts
3rd Bill Broschart (17) 33pts
Steven Steele turned in a sparkling performance over the well presented Bangpra
(despite the abundance of monkeys) and his 38 point score was the only card
returned under par to give Steven the man of the match honors. George Hayes was
four shots adrift in second and Bill Broschart kept his run of good form going
with a 33 point return to close the flight.
‘The Donkey’ and Mike Jeffreys Split the rollover ‘2’s - just a thought Colin,
have you had a go on the lottery this week?
Friday, September 4, Crystal Bay – Stableford
1st Bill Broschart (17) 38pts
2nd Jimmy Day (13) 33pts
3rd Peter Henshaw (14) 32pts
Bill Broschart kept his run of good form going by posting the only sub-par card
of the day; a splendid 38 points. This won Bill the man of the match honors and
certainly golfer of the month. Let’s hope Bill enjoys his trip to the handicap
secretary.
Ireland’s Co. Wicklow man Jimmy Day carded 33 points for second, leaving ‘The
President’ to fill out the flight after gaining a count back verdict over Jim
Elphick.
‘The Donkey’ and Jim Elphick split the ‘2’s pot.
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 Colin on 089 826 0764. Transport is provided.
Marcel wins again
PSC golf from the Café Kronborg
Peter Blackburn
Monday, August 31, Plutaluang N & W –
Stableford
As ‘The Admiral’ was away on a brief holiday in Singapore it
was up to myself and Marcel to “steer the ship” and a small group of 7
golfers left Café Kronborg at our usual time of 0815 hrs for the 45
minute journey to Plutaluang. There was drizzling rain for most of the
trip but by the time we arrived the weather had cleared up and apart
from low clouds and the odd clap of thunder the weather was ideal but of
course hot & humid.
 ‘The
Admiral’ (left) with Marcel Wittwer and Per Anders Karlsson.
Our first group teed off at around 0930 hrs after we were informed we
would be playing the North &West nines. Myself and many of the others
had never played the West course before and it proved to be an
interesting although at times challenging experience. Having played this
nine previously Marcel was able to “warn” Andrea and myself of the
difficulties on some of the holes and it was apparent that others on
higher handicaps would perhaps struggle and this indeed appeared to be
the case.
The course was as usual very well prepared although most of the greens
seemed even slower than normal, nonetheless a very enjoyable round which
was completed in just over four hours.
My two playing partners ended up taking out first and second with Andrea
Denti beating Marcel Wittwer on a count back and Per Anders Karlsson was
one point behind them in third place.
1st Andrea Denti (22) 35pts
2nd Marcel Wittwer (15) 35pts
3rd Per Anders Karlsson (19) 34pts
Thursday, September 3, Rayong Country Club -
Stableford
With ‘The Admiral’ back and adequately refreshed from his
brief holiday in Singapore it was great to see 22 golfers head off from
Café Kronborg at the normal time of 0815 hrs for the 50 minute trip to
Rayong Country Club.
It was good to see Aussie Paul Avery back for another 3 weeks and also
his Aussie mate Stuart Rifkin, now a Pattaya resident. Also another
Aussie, Norm Cheetham from Gosnells Golf Club in Perth is back in town
for another brief visit. Unfortunately for Andrea Denti it was his last
game before returning to Italy but of course he will return before too
long.
Our first group hit off at around 0930 hrs and we finished our round in
the fabulous time of 3 hours and 45 minutes. The course is getting
better by the week although the greens had been cored and sanded,
providing all with some difficulty with the “short stick”. Maintaining
the greens is of course necessary so I’m sure all of us understand that
and battle on.
The weather conditions were perfect (apart from the 53 drops of rain
during the front nine) and all in all it was an excellent day at a very
good price.
We of course were able to have 2 flights, A for handicaps 0 to 16 and B
for 17 and above. That very consistent golfer from Switzerland, Marcel
Wittwer took out the A Flight honours from Patrice Bardy in second, with
the writer finding a bit of form to finish third. Paul Avery was in
fourth place ahead of Ted Morris on a count back.
B Flight was won by another consistent golfer, Norwegian Per Anders
Karlsson just pipping Daryl Evans on a count back. Bill Plath finished
third in front of Kevin Dinan.
A Flight
1st Marcel Wittwer (15) 37pts
2nd Patrice Bardy (15) 36pts
3rd Peter Blackburn (14) 35pts
4th Paul Avery (10) 34pts
B Flight
1st Per Anders Karlsson (19) 37pts
2nd Daryl Evans (9) 37pts
3rd Bill Plath (17) 36pts
4th Kevin Dinan (22) 33pts
Near Pins: 5th Colin Swan, 7th Dave Richardson, 12th Walter
Baechli, 16th Mike Allidi.
Tewin returns
Golf from the Travellers Rest
Barry Hooper
On Friday I had already prepared my headline for this week but by
Saturday I was forced to change it again. Tewin Lamthong (Poopay) decided
that after many weeks of very little play, mainly due to her arduous duties
as the manager of the Travellers Rest Hotel, she would venture out for a
game with the lads and apparently it seems show them how to win.
 Saturday
winners: Ted Senior, Tewin Lamthong and Roger Wilkinson.
She came home with thirty-six points at Green Valley on a course that proved
pretty tough on the day, beating Roger Wilkinson by just the one point, but
as it turned out that was just enough.
Originally I was headlining Mod and Jon as it was yet another Jon and Mod
week. Boring, boring some might say, but nobody seems able to step up and
take them off the top. They were back in great form exactly the same as last
week, with Jon winning at Pattana on Monday with forty-two points, a clear
six up on second placed David Booth, and Mod winning at Phoenix on Thursday
after count back thirty-sevens with Frank Kelly. There just seems to be
absolutely no way of stopping them.
As a result of their recent successes both Jon and Mod have received
handicap cuts; Mod is now off ten and Jon is off nine. Will that slow them
down? We have to wait and see.
Tuesday, Sept 1, Pattana A & B – Stableford
Div. 1
1st Jon Lay (11) 42pts
2nd David Booth (12) 36pts
3rd Eddie Townsend (15) 35pts
Div. 2
1st Peter Morris (23) 39pts
2nd Billy Fitzgerald (17) 33pts
3rd Roger Wilkinson (17) 30pts
We had a very big turnout on Tuesday to this popular course as it is always
good value for money, so we split the group into two divisions, 0 to 16 and
17 up.
The second division honours went to Peter Morris with a good thirty-nine
pointer and six clear of his nearest rival Billy Fitzgerald, who was back in
second at thirty-three. Another three back in third was Roger Wilkinson at
thirty.
Division 1 went to Jon Lay (yes again) with a great forty-two points and he
was also six clear of David Booth in second spot at thirty-six. Third place
was only one back at thirty-five but two players had a count back fight for
this; Eddie Townsend and Mod Chaviraksa with Eddie edging it by three on the
back nine.
Only one ‘2’ was recorded and that came from Alan Rawson.
Thursday, September 3, Phoenix - Stableford
1st Mod Chaviraksa (11) 37pts
2nd Frank Kelly (13) 37pts
3rd Ito Akitoshi (8) 36pts
4th Fergus Brennan (8) 34pts
5th John O’Leary (16) 34pts
Yes, another visit to our regular Thursday venue of Phoenix (the Mountain
and Lake this time) and with another very good turnout of participants. The
course was excellent as always and scoring was better than the previous
week.
This was to be yet another excellent day for Mod Chaviraksa who came home
first with a thirty-seven pointer after beating Frank Kelly on count back by
three. This meant Mod had won on this course for two weeks in a row. In
third place was Ito Akitoshi at thirty-six and fourth was Fergus who edged
out John O’Leary on the last three holes by two on the count back, both at
thirty-four.
There were two ‘2’s from David Booth and Frank Kelly, both at the eleventh.
Comments were made back at the presentation about how good it was to see the
speed of play at a good pace. Congratulations to all who took part, we all
know how frustrating slow play can be.
Saturday, September 5, Green Valley - Stableford
1st Tewin Lamthong (14) 36pts
2nd Roger Wilkinson (17) 35pts
3rd Ted Senior (13) 32pts
4th Jon Lay (9) 30pts
5th Bob St.Aubin (13) 29pts
Saturday was a trip back to Green Valley and as I stated in my headline
revue, this course played really tough on the day. I assisted in entering
the score sheets on our return into the CONGU system which is used at the
TRGG and never have I seen so many wipes recorded. It seemed that every card
had one if not more.
But it was to be a ladies day with Tewin Lamthong (Poopay) coming to the
fore with a score of thirty-six points and showing the lads the way home.
Roger Wilkinson was second with thirty-five and back in third at thirty-two
we found (Mr. Two – not seen many of late) Ted Senior. Jon Lay struggled a
little this time for fourth place at thirty and fifth went to Bob St.Aubin
who was one very happy man at the presentation when he found out that he was
the only one with a ‘2’ on the day.
Bishop wins Decanter to celebrate
2nd Outbacker anniversary
PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar
Joey’s column
Monday, August 31, Burapha – The Outbacker Decanter (Day
1)
With the Outback Golf Bar on the verge of its two year
anniversary, today was the start of the annual two-day medal tournament,
known as the Outbacker Decanter.
Last year’s winner, Carl Lovatt, was unable to defend his title as a smaller
than usual field of just 33 set out to play for this coveted trophy. C & D
from the blues is always a tough course, with it’s narrow fairways and long
wet rough, made perhaps a little easier by the ‘pick and place’ ruling on
the fairways (a PSC local rule when carts are not allowed onto the
fairways), if you could find them!
 George
Bishop receives the Decanter from Lot, the Outback boss, with Capt’ Bob in
the background.
The regular daily competition was split into three divisions with the top
score in Div’s A & B being 74 net, pretty much to handicap around here;
whilst the best Div C could manage was a net 78, achieved by one of the two
ladies in the field, Sakorn. Jum was also in the frame with a 79 to take
third, leaving John Stafford, the thorn between two roses, in second, also
with 79.
Capt’ Bob, who has been off the course for a couple of weeks nursing a
strained rib cartilage, surprisingly won Div A from Pat Regan (75) and Jim
Brackett with the same score. There was a three-way tie in Div B, with Dave
Boran, George Bishop & Rosco all on 74; each of them having a net 39 on the
back nine. When the count back procedure got down to the last three holes,
Dave Boran, who returns to the UK today (Tuesday) came out on top.
Regrettably, Rosco won’t be here either on Day 2 (Wednesday), as he is also
flying out today, off to Perth and home to Karratha.
So the way it looks for Day 2, George Bishop & Capt’ Bob are leading the
field, one stroke ahead of Pat Regan & Jim Brackett (that will be the last
group out), who in turn are one stroke ahead of Erik Antonnen, Mark McDonald
and General Jack.
There were four ‘2’s coming from Pat Regan, Kevin Moraghan, Gary Graber &
Rosco.
Div A (0-11)
1st Bob Philp (9) net 74
2nd Patrick Regan (10) net 75
3rd James Brackett (6) net 75
Div B (12-16)
1st Dave Boran (13) net 74
2nd George Bishop (14) net 74
3rd Rosco Langoulant (12) net 74
Div C (17+)
1st Sakorn Pramoolchart (28) net 78
2nd John Stafford (21) net 79
3rd (Jum) Karagit (22) net 79
Tuesday, Sept. 1, Pattaya C.C. - Stableford
Just 13 Outbackers at Pattaya Country Club today, which going by
the scores, must be getting easier or the Outbackers are just playing a lot
better; all but one player scoring 30 points or more. It is reported that
the greens have improved considerably and that they have a new general
manager; so maybe some more improvements are still to come. Let’s hope so,
after all, it is the only course that carries the Pattaya name and deserves
more credit than it receives.
Mike O’Brien ran away with it by four, scoring a massive 43 points, in front
of the still improving Ian Covill (39pts), who should be setting his sights
on a single figure handicap. Third was a mate of Geoff Moodie’s, Chris
Futcher (also with 39pts), and welcome to the Outback.
There were four ‘2’s coming from Suzi Lawton, Chris Futcher, Mike O’Brien
and Bob Pearce.
1st Mike O’Brien (20) 43pts
2nd Ian Covill (12) 39pts
3rd Chris Futcher (9) 39pts
4th Nigel Cannon (23) 37pts
Wednesday, Sept. 2, Burapha – The Outback Decanter (Day 2)
Four Outbackers who played on Monday were unable to play today,
but they were replaced by another four for today’s competition only,
resulting in the same total of thirty-three; 29 of whom were in with a
chance of winning the two-day tournament for the Decanter.
 Graham
Ramsay & Norman Cheetham, winners of the Outback Anniversary Ball.
It was the difficult C & D course, again from the blues, that really sorted
the men from the boys. It was wet from overnight rain with no roll on the
narrow fairways and with thick heavy rough making the ball hard to find, let
alone play.
Erik Anttonen had a poor front nine by his standards with a gross 44, but
recovered well on the back to come back in 37, finishing with 81 (net 74) to
win Div A. Second was one of his playing partners John McDonald, who chipped
in twice on his way to his 75.
Tony Garnett was disgusted with his effort when he came in but was surprised
to learn that his 79 had earned him second place in Div B. His good lady,
Sakorn, continued her run of form with a net 70, the low score of the day to
win Div C by eight from the Sugarman (78) and the other lady in the field,
Jum (79).
George Bishop, one of the overnight leaders and playing in the last group
out, held it together well for an excellent 71, not only winning Div B again
by eight, but also winning the Decanter with a two-day total of 145, three
ahead of Sakorn on 148.
The Outbacker Decanter marks the two year anniversary of the Outback Golf
Bar, led by Capt’ Bob who together with General Jack, have put the bar
firmly in the limelight for golf as Pattaya’s No. 1 golf bar.
Afterwards George said a few kind words about the Outback Golf Bar, their
organisational skills and his fellow Outbackers and went on to say how much
he enjoyed the two-day tournament but never expected to win it. George
relishes his golf and looks forward to his handicap coming down further
still after being cut two shots prior to the start of this tournament under
the PSC handicap committee’s interim guidelines.
There was complimentary food laid on for all who played including the
resident Turnip who did not play; and just one ‘jackpot 2’ scooped by Paul
Greenaway.
Div A (0-11)
1st Erik Anttonen (7) net 74
2nd John McDonald (10) net 75
3rd Paul Bourke (11) net 76
Div B (12-16)
1st George Bishop (14) net 71
2nd Tony Garnett (13) net 79
3rd Barry Copestake (14) net 80
Div C (17+)
1st Sakorn Pramoolchart (28) net 70
2nd Sugar Ray Handford (18) net 78
3rd (Jum) Karagit (22) net 79
Overall Results
1st George Bishop (14) net 145
2nd Sakorn Pramoolchart (28) net 148
3rd Anttonen Erik (7) net 150
4th John McDonald (10) net 152
5th James Brackett (6) net 152
6th Paul Bourke (11) net 153
7th Mark McDonald (2) net 154
8th Tony Garnett (13) net 156
Thursday, Sept. 3, Green Valley - Stableford
Just eight Outbackers at the Valley today as the ‘Doodys’
overwhelmed the rest; both amassing 40 points, and Geoff edging out his
missus with a better back nine. The organiser, Chad, was a distant third for
which he received absolutely nothing, except a thanks from Capt’ Bob for
putting the show on the road.
1st Geoff Doody (20) 40pts
2nd Kathy Doody (20) 40pts
Friday, Sept. 4, Emerald – The Outback
Anniversary Ball
Following on from the two-day medal competition for the Outbacker
Decanter to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the Outback Golf Bar, the week
continued with the introduction of another annual competition, the ‘Outback
Anniversary Ball’ (an ever-popular better-ball pair’s format).
The course was again almost deserted with the exception of our friends from
the Beaver Bar and the 41 Outbackers playing today. Just in case anybody is
wondering how 41 can play in pairs, it is really quite simple; one player’s
score (Paul McGilvary’s in this case) counts twice.
Conditions once again were excellent with the course benefiting from rain
and low usage. The Emerald may have suffered this year by not taking the
lead from other local courses by reducing their green fees and increasing
the number of Sport Days each week.
In this ‘pairs competition’ many regular Outbackers signed up together on
the basis they know each other’s game. This was not the case for the winning
pair; both Graham Ramsay (Scotland) and Norman Cheetham (Australia) signed
up as singles and Capt’ Bob or Lady Luck slotted them together - meeting for
the first time in the clubhouse. Talking to their playing partners they
admitted that both Graham and Norman played well and had that golfing
standby, ‘Good luck’ on their side.
However it’s the scores that count, and 44 was just enough to be the winners
with the well known duo of B1 & B2 (aka Bruce Milner & Bruce McAdam) also
with 44 points, pipped on count back.
Third and fourth places were just one point behind on 43 points; with Norm
Martin & Mike O’Brien getting the better of Nigel Lane & Paul McGilvary,
also on count back.
There were five ‘2’s from Bruce Milner, Neil Lavery, Nigel Lane, John
McDonald & Mike O’Brien.
Strangely enough it is weird how fate or luck plays its role. When Norm
Cheetham arrived at the bar this morning he slipped over and slightly hurt
his shoulder; and many said, ‘ beware the injured golfer’. Following his
victory, helped by his good fortune on the course, he fancied his chances in
the Outback accumulator draw; ticket No. 46 came out at 6.20 p.m., his name
was on it! How can you explain that?
When golf venues play at The Emerald many get ‘lost’ on their way back. Not
today! When Capt’ Bob came to announce the winners only a handful of the 41
were ‘missing’.
Capt’ Bob and General Jack laid on a buffet for all the competitors with a
choice of wiener schnitzel and potato salad or chicken green curry and rice
which rounded off a great day and a memorable week.
All the players wished Bob and Jack continued success at The Outback.
1st Norm Cheetham (19) & Graham Ramsay (20) 44pts
2nd Bruce Milner (11) & Bruce McAdam (21) 44pts
3rd Norm Martin (22) & Mike O’Brien (18) 43pts
4th Nigel Lane (0) & Paul McGilvary (21) 43pts
Homer comes up short
IPGC golf from The Haven
Wednesday, September 2,The Emerald -
Stableford
1st Bob Lamond 38pts
2nd Brian Kelly 35pts
3rd Russell Exley 35pts
4th Rick Schramm 35pts
Following the day after the IPGC Monthly Medal held at Pattana, a report of
which can be found on this page, the expected low turnout did not
materialize as five groups took on The Emerald for the second time in two
weeks.
Brian Kelly was unable to repeat his sterling effort of the previous outing,
shooting four more, and also having to work with a handicap that was two
shots lower this week which consigned him to a well earned second place
behind the excellent round returned by Bob Lamond of 75 gross. Bob’s score
was two better than his current handicap which is also expected to be
lowered shortly as his good returns continue to mount up on the handicappers
table.
Russell Exley took third spot after losing the count back with Brian 17 to
18; he then won the next with Rick Schramm over the back six with a score of
13 to 12 to leave Rick in fourth.
With the course playing very well and the weather holding off it was little
surprise to find the CSS for the day slipping down to 71.
There were no 2’s in the second division but Bob Lamond and Rick Schramm
shared the first division pool with a piece.
Before presenting the prizes “The Doc” welcomed back Roar Berger, Paul
Hartley, Homer Kemper and Orawan Meeraka.
Friday, September 4,
Greenwood - Stableford
1st Shuichi Kodaka 35pts
2nd Bob Lamond 33pts
3rd Phil Knight 33pts
4th Masanori Takana 32pts
It is always a bit of a lottery as to the placements of the tees at
Greenwood and Friday’s competition found the course had been set up at about
it’s longest from the white tees with some of the tees set back next to the
normal blue positions. The rounds were also affected by the dampness of the
course in general and this impacted tremendously on the day’s scores,
resulting in the CSS going out to 74 with only one player making the grade
of within two of handicap.
Shuichi Kodaka took the top honour with a solid one over handicap score that
was good enough by two to leave Bob Lamond and Phil Knight scrapping over
second place. Bob won that little side contest with a better back nine of 16
to Phil’s 15, closing strongly over the back six holes. Masanori Tanaka was
a further shot back in fourth place after a steady front nine that
deteriorated badly through the inward half.
There were no 2’s in the first division but Homer Kemper scooped the
rollover pot in the second division with a three inch tap in, that would
have been his first hole in one if he had given it that little bit extra,
but following an extremely hard night, his strength was not quite up to the
task prior to the Gatorades kicking in later in the day.
Back at The Haven, “The Doc” welcomed back Karl Diekman, Phil Knight and
Masanori Tanaka prior to presenting the prizes.
‘Elementary’ Watson
IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar
For the first time in three months the Pattaya Golf Society
visited the lovely outer Bangkok course at Royal Lakeside to play a
stableford merit event. The course is always well turned out and user
friendly and high scores are generally inevitable. So it was to be on this
occasion with the average return for the whole field being 36 points.
Paul McNally continued his recent good form with 38 points for third whilst
Dave Stockman nudged his way into second with 39 points. Bob Watson enjoyed
the round of his life as he emulated the feat of Tim Lazecki back in March
on the same course, in scoring 46 points for an outstanding win.
Paul McNally recorded the day’s only birdie ‘2’ on the third and in the
frame for the Booby Bevy for not breaking thirty points were Chris Voller
and Tony Thorne, but the latter’s claim was strengthened by the fact that he
spent the day in Bangkok having lost his way to the course earlier. It had
been left to Bob Watson to show the way around Lakeside and his round had
been simplicity itself. Indeed “elementary” for Watson.
Super Mac strikes again
The Pattaya Golf Society returned to Green Valley on Saturday,
September 5, to play a stableford competition on the most popular course
amongst Pattaya expat residents. The course was well prepared as usual and a
heavy atmosphere earlier on gave very little flight so the longer hitters
came to the fore from the start.
Len Jones started like the proverbial “house on fire”, firing nineteen
points on the front nine, but he soon found the fire brigade arriving to
douse his flames and he finished with 32 points to share fourth place with
Tony Thorne and new member Murray Hart. Mikael Andersson was coming off the
back of a rare consistent round the day before at Eastern Star and posted a
very acceptable 33 points for third.
Playing together, Peter Masters and Paul McNally went head-to-head with
“Macca” taking the front nine with a gross 36 for twenty points. Peter
clawed the round back with a back nine of 19 points to finish as runner-up
on 37 points. Eventual winner Paul McNally was on course for a gross level
par round until he dropped two shots on the final three holes and finished
on 38 points, with a best gross of 74 for the second successive round. It
was an excellent display again from the English golfer.
There were no birdie ‘2’s and the Booby Bevy went to Karl Diekman on his
return to the Kingdom after an absence of twelve months and his lowest score
on the day. Sadly Macca returns to UK for a couple of weeks and the PGS will
miss the quality of his play.
IPGC September
Monthly Medal Results
Division 1 (0-10)
1st Steve Mascari net 72
2nd Mark Campbell net 74
3rd Russell Exley net 74
Division 2 (11-18)
1st Chris Knapp net 72
2nd Charles Sheppard net 72
3rd Tony Barritt net 72
Division 3 (19 plus)
1st Bryan Rought net 33pts
2nd Jouni Metsanen 33pts
3rd Sid Ottaway 32pts
Ladies (0-36)
1st Witcharaphin 34pts
2nd Jinda Tomkhanbai 33pts
Mascari the master at Pattana
IPGC Monthly Medal
After the resounding success of the inaugural event at
Phoenix last month, it was with great anticipation that the next IPGC
Monthly Medal competition took place at Pattana over the A and B nines on
Tuesday, September 1. All the now familiar personal “touches” were there to
greet the members, the electronic start lists, the starters on each tee and
the unique tee markers all marking the event as something special, and
another large field was present to play a part in another top class
tournament organised by IPGC.
 The
winners at Pattana (from left): Steve Mascari (1st div.), Chris Knapp (2nd
div.), Nit Witcharaphin (Ladies) & Bryan Rought (3rd div.)
From registration to the presentation of the final award the day was
splendidly organised by this month’s hosts the Pattaya Golf Society at
Rabbi’s Elephant Bar in Soi Buakhao, and the now familiar format had golfers
challenging for the honours in three flights with those in divisions 1 and 2
contesting stroke play and those in the third flight and the Ladies playing
stableford.
The course was well set up and the weather stayed fine to add to the joy of
the large field and conditions were perfect for some very exciting golf. And
so it was to prove!
The Ladies’ flight saw Nit Witcharaphin’s 34 points take a narrow victory
from Jinda Tomkhanbai’s 33. The gentlemen’s third flight saw Sid Ottaway
take third place with 32 points whilst Jouni Metsanen and Bryan Rought on 33
points could only be separated by count back with Bryan coming out on top
with a back nine of seventeen.
All the principals in the second flight tied with net 72 and Tony Barritt’s
back nine of 36 took third and Charles Sheppard’s 35.5 taking second.
Perhaps it was fitting that the flight winner was the diligent IPGC
Chairman, Chris Knapp, who took the top honour with his back nine of 33
after a hard shift earlier marshalling the starters on the B nine.
The top flight was all class with only seven shots covering the top fifteen
players! Unlucky losers in the race for second place were Tony Thorne and
Paul McNally on net 74, their count back scores not quite matching those of
Russell Exley, third with a back nine of 34.5, and Mark Campbell, second
with count back 34. The winner was Pattaya’s most accomplished resident
golfer, Steve Mascari, narrowly beaten in the inaugural event a month
previously. The personable American’s excellent round of 76 gross left his
challengers in awe as his net 72 took a thoroughly deserved two shot
victory.
All golfers enjoyed a superb presentation buffet back at Rabbi’s in Soi
Buakhao. Chris Voller presented the awards and Len Jones and Chris Knapp did
the honours, thanking the golfers and the hosts, Rabbi and Ann, for their
roles in making the day memorable.
Special thanks were reserved for the efforts of Russell Exley in
co-ordinating the event, Glyn Evans of Jomtien Golf for his usual efficiency
at Registration and Recording, the statistical acumen of Stephen Beard
putting together the results tables in record time and the usual backroom
team of Steve Mascari, Len Jones, Glyn and Russell for the ever easy task of
drumming up support for what is undoubtedly becoming one of the “must have”
events in Pattaya’s golf calendar. It was well worth the cool beers which
flowed deep into the evening.
Next month sees the event played at Eastern Star on Wednesday, October 7 and
it will be hosted by the Jomtien Golf group. Early entries are advised in
what will undoubtedly be another fine IPGC “major” event.
Mee Chew wins San Miguel Tuesday Darts League
Congratulations to the Mee Chew Sports Bar
team (shown above) who won the latest San Miguel Tuesday Darts League. Mee
Chew finished the league on 40 points and 19 Beer legs, just ahead of
runners up Blue Mountain, who also had 40 points and 16 Beer legs.
Sala Thai Restaurant regains first place
Pattaya Sports Club Bowling League
Last week’s 200 Bowlers: La,
Nok, Sue, Maliny, Leo & Joe.
Sala Thai Restaurant, led by Jan Johansson’s 518 series,
took three points from Indiana and are now back in first place again. La
Montgomery bowled a 210 game and 539 series for Indiana.
Café Kronborg dropped down to second place after losing three points to
Bavaria. Bavaria has been making a steady trip up the leader board as Antero
Ronkainen led the way with a 557 series and Leo Kretscher, who has been
bowling well lately, had a 213 game and 528 series. Sue Murphy was best for
Café Kronborg with a 202 game and 534 series.
Third placed VFW Post 9876 lost three to Jack Tar with Mai leading Jack Tar
with a 514 series. Brother D moved up to fifth after winning three points
from Café Ole.
Noodle Russell bowed a 544 series to help Green Chilli to a two-two draw
against Canada: Ooy Pluemkamon rolled a 537 for Canada. Nok Kennedy bowled a
211 game and 564 series for Sabai Sabai Friday but it was only good enough
to win one point from Swethai.
Bridge in Paradise: by Neil Robinson
Imagine you are sitting East with this massive hand and
you hear the bidding below:
S: AKQ
H: AKQ
D: AKQJ
C: KJ9
South West North East (you)
3S P P
Dbl
4C P 5C Dbl
6C P 7C Dbl
Redbl P P ?
What are you thinking at this point? Maybe you think
the opponents are out of their minds and you are looking forward to gaining
a huge number of points. What you should be thinking is that someone fixed
the cards, for you have been dealt a hand famous from the days of whist, 200
years ago.
Last week I wrote about a hand that cost declarer his life. This one cost
the Duke of Cumberland 20,000 British pounds - a large fortune 200 years
ago. The Duke’s opponents at whist wagered that, with the East hand above
(or a slight variation of it - sources differ) and clubs as trumps, the Duke
would not take a single trick. Unwisely, he took the wager. In fact,
declarer can always take thirteen tricks, no matter how the defence plays.
This was the full deal:
South dealer:
S: -
H: 5432
D: 5432
C: 65432
S: J10 S:
AKQ
H: J109876 H: AKQ
D: 109876 D: AKQJ
C: - C:
KJ9
S: 98765432
H: -
D: -
C: AQ1087
West leads, say, a diamond or a heart and declarer
trumps. Declarer then ruffs a spade in dummy and returns a club finessing
East. Next comes another spade ruff and another club finesse. A third
spade ruff in dummy sets up declarer’s spades. He returns to hand by
ruffing a heart or diamond and pulls the last trump with his ace. His hand
is now good. Another routine six point grand slam!
Send me your interesting hands (whether or not involving large fortunes) at:
[email protected].
The Pattaya
Backgammon League
Gabriel Davis
This past Friday, Sept 4, proved to be a challenging tournament
hosted by The Pattaya Backgammon League at Somboons Restaurant on DongTarn
Beach. The level of play seems to be going through an era of improvement,
much like a trend in technology.
This week’s event had two new players, both from Deutschland, one Mr. Hans
and a Mr. Frank from Frankfurt. Mr. Frank squared off in the finals against
K. Khek and it was K. Khek prevailing in a match to 15 with a score of 15 to
12.
It was in the semi finals I lost to Mr. Frank with the illustrated position
(see graphic) being the coup de grace, which sparked a difference of opinion
among some of the lookers on.
White leads the match to 11 with a score of 9 to Black’s 6 and White is on
roll. White (Mr. Frank) doubled and a few were muttering that they did not
think this could possibly be a double as White had a big lead in the match
and only needed to ‘walk home’ the match. If White doubles and loses (Black
will redouble on the next turn as the score dictates Black must, if Black
loses he loses the match so he must redouble to win the maximum points
possible) the score will be 10-9 and he can win a gammon the next game to
win the match so victory is not out of range.
One of the interesting aspects is that if the match score were 7-9 in Whites
favor, then it would be wrong to double as Black can win the match this
game. As it turns out, according to Snowie (the computer program backgammon
players look to for answers), White is correct to double (by 1 quarter of 1
percent!).
Note: The Pattaya Backgammon League meets every Friday at Somboons
Restaurant and registration starts at 13:00. For more information, details
about how to get there (a map), and all the PBL happenings, go to www.
pattayabackgam monleague.com
Everyone’s a winner at Pattaya Softball
A bunch of happy softballers
after 2 games of action August 30. L to R (front): John Eden, Phil, Diego,
Perry, Scotty, and little Mickey; (back) Ben, Sir John C.F., Oddvar and John
Stockton.
Diego Wells
The hits have been non-stop at Pattaya Softball Sunday in Jomtiem.
In two weeks of softball action, there have been many thrills, spills and
chills, as both teams have gone from villains to heroes. Both teams have
managed to each win half of the double header, sending everyone home happy
to have won a game.
 Oddvar
gets ready to unload on the unsuspecting softball.
Sunday, August 23 was a tale of two blowouts. Perry’s team trounced Diego’s
side by an overwhelming score of 16 -0 thanks to a comedy of errors made by
the losing side. Jason, Ben and Diego, all had trouble catching the ball in
the outfield on way too many occasions.
In the rematch, the younger lads found their softball skills and were able
to trounce Perry’s old boys by a score of 29 -20 after nine innings. Special
thanks to Inez, who pinched hit for a wounded (or Mao) Ben and made 2 clutch
hits.
This week, the games were much more competitive, and more exciting. Perry’s
team managed to hold on to game one by stopping Diego’s team from scoring in
the 7th, when the captain flied out to Nigel in right field with Ben on 2nd
base. The final score was 12-11 for the aged wonder and his unruly crew.
The rematch is where Diego’s team finally put it together. With clutch
hitting from Spot, Ben, Rocky and Oddvar, the young motley crew managed to
beat Perry’s oldies by a score of 14 -12.
A huge thank you goes out to Rick who volunteered to umpire and had to deal
with the onslaught of verbal abuse from both teams. In the end, he was a
good sport about it, and really, the ranting and raving, is all part of the
folklore that makes Pattaya softball so special.
We continue to have fun in the sun each Sunday at the Jomtien diamond (turn
left off Sukhumvit if going toward Rayong on Soi 89 and continue on that
road for 6km. Turn left again at soi 15 and follow it to the small airport
on your right hand side. The diamond is just before the airport) and hope
you can join us next Sunday.
Stay tuned as our rag tag bunch of ex athletes will be traveling to the
Philippines for an international softball tournament held the weekend of
September 19. In the meantime, why not come out to our field of dreams in
Jomtien this Sunday at 1pm and join us for a game.
For more details call or visit Perry at the Pattaya Sports Club or email me,
Diego, at [email protected]. See you out there soon!
A plentiful catch
Pattaya Sports Club Sea Fishing
Mike Gerard
Ahoy Mateys!
We have had three trips this last month and although the catches have been
good, it appears that this time of the year we have to be very careful about
the weather.
There have been reports of good catches of big fish just lately, but to
achieve these catches the boats have to go out past the protection of the
islands and spend quite a bit of time in heavy swells.
 The
skipper shows off his prize catch, a 15kg Queen fish.
Bear in mind that we are not a commercial fishing fleet and all we try to do
is make these trips a pleasure day out, therefore staying out in windy
conditions is not conducive to our ambitions.
So, we decided to instruct the skipper back to calmer waters where we could
keep our balance and feel more relaxed. This proved to be the right thing to
do and we still managed to bag a good haul of fish, including some fair
sized Queen fish, and Pompano. In addition to these we also managed to catch
many other varieties between 1 pound in weight to 3 or 4 pounds. These fish
make good eating.
Last week the catch of the day was a 15kg Queen fish and at one time the
skipper of the boat was very worried that the fish would swim under the
boat, thus possibly breaking the line on the bottom of the boat. What a
hero. When the going got tough, he decided it was time to beat the fish at
his own game and immediately dived in the water, rod in hand and swam under
the boat. When he came up the other side he managed to get tangled in other
lines and there he was holding on to the rod with the fish on with one hand
and untangling himself with the other hand. Eventually he managed to get the
fish near enough to the boat for one of the deck hands to gaff it safely on
board.
We normally go out from Bangsaray Harbour between 7.00 a.m. to 8 a.m.,
depending on tides etc. By about 4.00 p.m. most folk feel that have had
enough and this is a good time to head back to shore where we go to the
local beach side restaurant and sip a beer or two whilst the kitchen staff
of the restaurant clean the fish ready for us to take home.
All passengers bring their own food and drink and if you have your own rods
and reels best to bring them along. Anyone not bringing their own equipment
will be provided with some to fish with. Also all the bait is provided by
the boat skipper.
Our skippers work really hard all day, trying to find fish and helping
everyone with their tackle and catches, thus earning a nice tip from all of
the passengers.
Transport can be arranged if you have none, and we all meet at a
predetermined point on the morning.
Individuals or groups who are interested should contact either myself, Mike
Gerrard on 087 091 7564 or go to the PSC clubhouse and register with the
office girls.
More information (including fees) and registration forms can be found on the
PSC website (www.pattayasports.org). Go to the heading “Fishing” and find
the page you want from the list on the left hand side of the page.
The next organised date is Saturday, October 3, but this date is already
full. If you are interested please give me a call because I have so many
calls and I can arrange another day, any day, seven days a week. Groups of 7
persons are the maximum allowed for fishing. Other spectators are welcome
with a smaller fee involved.
Tight lines Guys!
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