‘Shorty’ comes out on top

PSC golf from Tropical Bert’s

Derek Brook
& Dick Warberg
Tuesday, Sept. 29, Bangpra – Stableford
The end of the month as usual brings the Alan Bolton ‘Golfer of The Month’ award and this month many players had a chance to win.

Luc Short (right) collects the Alan Bolton ‘Golfer of the Month’ award from Perry McNeely.

The test was to be Bangpra and on this day the wind was strong, the rough was deep and the monkeys stayed in bed. It was really hard going and the scores were going to be low. All the players finished wind blown and tired.
Back at Bert’s the presentation was done and the winner on the day was Luc Short, or ‘Shorty’ as he is known, with 37 points then back a way to Frank Pilkington in second on 31 points. In third was Owen Walkley with 30 points and in fourth was Derek Brook with 29 points.
Yes it was a tough day, so tough that on two of the par threes no one got on the green, but against that on the 8th the scribe put the ball to 2 foot and two people got closer, a weird game this golf.
The ‘Golfer of the Month’ was Luc Short who won the last two weeks.
Near Pins: Don Carmody, Owen Walkley
Friday, October 2, Treasure Hill - Stableford
With a reasonable rate for PSC and a course that has been in good shape, we returned to this venue for the third time in as many months.
After a day of rain on Thursday many were skeptical of the weather for Friday. Bright blue skies were reported early in the morning, but by the time we reached the course, the dark clouds had gathered and the first group teed off in a drizzle. This did not last long and soon the sky was mostly blue and other than some very wet spots and carts restricted to certain pathways, the round proceeded until the last couple of holes, when again a light drizzle hit us for several minutes.
Even with the recent rains, the course was in acceptable condition but playing long and, with some tricky pin positions, playing to handicap was most difficult.
Back at Tropical Bert’s the scoring was tabulated while several dug into the special of the day, traditional Friday Fish ‘N Chips.
We play every Tuesday and Friday from Tropical Bert’s and golfers of all levels are welcome.
1st Joel Flor (16) 36pts,
2nd Steve Hamstad (12) 35pts,
3rd LC Short (25) 33pts
Near Pins: Don Carmody, Joel Flor, John Binns, Steve Hamstad

Topham has an easy win

PSC golf from the Café Kronborg

Peter Blackburn
Monday, September 28, Plutaluang S & E - Stableford
Bill pulled out at the last minute, Stuart was running late but despite that 10 of us departed Café Kronborg just before 0830 and arrived at Plutaluang about 40 minutes later. The sky was overcast and there had been plenty of rain during the night but we were confident the weather would hold off and it did.

Martyn Topham (left) with The Admiral at Plutaluang.

The course seemed quite busy but we were able to tee off on the South course at 0930. Conditions were good, not too hot and the course was as usual in good “nick” although a few did comment that the greens were a little slow. Our group did not perform particularly well and indeed the normally very consistent Marcel had a very rare “off” day and did not feature amongst the winners.
We were able to complete our round in four hours and thirty minutes, including a couple of drink stops and The Admiral reported later that around 150 golfers had been playing the course throughout the day, far more golfers than we are used to seeing anywhere just lately.
Special mention goes to Stuart Rifkin who is now a regular with us at Café Kronborg, he managed to score to his handicap as he had 17 points off his 17 handicap! (I told him he would make it into print one day soon).
Martyn Topham was the only golfer to play better than his handicap and he finished first with 38 points. In second place was that man again, Hugh O’Donnell from Colin Swann in third place. The colourful Walter Baechli finished fourth.
1st Martyn Topham (31) 38pts
2nd Hugh O’Donnell (22) 34pts
3rd Colin Swann (25) 33pts
4th Walter Baechli (15) 30pts
Thursday, October 1, Rayong Country Club – Stableford
After heavy rain in Pattaya overnight and drizzle when we assembled at Café Kronborg, the feeling about today’s game was a mixture of hope and despair. It turned out to be a bit of both!
Twelve keen golfers headed off on time (Stuart just made it) and arrived at Rayong Country Club at around 0910 to find it also raining there after heavy overnight rain. This was not going to deter us and our first group teed off in light rain at 0940. Of course conditions were wet and preferred lies were in place but surprisingly the greens were not at all waterlogged and in fact were in good shape and recovering from the recent coring and sanding.
Wet grips, wet hands and constant use of the umbrella was of course taking it’s toll on our quality of golf but we battled on for 11 holes until the rain became too heavy and we adjourned to a drink stop to sit it out. After 30 minutes the rain eased off to a light drizzle and we continued and finished our round in around four hours & forty minutes, including the long break. We were pleasantly surprised to see how the greens stood up to the constant rain as they were there completely playable and credit to the ground staff for their course preparation and maintenance.
Upon arriving back at the clubhouse we discovered that our last group of four had decided to abandon their round 20 minutes into the downpour – If only they had waited another 10 minutes!
As the scores indicate it was a tough day and we had 2 flights; A for handicaps 0 to 14 and B Flight for 15 and over. In A Flight yours truly was able to hold off my old rival Marcel Wittwer who finished third in a count back from Ted Morris. In B Flight Mike Winfield broke through for a long awaited win from Colin Swann on a count back and The Admiral himself finished in third place.
A Flight
1st Peter Blackburn (14) 33pts
2nd Ted Morris (9) 32pts
3rd Marcel Wittwer (13) 32pts
B Flight
1st Mike Winfield (20) 31pts
2nd Colin Swann (25) 31pts
3rd Dave Richardson (22) 29pts

ROW clinch President’s Cup in nail-biting finish

PSC golf from The Outback Golf Bar

Joey’s Column
Monday, Sept. 28, Burapha - Stableford
The regular Monday visit to Burapha was slightly overshadowed by day one of the President’s Cup, leaving a field of just 14 Outbackers playing from the blue tees on A & B. There’s no denying it was tough out there with the course playing extremely long following the last few days of heavy rain and it was hard work not only for the players, as carts were restricted to the paths, but also for the caddies who were scurrying around carrying the clubs to and fro.

Jim Brackett (left) hands over the coveted trophy to Capt’ Bob.
Not surprisingly the top score of the day was a mere 33 points from the proud new ‘dad’, Micky Moore, to win Div B and Paul Howles, a newbie to the Outback, scrambled to only 31 points to win Div A.
There were no ‘2’s which was about the only part of the results presentation Capt’ Bob got right, his mind doubtless on other events concerning the President’s Cup; as he completely missed off Tony Hill’s 32 points to come second in Div B and poor old Carl Luke, previously misplaced second in Div B ended up off the podium in Div A. Sorry about that guy’s.
Div A (0-15)
1st Paul Howles (13) 31pts
2nd Jerry Swan (13) 30pts
Div B (16+)
1st Mick Moore (24) 33pts
2nd Tony Hill (24) 32pts
Tuesday, Sept. 29, Pattaya C.C. - Stableford
There were 19 Outbackers playing in the usual Tuesday outing at Pattaya Country Club – we thought there was going to be twenty as Geoff Doody arrived and his name did not appear on the list – however he was; but since our ‘Chad’ had signed him up the night before after a couple of beers or so, he could not decipher what he had written!
So for the 19 who did play they found the course quiet and they also found wind that stayed with us for the whole round. There had been a lot of rain on the course over the last couple of days which left some soggy areas and some ‘smooth’ bunkers.
It was 2 divisions today and in Division A it was that man again Mike Allidi (3) with 37 points taking top spot. Second place went to regular Outbacker Frank O’Neill (15) with 33 and third was a ‘surprised’ Mike O’Brien (17) with 29.
Our French friend, Joseph Bensoussan (19) was top in Division B with 36 points, closely followed by two 34’s from ‘organiser ‘Chad’, aka Barry Chadbourn and PCC caddy, Noy Kamsantia (21), with Barry securing 2nd place by count back.
There were three ‘2’s from Joseph, Mike and Chad. After the presentation at the Outback bar Joseph kindly rang the bell! Thanks Joseph.
Div A (0-18)
1st Mike Allidi (3) 37pts
2nd Frank O’Neill (15) 33pts
3rd Mike O’Brien (17) 29pts
Div B (19+)
1st Joseph Bensoussan (19) 36pts
2nd Barry Chadbourn (19) 34pts
3rd Noy Kamsantia (21) 34pts
Wednesday, Sept. 30, Eastern Star - Stableford
With the President’s Cup continuing to dominate the golf this week, a small select group visited Eastern Star to try their luck. The course was reportedly in good condition although the greens a little slow.
Tony Garnett shot 35 points, which is about handicap, followed by Kathy Doody with a respectable 34. Mick Moore came out of the traps with all guns blazing scoring 20 points on the front nine including three 4-pointers but was unable sustain his game on the back.
1st Tony Garnett (13) 35pts
2nd Kathy Doody (19) 34pts
Thursday, Oct. 1, Green Valley - Stableford
A group of eight Outbackers turned up at Green Valley, reduced in number by the inclement weather and the reported sanded greens. Neither seemed to upset Tom Byrne as he scored an excellent 40 points to win the day by five from Stan Rees and Kathy Doody, who tied on 35.
Has Tom peaked too early ahead of the upcoming Chiang Mai trip and will the latest score reduce his handicap to thirteen? Finally, welcome back to Graham Tebb.
There were three ‘2’s from Stan Rees, Kathy Doody & Mike Tilley
1st Tom Byrne (14) 40pts
2nd Stan Rees (24) 35pts
3rd Kathy Doody (19) 35pts
Monday, Sept. 28, Burapha - President’s Cup (Day 1)
Forty players, 20 per team lined up at Burapha, for Pattaya’s 2009 President’s Cup; Team North America, captained by John Emmerson from the Golf Club against the Rest of the World, led by Bob Philp from the Outback Golf Bar.
John, going out first, set up his team’s first win, with an emphatic 5 & 4 win over Paul Greenaway and George Bishop followed in by two more good wins from Kevin Moraghan & Jeremy Masse over Rosco and David Davies (5 & 4) and Jim Brackett & Peter Stonebridge over Kerry Beck & Ron Meldrum (3 & 2). Ironically, it was the Rest of the World team Captain, Capt’ Bob, who led a spirited fight back with his playing partner, Steve Milne, getting the better of Mark Wood & Brad Sproxton by 2 holes. Two more wins from the Sugarman & Suzi Lawton (2 & 1) and Bob Lindborg & Jim Moreton (4 & 3) set the match at all square with four results still to come.
The match of the day was match 9, with Dave Driscoll & Jim Kaye six up with seven to play against Harvey Samuel & Bruce McAdam, who just stepped up a gear or so on his back nine (course A), dragging Harvey along with him, to win all of the remaining seven holes to win the match by one. That is some meltdown, Dave & Jim! Capt’ John will be questioning you both later.
Short of Americans, a few Brits were drafted in to make up the American numbers, and it was a pair of Brits in match 10, namely General Jack & Steve Plant who were subjected to some friendly banter from the Outback camp, coming in with a win (5 & 4) to square of the first day, five matches apiece.
Day 1 Results (America team listed first): John Emmerson & Derek Winkless won 5 & 4 v Paul Greenaway & George Bishop, Kevin Moraghan & Jeremy Masse won 5 & 4 v David Davies & Rosco Langoulan, James Brackett & Peter Stonebridge won 3 & 2 v Kerry Beck & Ron Meldrum, Mark Wood & Brad Sproxton lost 2 up v Bob Philp & Steve Milne, Joe Kawalezyk & Roger Bishop lost 2 & 1 v Sugar Ray Handford & Suzi Lawton, James Bryan & Robert Finley lost 4 & 3 v Bob Lindborg & James Moreton, Art O’Connor & Bill Hornick won 2 & 1 v Eddie Delaney & John Stafford, Eldridge Suggs & Mike Padilla lost 2 up v Eric Curley & John Lawton, Dave Driscoll & Jim Kaye lost 1 up v Harvey Samuel & Bruce McAdam, Jack Moseley & Steve Plant won 5 & 4 v Campbell Potts & Mark Connolly
Wednesday, Sept. 30, St Andrews - President’s Cup (Day 2)
The second day of the President’s Cup was, the rarely played in Thailand, greensomes format, which is a more user friendly, amateur derivation of the professional foresomes. Both games require two players on each team playing alternate shots but the big difference is that with the greensomes, both players drive; the best drive is chosen, then it’s alternate until the hole is completed. Unlike a scramble, there is no limit to the number of drives that can be used from any one player; and the handicap of the pairing is three eighths of the combined.
St. Andrews was in excellent condition; on the fairways the ball sat up beautifully, invitingly so, but as is often the case, amateurs don’t always hit where they want to and the temptation is to apologise (say sorry) to your partner; but that is strictly taboo in this format, no player deliberately wants to hit a bad shot. The greens were fine although of varying speed and some of the pin positions were quite wicked.
After the first round on Monday, the matches stood all square at five apiece and the Americans must have fancied their chances of setting up a bit of an advantage after the first five matches came in going 3½ to 1½ in their favour, however, as on Monday, the Rest of the World team steadied the ship at the back, rounding off the day, once again five points each.
Day 2 Results (America team listed first): John Emmerson & Derek Winkless won 1 up v Paul Greenaway & George Bishop, Kevin Moraghan & Jeremy Masse won 2 & 1 v David Davies & Rosco Langoulant, Mark Wood & Brad Sproxton A/S v Bob Philp & Steve Milne, James Brackett & Peter Stonebridge won 3 & 1 v Kerry Beck & Ron Meldrum, Jack Moseley & Frank Tordeur lost 2 up v Ian Heddle & Bruce Milner, Eldridge Suggs & Mike Padilla lost 4 & 3 v Eric Curley & John Lawton, Dave Driscoll & Jim Kaye A/S v Harvey Samuel & Bruce McAdam, James Bryan & James Little lost 5 & 4 v Bob Lindborg & James Moreton, Art O’Connor & Bill Hornick won 1 up v Eddie Delaney & John Stafford, Joe Kawalezyk & Roger Bishop lost 5 & 3 v Sugar Ray Handford & Suzi Lawton.
Friday, Oct. 2,
Laem Chabang - President’s Cup (Day 3)
With the standings after day two at 10 points each, it was all to play for in the single matches at Laem Chabang on the Lake (B) and Valley (C) nines. The widespread heavy rain throughout Thursday had many doubting that anybody would be playing on Friday but remarkably the early morning skies were clear, giving way to some bright warm sunshine. It did cloud over later but fortunately there was no rain, giving way to some very pleasant playing conditions, although somewhat soggy underfoot in places particularly on the Valley nine.
As the results came in, the final result remained in the balance, with some good wins from Joe Kawalezyk (7 & 6) for Team North America against Ron Meldrum, Steve Milne (6 & 5) for the Rest of the World versus Bill Hornick and Kerry Beck (4 & 2) also for the ROW Team, against the American Capt’, John Emmerson (always a good scalp), well played Kerry!
Dave Driscoll (won 5 & 4) out hit the ‘stunning’ John Lawton, suffering his first defeat of the week; whilst Bob Lindborg & Suzi Lawton (pity about your opponents’ manners) both kept their perfect 100% records intact.
As the last two pairs were due to come in, the overall position of the match stood at 29½ (USA) to 28½ (ROW) but they both went to the ROW team giving them the win to claim the President’s Trophy for the first time, 29½ (USA) to 30½ (ROW).
Back at the Outback there was much celebration as well as a fine spread of food for all the participants and a couple of bell rings after the presentation of the trophy by the USA vice-captain, Jim Brackett, to Bob Philp, captain of the Rest of the World Team. Jim stood in for John Emmerson who suffered a fall stepping out of the Jacuzzi at Laem Chabang and took himself off to hospital to check the damage. He was in some pain and sorry you were unable to attend; get well soon mate!
Day 3 Results (America team listed first): James Brackett won 3 & 1 v Bob Philp, Mark Wood won 1 up v Eddie Smith, John Emmerson lost 4 & 2 v Kerry Beck, Jack Moseley lost 3 & 1 v Paul Greenaway, Marc Napier lost 3 & 2 v Bruce Milner, James Little won 2 up v Rosco Langoulant, Bill Hornick lost 6 & 5 v Steve Milne, Jeremy Masse won 2 & 1 v George Bishop, Brad Sproxton won 1 up v James Moreton, Art O’Connor won 2 & 1 v Eric Curley, Kevin Moraghan lost 1 up v Harvey Samuel, Dave Driscoll won 5 & 4 v John Lawton, Peter Stonebridge losy 2 & 1 v Bob Lindborg, Frank Tordeur A/S v Sugar Ray Handford, James Bryan won 1 up v Bruce McAdam, Eldridge Suggs won 6 & 4 v Suzi Lawton, Mike Padilla lost 1 up v John Stafford, Joe Kawalezyk won 7 & 6 v Ron Meldrum, Roger Bishop lost 1 up v David Davies, Jim Kaye lost 3 & 1 v Eddie Delaney.

A Noble effort

Golf from the Travellers Rest

Saturday winners: Ted Senior, Nick Noble, Russell Nielson and Rakesh Mittal

Barry Hooper
I have to offer this week over to the performance of Nick Noble. With a moderate scoring win of thirty-two points at Khao Kheow on Monday, and a second spot in division two on Thursday, he went on to follow this up with a further win on Saturday at Green Valley, but this time with a great big “forty five”-pointer.
Ted Senior in second spot must have been the most disappointed to come into the clubhouse with forty-four only to find it had been beaten.
This great performance for Nick has resulted in his handicap tumbling by a full three points down to twelve. Ted has also been cut by two to eleven.
The interesting and funny story this week has to go to Peter Morris during his round on Thursday at Phoenix. I am unsure which hole it was but Peter found himself disappointingly in a bunker. He attempted to extricate himself only to find his shot catch the lip and roll back into the bunker and into a big animal footprint. He told me that it was that big that he doubted it was a dog’s and was more the size of a tiger. Who knows? Maybe we also have gorillas at Bangpra.
Monday, Sept. 28, Pattana - Stableford
1st Jon Lay (8) 35pts
2nd Graham Hurdon (7) 34pts
3rd Gary Leigh (15) 33pts
4th Roger Wilkinson (17) 33pts
On Monday a fair sized group travelled out to Pattana to play A & B. The course was in good condition I have it reported and again, despite having his handicap lowered last week down to eight, Jon Lay continued to bring home a win. This time it was with thirty-five points. He seems to be making Mondays his own. Maybe it is having the rest on the Sundays? His handicap is now down one more point to seven.
In second was Graham Hurdon with thirty-four points, taking it by one over Gary Leigh at thirty-three after he beat Roger Wilkinson on the count back.
Three 2’s on the day by Graham Hurdon at the third and Jon Lay and Eddie Townsend at the eighth.
Tuesday, Sept. 29, Khao Kheow – Stableford
1st Nick Noble (15) 32pts
2nd Mod Chaviraksa (11) 31pts
3rd Graham Hurdon (7) 31pts
4th Russell Nielson (14) 30pts
Tuesday was our last September outing and a small group of ten set off to Khao Kheow. It was in fine fettle it seems and it obviously suited Nick Noble with a fine win and thirty-two points, taking it by one over Mod Chaviraksa (her of birdie fame last week) at thirty-one, who took the runner up spot after being one better on the count back over Graham Hurdon.
There were two ‘2’s from Graham Hurdon and Nick Noble.
Thursday, Oct. 1, Phoenix (Lakes and Ocean) - Stableford
Div. 1
1st Ray Allison (12) 38pts
2nd Graham Hurdon (7) 33pts
3rd Ted Senior (13) 32pts
4th Frank Kelly (12) 31pts
Div. 2
1st Amphan North (15) 38pts
2nd Nick Noble (15) 37pts
3rd Eddie Townsend (15) 36pts
4th Yvonne Nielson (16) 35pts
October 1 saw the first visit of the month to our regular Thursday venue of Phoenix (Lakes and Ocean this time). We had an excellent turnout so two divisions.
Scoring was very good with both divisions going to thirty-eight pointers. In A division it was Ray Allison at the top of the list and Amphan North likewise at the top of division two. In A Graham Hurdon managed one better than his Tuesday effort for second spot at thirty-three followed in by Ted Senior and thirty-two. In B Nick Noble was second on thirty-seven and Eddie Townsend third with thirty-six.
Four ‘2’s went to Eddie at the seventh and Mod, Russell and Nick at the fourteenth.
Saturday, Oct. 3, Green Valley - Stableford
1st Nick Noble (15) 45pts
2nd Ted Senior (13) 44pts
3rd Russell Nielson (14) 38pts
4th Rakesh Mittal (9) 38pts
Saturday and off to Green Valley we went. A good turnout on the day but unfortunately things did not get off to a good start after the course staff offered out free caddies and carts to some players based on false information that was found on the rear of the discount play vouchers that had been issued by the club in error. This then led to course staff approaching these players out on the course for reimbursement of the charges and all this whilst the players were trying to play golf. Not a very clever move and as you can imagine we had a few none to happy punters out on the course and many vowing to never set foot on the course again.
But the play on the day certainly put a shine back on things with some of the highest scores that I have ever reported on from this course, which is not the easiest around.
Fourth place went to Rakesh Mittal, one of four players from the Indian sub-continent who had joined us for the first time, with thirty-eight points who found himself beaten on the count back by Russell Nielson who took third spot. Ted Senior came home with a great score and probably one of his highest at forty-four for second only to find this bettered by one from Nick Noble at forty-five. My, what a great week he had!
Four ‘2’s came from Gary Leigh and Nick Noble at the second and Anand and Russell Nielson at the twelfth.
Note: If you want any further information about the golf outings played by the TRGG please contact Fergus Brennan on 086 056 7019 or call in to the Travellers Rest in Soi LK Metro.

Dale out of the blocks in first Wednesday outing

PSC golf from the Three Sisters Bar

The Three Sisters Golf group teed off this 30th of September for the monthly trophy quest. This was the first outing on the change of schedule from Tuesdays to Wednesdays starting at 7 a.m. The sun decided to take a break which was fine for the players, however there was a strong breeze that had quite an adverse effect for some of the players as their scores attested.

Dale Murphy (left) with Lamar Short and the monthly trophy.

The Pattaya Country Club course was in very good condition with crews continuously working to improve the course as well as increase the flora.
Back at Caddy Shack II a tally of the cards showed Dale Murphy coming in ahead of the pack with 40 points to win the monthly trophy honors. Recent returnee to the Land of Smiles, Lamar Short, came in with a 38 to take second place. Bob Benda had a respectable 35 but the scores dropped drastically after that.
Herbie Ishinaga came through once again with two types of sausages and snacks accompanied by available beverages of one’s choice.

Thorne’s on a roll

IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar

The Pattaya Golf Society returned to Khao Kheow after an absence of six months on Tuesday, September 29 to play a stableford competition over the B and C nines. The course was very damp and there was little or no “run” and, with a strong wind blowing all day, there was an emphasis on course management skills.
On an empty course a local five-ball caused havoc in front of the field, leading to a round of more than five hours as the five-ball repeatedly ignored the protestations of marshalls. Obviously someone of influence was present as the group included four walkers on a course with a compulsory cart policy.
The frustrations resulted in some fretful scoring as Kazuo Takimoto took third place with a meagre 25 points. Only two golfers retained any shred of golfing dignity as Chris Voller returned a score of 32 points for second place and Tony Thorne, in the best form of his career, produced his fourth sub-par finish in a row with 38 points for an excellent win. He also snatched the “Player of the Month” title from the hands of Chris Voller after his remarkable run during the last two weeks.
Chris had some consolation as he took the ‘2’s pot with his birdie on the B8 island hole and Brian Shaw savoured the Booby Bevy for his futile attempts at making golf balls float. On the plus side it was good to welcome back old friends Dave and Margaret Wilkinson and John Rehm again as the group hoped for better times at Khao Kheow during high season.
An Asian affair at Phoenix
The Pattaya Golf Society regulars could have been forgiven for choosing the sane option when they awoke on Thursday, October 1, and stayed in bed! The skies were full and there was a steady heavy drizzle, definitely not the conditions one would have chosen for a stableford merit event at nearby Phoenix. But go they did and the Mountain and Lakes nines were wet and long, and the greenkeeper had got out of bed on the wrong side again and decided on some very curious pin positions.
Scores were inevitably poor with Kazuo Takimoto and Alan Bridges sharing fourth place with 29 points and Rick Smith taking third with 32. The day’s joint winners were Japanese Mori Hiroshi and Thai golfer Wichai Tananusorn who returned 34 points each.
There were no birdie ‘2’s, unsurprisingly, and Tony Thorne’s transformation from hero to zero, after four successive sub-par rounds was the obvious choice for the Mr. Chris’s Booby Bevy.
Wet season golf is something sent to test us by the golfing gods, and, my word, wasn’t it a test at Phoenix.
Hard act to Voller
Saturday, October 3, was another Green Valley weekend as the Pattaya Golf Society regulars took to the tee under very heavy and humid conditions for a final crack at the course before the Asian high season golfers begin arriving. In preparation for this the greenkeeper had cored and sanded an assortment of greens, in no particular sequence, and this made the discovery of any putting rhythm impossible.
Amazingly the scores were very good with a field average of 34 points. In third place was Tony Thorne, managing his fifth sub-par round in six outings, with 37 points. Elbowing him out of runner-up spot was the returning Bob Watson who shook off the effects of a heavy cold to post 38 very well made points. The winner was Chris Voller, recording an excellent gross of 74 shots, and he took victory in style with forty points. When he’s hot, he’s hot!
With putting a bit of a lottery there were no birdie ‘2’s and the candidates for the Booby Bevy included an Aussie who offered his marker some incorrect rules advice, a flu-ridden Welshman who was leading after twelve holes but who succumbed to the effects with a very weary finish, and an Englishman who posted the day’s worst score, but it was decided to roll the beer over until the following weekend at Rayong Country Club. The rarely played course is bound to throw up better candidates. But at Green Valley it had been a tough act to “Voller”.

Chris Knapp & Al Keith win the Medals

IPGC golf from The Haven

Monday, Sept. 28, Phoenix (Blue Tees) - Monthly Medals
Div. 1
1st Al Keith, net 74
2nd Paul Taylor, net 78
3rd Jon Haugen, net 84
Div. 2
1st Chris Knapp, net 71
2nd Grant Cadell, net 75
3rd Shane Heavey, net 77
Phoenix seems to be the only course other than Green Valley where the numbers of golfers do not appear to have lessened in the low season compared with last year, and therefore unusually the monthly medal was held on a Monday as the normal Friday was overbooked, but at least there were less people on the day than normal, so a reasonably paced round in good but windy condition was the order of the day.
A very tidy round from Al Keith ensured that his return to competitive golf was a happy one, as he knocked it round in two over handicap to easily take the first division by four strokes from Paul Taylor, with Jon Haugen a very surprised third place winner another six shots back. Al became the tenth first division player to qualify for the end of year Gold and Silver Medals scheduled to be held in December at Phoenix.
The second division saw Chris Knapp claim his second medal of the year with a stunning one under par round that was better by two against the CSS of 73, and in the process, returning the best medal round of the year in the second division by two shots. Having already won one medal earlier in the year he looks set to become the favourite for the second division group.
There were no 2’s in the first division but Geoff Picken tapped one in from thirty feet to sweep the second division pool.
Prior to the presentations Jon Haugen was welcomed as a first time player with the Haven and Al Keith was welcomed back from a long hiatus away from golf competitions.
Wednesday, Sept. 30, Emerald – Stableford
1st Chris Knapp 36pts
2nd Roy Thornton 35pts
3rd Geoff Picken 33pts
4th Phil Knight 33pts
5th Russell Exley 32pts
A very cautious group of golfers left The Haven under cloudy skies and in high winds and found that those conditions continued when they arrived at the course, but were delighted to find that the ever present danger of storms and heavy rain did not materialize, although the high winds made golf a little more difficult than usual.
Chris Knapp continued from where he left off a couple of days earlier, with yet another solid round that exactly matched his handicap but this time had to contend with a very competitive Roy Thornton who, whilst playing in the same group, chased him all the way to the last hole before missing a putt that would have ensured the win on the last hole, graciously agreeing that the caddy’s line, that she had given him, had been perfect.
Geoff Picken showed that he indeed can do more than knock in 2’s as he took third place ahead of Phil Knight with a better count back of 19 to 18 on the back nine, with Russell Exley trailing in another shot behind.
Phil Knight swept the first division triple rollover in the 2’s and Shane Heavey had a similar result in the second division but for a lot less value.
Before presenting the prizes The Doc welcomed back Ole Stamnes, Phil Knight and Roy Thornton.
Friday, Oct. 2, Green Valley - Stableford
1st Geoff Picken 40pts
2nd Bob Lamond 40pts
3rd Russell Exley 39pts
4th Shane Heavey 38pts
5th Russell Finch 38pts
6th Bill Thompson 38pts
With the tees set well forward from their normal weekday positions, the scores returned reflected the ease with which the whole field played what was in every other respect a very good course, with the greens and fairways in immaculate condition and the rough cut to a very manageable height. In fact the CSS went down to 69 as two-over par was achieved by over 85% of the field.
Geoff Picken underlined his previous form with a well controlled round that got better the longer it lasted, as he scored a staggering 16 points over the last six holes to beat Bob Lamond into second place after tying the inward half on 20 points a piece, and Bob only able to amass a meager 14.
Russell Exley shrugged off some recent poor form to return his best score for some time, at three under a shot further back, but still good enough for third place.
Shane Heavey rounded off a very productive week’s golf with a good two under round, and with a better count back of 20 over the last nine that was good for fourth place ahead of Russell Finch and Bill Thompson, with Russell getting the edge over Bill on the back six 13 to 12 after they had tied at 19 for the nine.
Russell Exley, Bob Lamond and Bill Thompson shared the 2’s pool in the first division and once again Shane Heavey had the only one in the second division.
Back at The Haven Ian Trotter and Andrew Szarbo were welcomed as new members and Vincent Gras was welcomed back.

The Darkside Darts League

In season three the Darkside Darts League ended with a bang! Congratulations to the winners “the Chill Bar” all stars, and the runners up “the Lucky Time Bar” who only lost by 2 points, aarrrggghh.

The Chill Bar celebrate with the league winner’s trophy.

Dave from Chester’s Bar (Soi Nernplubwern) hosted our party/presentation night and with the help of his lovely wife Rita, put on a wonderful buffet which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Well done and a big thank you to Chester’s, excellent.
Simon from the Chill Bar has stepped down from the committee due to other commitments (I think he’s taking up squash) so Lance will take over and cock it up! A big thank you to Simon, and he is still available for any technical issues etc, etc.
Apart from the winners and runners up we had medals for the most team tons which was awarded to Chill Bar; most individual tons, Mark from the Lucky Time Bar; and 180’s who were Dave (PB), Pete (PB), Tony (19th), Kenny (CB), Simon (CB), Ian (CB) and the Highest Checkout 118 Alan from Moonies - Darts everyone!
During the party night we had a darts knockout competition where players’ names were put in a box to be drawn to play in pairs. Needless to say the favorites Kenny G and Tony Lee took first place. Darts Ken, but Ron (Eng) and partner Debbie were not giving up easily as Ron “the power” Eldridge would try and not to be beaten, sadly Kenny G/Tony Lee picked their game up and left the un-beaten couple to sit in 2nd place. Pai (CB) and Dave (CH) came third - Darts all!
The Darkside Darts League would like to welcome two new bars this season, which are the Brazilia Club in Soi Siam Country Club opposite Impress House, and Sailor’s Bar, another venue in Soi Nernplubwern. For any more info please look at www. pattayadarts.com. Thank you all and enjoy season 4. Game On!

Bridge in Paradise: by Neil Robinson

This week, back to defence, the most difficult part of bridge because you cannot see what your partner has.  I have just been kicking myself about some poor defensive plays that I have made recently.  This hand illustrates one.  This was the bidding: 

West       North        East            South

P               1D              P                 1N

P               3N              All pass      

Now, imagine you are sitting East.  Dummy and your hand are shown below: 

                     S: Q52

                     H: AQJ

                     D: AKJ98

                     C: Q2              

S: ?                                       S: AJ93

H: ?                                       H: 63

D: ?                                       D: 7532

C: ?                                       C: A109

                     S: ?

                     H: ?

                     D: ?

                     C: ?

My partner led the seven of hearts.  Dummy played the jack, which won the trick.  Declarer then led a low club from board.  Which card do you play?  If you played the ten or the nine, this is the same as I did.  If you played the ace – congratulations - you are probably already a skilled defender and do not need to read on.  If, like me, you played low, maybe you are wondering why it is wrong.  After all, the bridge maxim says “second hand low”.
The reason it is wrong to play low here is that you can see eight tricks in dummy.  Three heart tricks - from the lead your partner probably has the king, but this is trapped by dummy’s holding.  Five diamond tricks - even if your partner holds the queen, it will not score because it also is trapped under dummy’s holding.
Based on the bidding, South has at least five points, and probably more.  If you let declarer get a club trick, then he has nine tricks and scores 3NT.  The only chance to defeat the contract is in spades.  If your partner has the king of spades, there is a chance.  If declarer has it, or if you delay until declarer wins a club trick, then there is no chance to defeat the contract.  So, you must rise with the ace of clubs and lead a low spade to your partner’s (presumed) king.  When you partner wins and leads back a spade this traps the queen.  With a good split in spades, you will take four spade tricks to go with the ace of clubs.
The full deal is shown below.  If you play low in clubs, declarer makes 3NT.  If you go up with the ace, you beat the contract. 

                         S: Q52

                         H: AQJ

                         D: AKJ98

                         C: Q2             

S: K84                                     S: AJ93

H: K10872                              H: 63

D: 6                                         D: 7532

C: 8643                                    C: A109

                         S: 1076

                         H: 954

                         D: Q104

                         C: KJ75           

The lesson I learned is about counting declarer’s tricks.  If declarer is about to win sufficient tricks for the contract, do not duck, even if you are second hand.  Win and play to try and make enough tricks to beat it.  Please send me your interesting hands at: [email protected].