A.J.’s magical moment

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A caricature of A.J. and his caddy sits in the trophy cabinet.
A caricature of A.J. and his caddy sits in the trophy cabinet.

Traveller’s Rest Golf Group

Monday, August 13, The Emerald – Stableford

1st John Baxter (19) 39pts

2nd Mr Nomurra (18) 36pts

3rd Christer Dolk (12) 32pts

Our opening game of the week was at Emerald where John Baxter, who can’t hit a ball long enough to get into trouble but has a putting stroke that makes the caddies go weak at the knees, easily negotiated the elevated greens and even surprised himself with a winning score of 39 points.

Tuesday, August 14, Green Valley – Stableford

1st Arnold Jones (16) 43pts

2nd Roger Wilkinson (16) 35pts

3rd Espen Kristopherson (35) 35pts

The magic happened at Green Valley; it was Arnold Jones’ birthday and his regular caddie had gone to tremendous lengths to commission a clay caricature of herself and A.J. and it obviously inspired him to a whole new level. On the front nine he shot one over par off the stick and scored an incredible 26 points. A further 17 points on the back nine secured him first place as well as bragging rights for posting the week’s highest score of 43 points.

His caricature now takes pride of place in the TRGG’s trophy cabinet and can be viewed by appointment only!

John Goodwin (left) & Don Hawkins.
John Goodwin (left) & Don Hawkins.

Wednesday, August 15, Plutaluang – Stableford

1st John Goodwin (25) 34pts

2nd Derek Thorogood (17) 32pts

3rd Daryl Ottaway (8) 31pts

Plutaluang is amazing value for money and I’m surprised it doesn’t attract larger numbers. Today we only had fifteen players and not one of them shot their handicap or better. The winning score of 34 points came from John Goodwin, which was also his first ever TRGG first place finish.

Thursday, August 16, Pattana – Stableford

1st Don Hawkins (15) 37pts

2nd Jim Best (14) 32pts

3rd John O’Donoghue (22) 31pts

Pattana was the venue for today’s Pattaya Match Play competition in conjunction with the TRGG’s daily competition. I mention this because the TRGG organized the day and I would like to thank the management at Pattana for accommodating in excess of forty players by providing us with a two tee start. The P.M.P. competition continues over a period of two weeks but our own competition was completed today.

Soaring above the fairways was the “Hawk” who was hungry for a win before heading back to the States. You may recall that last week the “Hawk” was M.I.A. but after a successful rescue and recovery mission, as well as a couple of days in rehab, he returned to the front line all guns a blazing! Shooting 37 points he left the rest of the field in disarray and totally shell shocked. “Mission accomplished” he headed back to the old U.S of A.

Friday, August 17, Burapha – Stableford

1st Roger Wilkinson (16) 38pts

2nd Don Hawkins (15) 38pts

3rd Arnold Jones (14) 36pts

Burapha is one of the best courses in Pattaya and with four nines to choose from it offers excellent variety and great value for money. Today we rolled up with twenty four players, all of whom had their own visions of grandeur. The weather conditions were perfect and we all knew that you were going to have to play better than handicap to have any chance of claiming the top prize.

Roger Wilkinson, who doesn’t take a practice swing as he considers it a waste of a good shot, started off with a steady 17 points but came home strongly with a commendable 21 to claim the coveted first place by virtue of a count back.

Saturday, August 18, Greenwood – Stableford

1st John O’Donoghue (21) 34pts

2nd Paul Sharples (15) 34pts

3rd Mr Yoshi (22) 33pts

On Saturday we made the journey to Greenwood where nineteen players competed for the number one spot. Although the conditions were perfect for golf the winning score was only 34 points. A very surprised John O’Donoghue gratefully accepted the purse and whilst still in a state of shock bought everyone a drink!