Woody wins it all

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PSC Golf from The Golf Club

Monday, Sept. 19, Silky Oak (white tees) – Stableford

1st Gabe Dakwa (14) 42pts

2nd Joe Saad (13) 40pts

3rd Fred Birch (18) 39pts

Dale Shier, Robbie McGhie, Phil Smedley & Mark Wood.
Dale Shier, Robbie McGhie, Phil Smedley & Mark Wood.

They just started the coring and sanding of Green Valley today so we took the option of changing our venue to her sister course of Silky Oak.  The course was in very fine condition and the weather was cooperating as well for a perfect day of golf.

We had a pretty good turnout of 5 mixed groups of tourists and locals today, but it was the out-of-towners that stole the podium.  There were some high scores turned in which is getting to be a trend these days.  Does it mean we’re all getting better?

Mark Wood celebrates his eagle on the 10th at Emerald.
Mark Wood celebrates his eagle on the 10th at Emerald.

A 39 for Fred Birch got him on the podium and a 40 from Joe Saad must have made him pretty happy.  Gabe Dakwa is back in town and his 42 was best of the lot.

Capt. Phil had a least one good shot out there today… his near pin for the Caddy Smile project!

Wednesday, Sept. 21, Pattana A & C (yellow tees) – Stableford

1st Robbie McGhie (1) 37pts

2nd Mark Wood (9) 36pts

T3rd Dale Shier (12) 33pts

T3rd Phil Smedley (12) 33pts

Spectacular was the word of the day as Pattana was turned out in beautiful condition for our golf outing.  It was all so lush and green and the greenskeepers are to be commended for the efforts of their team.  Mondays and Wednesdays are the Sports Days out here so take advantage of this summer special while you have the chance.

Shier and Smedley were twinned out there today as both played off 12 and both tied for third with 33 on the card.  Steady Mark Wood was also in the frame, 36 points from the nine-handicapper was easily good enough for sole second place.  Markie also won the near pin comp for our Caddy Smile gals.

The win went to visiting Aussie Robbie McGhie with 37 points.  Robbie gets only one shot from the hardest hole and the other 17 he is on his own.  Nevertheless, playing off just 1 he still managed to beat 18 other blokes.

Friday, Sept. 23, The Emerald (yellow tees) – Stableford

1st Mark Wood (10) 43pts

T2nd Fred Birch (19) 40pts

T2nd Chris Smith (0) 40pts

Was it really Zero-dark-thirty?  The sun had been up for 2 hours, allegedly, but you would never know it from the cloud cover.  Most of the lads who signed up, showed up, and in the end they were glad they did.  Some 14 of us set out for the Emerald anyway, and the closer we got to the course the brighter the skies got.  Four others chickened out.

The first 2 groups had a light mist off the tee box, but it all stopped shortly after that.  By the end of the round we were putting on the sunscreen!

The Emerald was in great condition, especially considering the rains of late.  There were a few greens with wormy dirt (that’s probably not the horticultural name), but the rest of it was great.  We played off the white tees but as we got around, we saw that 6 tees were really off the reds so some holes played very short.

On to the golf and if you only had 38 points like me, you were out of the picture.  Got 39 you say?  No joy there either.  40 points was the cutoff and Fred Birch along with Chris Smith had their winning hopes shot down after some terrific play.  Nice shooting guys, but not good enough as our mate from Aberdeen did little wrong out there today.  Before that story, the Caddy Smile near pin went to John Finneaux.

I was lucky enough to play with Dale Shier and Mark Wood today and Dale and I were both treated to some brilliant golf, as well as some unusual offerings from the gifted Scotsman.  Mark started off smoothly with pars on the first 7 holes.  He could do no wrong.

At the turn, after a tap in birdie from six inches on the 9th Mark then pitched in his second shot for eagle on the 10th from 60 yards out to a narrow and sloped green.  Some great saves and scrambles followed and all was going swimmingly until the near-pin par3.  Marks’ tee shot landed some 12 feet from the pin, but mysteriously ended in a 5 on the card.  A whiff at 18 on his drive saw his second shot still with the ball on the tee!  Fortunately, that great start of 7 pars garnered enough points to tally up to 43 at the end of it all.  But what a way to do it!

Note: The Golf Club is located in the Heart of Pattaya on Soi L.K. Metro.  Just call 085 434 3377 or see our website www.golfclubpattaya.com and for more information mail us: [email protected] and see updates at www.facebook.com/golfclubpattaya … all handicaps welcome!