‘Laughing Les’ burns up Crystal Bay

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PSC golf Bunker Boys @ The Bowling Green

Monday, June 11,Bangpakong – Stableford

Just two groups of golfers today for the longer trip to Bangprakong, and when we arrived at the course we found that we had the place to ourselves.  The fairways were in good shape as usual, but the greens were recovering from recent coring and repair work, leaving them bumpy and slow.

The weather gods were smiling on us though, with a pleasant breeze blowing in from the river, providing almost perfect golfing conditions.  Due to the small number of golfers, we elected not to have a near pin competition, which turned out to be a wise move since very few greens were hit!  It’s a feature of this course that the four par 3 holes are rated handicap 15 through to 18, which is rather strange, since three of them are 200 yards long off the white tees.

Sean Murphy continued his recent run of good form to win the honours on the day ahead of Dave Ashman.

1st Sean Murphy (15) 37pts

2nd Dave Ashman (13) 34pts

3rd Barry Murnin (15) 32pts

Wednesday, June 13,

Phoenix Lake and Ocean – Stableford

On our previous visit to Phoenix we’d found the course in a poor state of repair, but today just a few weeks later, it was much improved.  Two or three greens were still under repair, but generally they are returning to their normal high standard.  The weather was hot, but a gentle breeze kept the conditions bearable, and there was no sign of any rain on the horizon.

Geoff Parker returned to form, after a recent run of several poor results, to take first place.  There was a three-way tie for second place on 34 points, but Barry Murnin took the prize, scoring 21 points on the inward nine, including a blob on the 17th.

1st Geoff Parker (13) 36pts

2nd Barry Murnin (15) 34pts

3rd Sean Murphy (15) 34pts

Near Pins:  Geoff Parker, Lee Butler and Tony Robbins

Friday, June 15,Crystal Bay – Medal

A slightly later tee-time than usual saw us go out behind two other local golf societies, resulting in a much slower round than we’ve become used to recently.

It was immediately apparent on the 1st green that we were going to be in for a difficult day, as more than half the green had been very recently cored and the light covering of sand did little to cover the gaping holes.  Judging the pace of a putt going from the cored section to the untreated portion of the greens (and vice versa) was a lottery, and any chips landing on the cored sections came to a very abrupt halt.

Despite the difficulties Les Burns seized the opportunity to emerge from the pack and record his first ever win with the Bunker Boys.  “Laughing Les” had a wonderful day, scoring below the 100 shot barrier for the first time with us (PSC handicap 32, but playing off 28 in the competition), so congratulations Les and let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come.

1st Les Burns (28) net 71

2nd Dave Ashman (15) net 71

3rd Barry Murnin (15) net 74

Near Pins:  Les Burns (2) and Sean Murphy (2)

The Bunker Boys are a PSC affiliated golf society who now play out of the Bowling Green on Soi X-Zyte between Pattaya 3rd Road and Soi Buakhaow.  We play three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so if you enjoy a fun day out, and a friendly but competitive golf competition why not come and join us.

We meet at the Bowling Green at 9 a.m. for breakfast and transportation, and new players with valid handicaps are always welcome.  For more information call Dave on 087 146 9978, email dave. [email protected].