Ping has a gem of a round at Emerald

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PSC Golf from the Café Kronborg

Monday, January 16, Crystal Bay A & B – Stableford

The later than normal scheduled tee time of 1130 hrs did not appear to deter anyone as we had almost a full field with 39 golfers signed up but unfortunately there were a couple of people that did not read the sign-up sheet properly and turned up at the normal time.  It was a long day for them, and everyone actually as we did not get back into Pattaya until 1930 hrs.

We were happy to welcome Ray McLaughlin from Albury, NSW, Australia, Pekka Mustonen from Finland, Kim Ping Fung from Hong Kong and Jesper Rasmussen, Tom Guldfeldt and Peter Bygballe from Denmark.  As Jan Lovgreen was getting married on the weekend we wished him all the best and encouraged him to enjoy his last few days as a bachelor!

Tarquin Macmanus (left) receives his Cafe Kronborg January Monthly Mug from Bjarne.Tarquin Macmanus (left) receives his Cafe Kronborg January Monthly Mug from Bjarne.

The course was looking great and although not yet back to its condition of former years; the fairways were good and the greens firm and true.  After a couple of enforced drink breaks due to some slow play we finally completed our round in a couple of minutes under five hours.

Rob Brown carried on from the previous week, when he won the PSC Club Championship A Flight, by scoring 40 points in winning A Flight with big (let’s hear it for) Ken Bernek second on 38 points.  Leif Kirkgaard was third with 37 points, Niels Hansen fourth on 36 points and Mike Allidi’s 75 off the stick was only good enough to secure fifth spot.  In a 3-way count back for sixth place on 33 points, Michael Catillon (18 point back nine, 13 points last 6 holes) took the last spot on the podium from yours truly (18 point back nine, 11 point last 6 holes), with Don Richardson (17 point back nine) also missing out.

Continuing his good form (with the exception of the Club Championship) The Admiral himself, Dave Richardson won the B Flight with a fine 39 points, 2 points clear of Kenny Chung in second place.  Graham Buckingham was third with 35 points and in a count back with 34 points Jan Lovgreen (18 point back nine) finished fourth from Hugh O’Donnell (17 point back nine) in fifth.  Yet another count back saw the winner of the day’s fashion award, Bjarne Kjaer (20 point back nine) take out sixth place from John Marritt (15 point back nine).

A Flight (0-20)

1st Rob Brown (10) 40pts

2nd Ken Bernek (18) 38pts

3rd Leif Kirkgaard (20) 37pts

4th Niels Hansen (15) 36pts

5th Mike Allidi (1) 34pts

6th Michael Catillon (18) 33pts

B Flight (21+)

1st Dave Richardson (24) 39pts

2nd Kenny Chung (30) 37pts

3rd Graham Buckingham (22) 35pts

4th Jan Lovgreen (24) 34pts

5th Hugh O’Donnell (24) 34pts

6th Bjarne Kjaer (21) 33pts

Near Pins:  A5 – Rob Brown; A8 – Kenny Chung; B4 – Bjarne Kjaer; B6 – Ken Bernek

Long Putts:  A9 – Leif Kirkgaard; B9 – Carole Kubicki

Emerald boss lady Candy with Peter Blackburn, Kenny Chung & Ping Kim Fung.Emerald boss lady Candy with Peter Blackburn, Kenny Chung & Ping Kim Fung.

I felt it was important to acknowledge the outstanding effort by our Café Kronborg golfers in last week’s PSC Club Championship at Khao Kheow.  We managed to provide the winners of four out of the five flights with Rob Brown (A Flight), Richard Kubicki (B Flight), Kenny Chung (D Flight) and Bo Cardwell (Ladies Flight).  In addition there were also daily place getters in Rob Brown, Peter Blackburn, Richard Kubicki, Kenny Chung, Bo Cardwell, Karen Brown, Mike Winfield, Niels Hansen and Bo Cardwell again.

We also took out many of the NTP prizes with Niels Hansen (2), Jan Lovgreen (2), Mike Gosden (2), Ken Bernek (2) and Richard Kubicki.  In addition, long drive prizes were won by Ken Bernek & Henry Wong.  This was a proud time for Café Kronborg and we hope to do even better next year.

Wednesday,January 18,The Emerald – Stableford

Three late cancellations gave us a field of 22 for the competition and we assembled at Café Kronborg in readiness for the journey to the testing (for most) Emerald Golf Course.  It was a pleasure to welcome professional golfer Tarquin Macmanus and his caddy  Michael Roggie, both from Cairns in Qld., Australia.  They are good mates of Sam Miguel Stu Rifkin and were in Pattaya for a few days after playing in the Asian Tour Qualifying rounds in Hua Hin last week.

Rob Brown & Dave Richardson.Rob Brown & Dave Richardson.

We were confident of perfect golfing conditions for our round here and indeed that was the way it turned out.  The course was fairly busy but we were able to get our first group, a three-ball, away 15 minutes early at 0945 hrs in perfect golfing weather with a slight breeze.

It was a change of late to play on greens that were a tad slow but firm and true and the rest of the course was also in great shape.  There were a few minor hold ups so we stopped for drinks a couple of times and were able to complete our round in the good time of four hours and fifteen minutes.

Ping Kim Fung from Hong Kong had an absolute day out and easily won the A Flight with a terrific 44 points, 9 points ahead of yours truly in second place.  The plus two handicapper from Cairns managed to par the course and took out third spot with 34 points and his good mate Stu Rifkin finished fourth with 31 points.

It was a good day for the guys from Hong Kong as Kenny Chung won the B Flight with a fine 41 points, 5 points ahead of the colorful Walter Baechli in second place.  Bo Cardwell (17 point back nine) continued her good form and took third spot with 34 points on a count back from Kevin Dinan (16 point back nine) who finished fourth.

A Flight (0-17)

1st Ping Kim Fung (10) 44pts

2nd Peter Blackburn (13) 35pts

3rd Tarquin Macmanus (plus 2) 34pts

4th Stu Rifkin (14) 31pts

B Flight (21+)

1st Kenny Chung (30) 41pts

2nd Walter Baechli (18) 36pts

3rd Bo Cardwell (33) 34pts

4th Kevin Dinan (24) 34pts

Near Pins:  5th – Michael Catillon; 7th – Ping Kim Fung; 13th – Ping Kim Fung; 15th – Rita Zoebeli

Thursday, January 19, Pattaya C.C. – Monthly Mug/Stroke

There was an excellent field of 37 golfers ready to compete for the first Café Kronborg Monthly Mug of the year and had it not been for a couple of late cancellations and one annoying “no show” we would have had a full field of 40.

We welcomed back Doug Maiko from Providence, Rhode Island, USA, Thomas Cotton from Tropical Berts, PSC Social Chairman Nigel Cannon and Patrick Mok from Hong Kong.  It was time also to farewell Aussie Golf Professional Tarquin Macmanus and his caddy Michael Rogge who were leaving on Sunday.

Arriving at the course we were able to get our first group, a three-ball, away well ahead of the scheduled.  The weather was fine but very overcast and it was apparent that the course had received a fair bit of rain over the past few days so as carts were not allowed on the fairways preferred lies through the greens were permitted.

The rain came as we were on the 8th tee and slowly got heavier and by the time we reached the 9th green we were only just able to putt-out.  Then the rain stopped and after a ten minute drinks break at half way we continued in fine but muggy conditions but the course soon started to dry out and we finished the round in sunshine.

The greens were in very good shape notwithstanding the 30 minute downpour and very quick at times.  Our full round was completed in the very good time of four hours & five minutes.

Golf Pro Tarquin Macmanus (net 32 back nine) tore the course apart and shot seven under par 65 (5 birdies & 1 eagle) which gave him net 67 off his plus two handicap and won the January Monthly Mug on a count back from the B Flight winner.

Takeshi Hakozaki won the A Flight with a net 70 and in a count back for second & third Rob Brown (net 35 back nine) beat Michael Rogge (net 37 back nine), both having net 71.  Fourth place went to Richard Kubicki with a net 72 ahead of Wolfgang Bade in fifth place with net 74.

Previous 2 time Mug winner Nigel Cannon (net 34) won the B Flight with a fine net 67 and Kenny Chung was second with net 69.  Third place went to Ulla Ravn on net 70 with Henry Wong fourth with net 73 and Bo Cardwell fifth on net 74.

Monthly Mug

1st Tarquin Macmanus (+2) net 67

A Flight (0-19)

1st Takeshi Hakozaki (15) net 70

2nd Rob Brown (10) net 71

3rd Michael Rogge (5) net 71

4th Richard Kubicki (15) net 72

5th Wolfgang Bade (19) net 74

B Flight (20+)

1st Nigel Cannon (24) net 67

2nd Kenny Chung (28) net 69

3rd Ulla Ravn (37) net 70

4th Henry Wong (22) net 73

5th Bo Cardwell (33) net 74

Near Pins:  5th – Wolfgang Bade: 7th – Michael Rogge; 12th – Doug Maiko; 16th – Henry Wong

Long Putts:  9th – Carole Kubicki; 18th – Mike Winfield