PSC golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, Sept. 30, Treasure Hill – Stableford
After very heavy overnight rain we were presented with a fine Pattaya Monday morning as we made our way to The Growling Swan in readiness for the journey to the challenging Treasure Hill Golf Course.
The original field of 23 was reduced to 20 after three late withdrawals due to sickness which included your writer who is still battling with a sciatic nerve issue. Nonetheless, we were happy to welcome back Dick Braimbridge from Queensland, Australia, Ken Hole from a few weeks in the UK and good friend Volker Buley from Germany. There were also newcomers Andy Todd & Paul King from Perth in Western Australia, Peter Burke from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia and David Marshall from Brisbane. Also, apologies to Graham “Grunter” Buckingham for not saying farewell to him prior to his visit back to the UK.
Max Bracegirdle, Les Moloney & Mike Allidi.
I saw the 2 mini vans off at 8.27 am from the GS and they arrived at the course 55 minutes later where things were very quiet. After a brief preparation the first group, a three-ball, got away 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled 10.00 am start time and it was reported that the course was in quite good condition and recovering well from the recent work although some found the greens somewhat slower than they are used to.
It was a fairly quick round of golf with fine weather and unlike Pattaya, no rain, with the first group back in the clubhouse four hours & five minutes after they started. After the negative recent reports regarding Treasure Hill it was reported that it is now very acceptable with minimum inconveniences.
We had 2 Grades – A Grade for handicaps 0 to 19 and B Grade for handicaps 20 and over with 4 places in each grade. There were also rewards for nearest the pins on the four par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
First timer Andy Todd (20 point back nine) was the winner of the A Grade section, winning on a count back from Gerd Riedler (18 point back nine) with both of them scoring 36 points. Another count back was required with 4 golfers on 34 points to decide third & fourth places and it saw Kissy Buchanan (19 point back nine) finish third from John Pierrel (16 point back nine & 11 points on the last 6 holes) in fourth spot. The unlucky ones were Kevin “Wayco” Waycott (16 point back nine & 8 points on the last 6 holes) and Martin “Toddy” Todd (14 point back nine).
Jerry “Dobbsy” Dobbs was victorious in the B Grade with a steady 36 points and John Davis came second with 34 points. In third place came Patrick Poussier on 28 points and Dave Marshall was fourth with 26 points.
A Flight (0-19)
1st Andy Todd (12) 36pts
2nd Gerd Riedler (6) 36pts
3rd Kissy Buchanan (16) 34pts
4th John Pierrel (10) 34pts
B Flight (20+)
1st Jerry Dobbs (22) 36pts
2nd John Davis (22) 34pts
3rd Patrick Poussier (22) 28pts
4th Dave Marshall (20) 26pts
Near Pins: 2nd – Kevin Waycott, 6th – Ebrahim, 13th – Patrick Poussier, 17th – John Pierrel
Long Putts: 9th – Martin Todd, 18th – Mike Gosden
The Growling Swan NAGA Award (awarded to the golfer who has the worst score on the day) was won by Volker Buley and he accepted the award in very good spirit. Toddy then kindly paraded Deefa the Dog and of course collected many donations for the needy in Pattaya from our generous Growling Swan golfers.
Thursday, Oct. 3, Mountain Shadow – Stableford
We were originally booked to play at Crystal Bay but their staff were good enough to inform me the day before that the course was extremely wet and carts would not be allowed anywhere on the golf course. They offered us Mountain Shadow as an alternative as they have cart paths there so their offer was accepted.
Jerry Dobbs, Volker Buley & Andy Todd.
We gathered at The Growling Swan as the sun shone and our final number was 27 as your writer decided to delay his return for a further 4 days. We welcomed first timers Adam, Gary & Ben from the UK and sadly said Bon Voyage to Jerry Dobbs, returning to work in Australia, Volker Buley who was off back to Germany after his brief stay and David Marshall who was returning to Queensland, Australia.
I farewelled the 3 mini vans 5 minutes ahead of schedule at 8.25 am and it was reported that their journey was the usual 45 minutes and the golf course was reasonably quiet although the weather was fine. Unfortunately I had omitted to inform Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei, who was driving to the course that there had been a change of venue so he rang me from Crystal Bay in despair but I simply re-directed him up the road. He was in Group 1 but that was OK as Toddy allowed a couple of groups to slip in front of our first which got away 5 minutes later than scheduled at 10.05 am.
Apparently the golf course was in very good condition considering the amount of recent rain and the round of golf was completed in four hours & fifteen minutes, although about four holes were played in steady rain.
We had 2 Grades – A Grade for handicaps 0 to 17 and B Grade for handicaps 18 & over with 5 places in each grade. There were also rewards for nearest the pins on the four par threes and longest first putts on the 9th & 18th greens.
The wet conditions did not appear to worry A Grade winner Mike Allidi who carded a 70 off the stick for his 41 points and another fine round from Kevin “Wayco” Waycott secured second place with 40 points. Takeshi Hakozaki finished third with 36 points and Gerd Riedler was fourth with 35 points. With 3 golfers having 34 points a count back was required to determine fifth spot which went to Ebrahim (19 point back nine) and Sal Brizzi (17 point back nine) & Alain “Inspector Clouseau” Taddei (17 point back nine) just missed out.
Max “Corsets” Bracegirdle easily won the B Grade section with a fine 39 points which was 5 points better than second place-getter John Davis and Jerry “Dobbsy” Dobbs was third with 28 points. In fourth place came Stephen Newton and Gary Monley was fifth with 26 points.
A Flight (0-17)
1st Mike Allidi (3) 41pts
2nd Kevin Waycott (10) 40pts
3rd Takeshi Hakozaki (11) 36pts
4th Gerd Riedler (6) 35pts
5th Ebrahim (17) 34pts
B Flight (18+)
1st Max Bracegirdle (25) 39pts
2nd John Davis (22) 34pts
3rd Jerry Dobbs (22) 28pts
4th Stephen Newton (26) 27pts
5th Gary Monley (36) 26pts
Near Pins: 5th – Mike Allidi, 8th – Gerd Riedler, 15th – Martin Todd, 17th Ebrahim
Long Putts: 9thy – Brad Todd, 18th – Mike Allidi
The Growling Swan NAGA Award was won by Les Moloney, Muncha’s Dad and he accepted the award in good spirit. Max then kindly paraded Deefa the Dog and collected donations for the needy from our generous Growling Swan golfers.
Note: Growling Swan Golf welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low & high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays & Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan (formerly The Bunker Bar) in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8.00 am with transport departing at 8.30 am. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email to petermalcolmblackburn @gmail.com.
We also play bowls out of the Growling Swan every Wednesday and Sunday: Sunday is Lawn Bowls and Wednesday is Indoor Bowls. All are welcome and for anyone that is interested the transport leaves The Growling Swan at 10.00am on each of those mornings. For more information please contact Paul Rennison on 0843 454 005.
