IPGC Golf from The Haven
Monday, Jan 4. Mt. Shadow (blue tees) – Stableford
CSS 72
1st Walter O’Keefe (12) 37pts
2nd Peter Skinner (10) 35pts
3rd Peter Buckley (20) 35pts
4th Allan Hanlon (13) 33pts
5th Mark Williams (7) 33pts
6th Shuichi Kodaka (18) 32pts
‘Mr. Reliable’, Walter O’Keefe, showed the way again with another solid performance around the short but tight Mountain Shadow course, which had originally been designed for 15 handicappers and below as a stern test of golf. Certainly players have to keep it straight or they will find themselves deep amongst the surviving trees from the old mango plantation from which the course has been hewed.
Kevin Blake.
Winning his fifth competition in a row shows more than the usual degree of application from Walter, especially after receiving a two shot reduction in handicap along the way and his win deserves high praise.
Peter Skinner and Peter Buckley tried hard to get on terms but could not quite match the winner and had to settle for a count back battle for second place, which Peter Skinner won with a better 20 to 16.
Allan Hanlon also needed to win a count back for fourth over Mark Williams, which he did with a better 15 to 14 after they had both started out well on the front half but struggled through the closing nine.
Shuichi Kodaka was also involved with a count back with the low handicap marker of the day, Walter Panichi, winning it with a 21 to 18 result after a very slow start to his day.
In the 2s Peter Buckley swept the rollover pot clean in the second division whilst Mark Williams and David Dines shared the rollover in the first division.
Wednesday, Jan. 6, Khao Kheow B & C (yellow tees) – Stableford
CSS 74
Division 1 (0-15)
1st Mark Williams (7) 36pts
Brendan Dunne.
2nd Walter Panichi (4) 31pts
3rd Walter O’Keefe (12) 31pts
4th Kevin Blake (9) 30pts
Division 2 (16+)
1st Hal Hart (21) 36pts
2nd Mike Hill (21) 30pts
3rd Phil Stevenson (26) 29pts
4th Brendan Dunne (30) 28pts
With the IPGC Championships set for Khao Kheow in early February, there are now more players wanting to get some practice in the fortnightly competitions that The Haven has been organising throughout the past year, and on this occasion two divisions were needed to accommodate the day’s hopefuls with the cut coming at 15 and below.
In the first division Mark Williams at last played somewhere near his best as he took the win by a wide margin ahead of Walter Panichi, who has also been struggling for some consistency in his short game.
Mark Williams.
Mark’s win was built on a solid one over front nine, followed by a very mixed bag on the back nine which included two 4-pointers and two zeros, collected when a couple of tee shots went astray, but he still finished well in front to claim the top step of the podium.
Walter Panichi took the second place after winning a count back over Walter O’Keefe, returning a better 19 to 16 following a distinctly poor beginning to the day.
Kevin Blake was right in the hunt until the last three holes when a loss of concentration left him a few short and so settled for fourth place.
In the second division Hal Hart led the rest in by six clear after closing out a slow start with a 22 point back nine to leave Mike Hill in second, after he too had a bad outward nine but a solid level handicap inward half.
Phil Stevenson had been fearful of one or two too many reloads from the tee but did well enough to take possession of the third step ahead of Brendan Dunne in fourth..
Walter O’Keefe.
Markku Tynell had the only ‘2’ in the second division to sweep the pot, while Mark Williams had to share the first division once again, this time with Walter Panichi.
Friday, Jan. 1, The Emerald – Stableford
CSS 72
Division 1 (0–12)
1st Kevin Blake (9) 38pts
2nd Martin Grimoldby (5) 37pts
3rd Mike Dabanovich (12) 36pts
4th Walter Panichi (4) 35pts
Division 2 (13+)
1st Brendan Dunne (30) 35pts
2nd Shuichi Kodaka (18) 32pts
3rd Alan Griffiths (13) 31pts
4th Phil Stevenson (25) 30pts
Another good roll up of players determined two divisions once more, but this time the quality of the field needed the cut to be made at 12 and below to play the tricky Emerald layout where the condition of the fairways generally still requires a ‘lift and place’ local rule.
Kevin Blake stayed the course much better on this occasion, even scoring 21 points on the back nine to win ahead of some very tough opposition including nine single handicappers and certainly one to savour over the weekend.
Hal Hart.
Martin Grimoldby was a very close second after birdying the last two holes but came up with a shot too many. Mike Dabanovich also had a good day at level handicap in third place and Walter Panichi at last showed his class in fourth one more behind.
The second division was headed by Brendan Dunne and even though he could not quite get under his handicap it was still good enough to lead a strong field that held many players normally found in the top echelon.
He was followed at a distance by Shuichi Kodaka in second and Alan Griffiths in third.
Phil Stevenson won a multiple count back for fourth place over Mark Cooper and Adrian Cook, both 13 handicappers, as they scored 19, 14 and 12 respectively.
There were no ‘2’s in the second division but Kevin Blake made Mark Williams share for the third time in the week after they both scored in the first division.
Note: If you would like to play with The Haven group, you can contact 038 710 989 or call in to The Haven Hotel, 185 Soi 13, situated between Beach Road and 2nd Road. All transportation to the course is arranged and you do not need to sign up prior to the day, but you should be there by 8.15 on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the days that you wish to play. If you would like to leave your golf clubs at The Haven, there are usually lockers available at a nominal charge. A schedule of courses to be played can be found on our web site at www.thehaven-hotel.com.
