The Tropical Golf Group
Tuesday, June 20, Royal Lakeside – Stableford
We treated ourselves to a trip out to Royal Lakeside on Tuesday. A little longer of a drive and it took on average an hour and ten minutes for everyone to arrive. So with sunny skies and a nice course waiting, a lucky thirteen golfers met at the tee to swing away.
Royal Lakeside is a scoring course: wide fairways in good condition make sure you usually have a good lie, and that counts for a lot. Don’t take the course for granted though, as there is plenty of water to gobble up errant shots, and some of the bunkers are real tough to get out of. Therein likes RL’s strategy – luring you into complacency. To prove it, the scores had a high dispersion. At the top they were very good and if you didn’t have a “4” at the first part of your score, your job was to sit and applaud those that did.
Top of the heap was Bob Britton (c/h 18), who drove in from Nakhon Nayok just to dominate the rest of the field, earning an amazing 43 points and winning on count-back over Daryl Evans (28). Wow, some golfers out there really took advantage. Following Daryl was Brian was Brian Parish (14) who seems to earn 41 points each time we play now. How can 40 points possibly earn last place on the honor roll? That’s just what happened to Don Carmody (29) in fourth.
The best nines for non-winner came from Barry Elphick (24 points on the front) and Mashi Kaneta (21 on the back).
Friday, June 23, Crystal Bay – Stableford
Friday saw the Tropical Golfers head out to Crystal Bay. Most golfers like a visit here once in a while to help build the ego up and take the handicap down. Overall the course was in good condition and seventeen golfers lined up at the later than usual start. There was some concern we might have to deal with the frequent afternoon showers we’ve had lately, but this day stayed clear.
We were assigned the B and C courses (in that order for once) and they were both in good condition and seem to be undergoing some maintenance. Crystal Bay is a scoring course and today we saw how one player for sure took extreme advantage.
In A-Flight (0-17), recently returned Mashi Kaneta (c/h 17) smashed, destroyed, and intimidated all competition with a stratospheric 44 points! Do you give lessons Mashi? Next in line came the also recently returned Takeshi Hakozaki (13) with an excellent 39 points, followed by Brian Parish (13) with 35.
The B-flight (18+) scores picked up right where the A’s left off, with Colm O’Donovan (21) earning 34 points, followed by Dick Warberg (20) with 33, and Mick Coghlan (22) at 32. Until next time, straight drives to all.
Best nine (non winners): Landis Brooks (17 points) and Paul Sharples (19).
