PSC Bunker Boys Golf
Monday, April 5th
Green Valley
1st Les Cobban (7) 36 points
2nd Jay Babin (23) 34 points
3rd Paul Lanzetta (6) 34 points
Near pins Jay Babin, Les Cobban, & Michael Brett.
After a weekend of inclement weather, the prospect of the same loomed large again today and as it turned out it became a very unpleasant day for golf. Light drizzle early in the round grew steadily heavier until everybody was just about saturated. It was never heavy enough to stop play, but over time club grips became wet along with gloves, greens had significant amounts of water on them and overall play was difficult and unenjoyable. By the close of play, the rain had stopped but by then it was too late for most.
Someone who grew up with this kind of weather only about twenty degrees colder and also windy, Les Cobban mastered the conditions with thirty-six points. For about two months now Les has been in superb form with his handicap continuing to go down, nevertheless he keeps winning, when will it stop? Jay Babin is another who, after a scratchy start with the Bunker Boys, is now hitting his straps and took second place from the very accomplished Paul Lanzetta, both on thirty-four points. Jay also took a near pin with two others going to Les Cobban and Michael Brett.
Wednesday, April 7th
Pattaya Country Club
1st Michael Brett (15) 35 points
2nd Jay Babin (23) 34 points
3rd Lance Conway-Jones (11) 33 points
Near pins Paul Smith, & Michael Brett X 3.
It’s fair to say the wet season is well and truly upon us. Today’s round at Pattaya Country Club started dry but the signs were ominous. After a few holes, light rain started to fall, gradually increasing in intensity until by the eighth-hole it was coming down in torrents. The sky went almost black, the light dimmed to the point it was difficult to see. Worst of all the lightning strikes were almost simultaneous and the thunder was deafening, so we were forced to rush to the clubhouse for shelter. Luckily we made it safely as the lightning became frightening, the storm hovered directly over us for about forty minutes. It’s common to get bad storms this time of year, but this one was bad as they come.
Under the circumstances, golf became very difficult, the air was heavy, the fairways and greens were saturated, there was no run on the fairways and waterlogged greens made putting a bit of a lottery. As always we soldiered on and completed the round. Under such difficult conditions, scores were quite respectable with small margins separating the top three. Michael Brett took top spot with thirty-five points and could have been much better with some decent putting, at least this time he could blame the soggy greens. Once again Jay Babin was in the frame taking second with thirty-four, whilst Lance Conway-Jones rounded out the top three with thirty-three points. All the near pins were taken with Paul Smith getting close on the last, Michael Brett got the other three.
Friday, April 9th
Pattavia
1st Roger Awad (20) 36 points
2nd Kevin LeBar (12) 35 points
3rd Geoff Cox (18) 34 points
Near pins Geoff Cox, Roger Awad, & Kevin LeBar X 2.
It seems like the weather gods took pity on us today, all day long it looked like it could rain at any moment but we managed to stay dry for the whole round. Dark clouds were not far away and thunder rumbled in the distance but luckily we got it done without rain. Yesterday at Pattavia they had a horrendous storm that prevented any play, and we could see the results of it today with some bunkers still with water in them and high tide watermarks on the fairways. The water catchment to the right of the eighth fairway had water in it for the first time in about eight years.
A new winner today with Roger Awad making his breakthrough to the top of the podium with thirty-six points. Kevin LeBar with a very poor start and a fifteen-year-old trainee caddie recovered well to take second place with a very strong finish that included a birdie and a couple of pars for thirty-five points. Geoff Cox closed out the scoring with thirty-four points in third place. All the near pins were taken with one each to Geoff Cox and Roger Awad with Kevin LeBar taking two.
Pattaya is about to go into some kind of lockdown for the third time, this time hopefully for only two weeks, very bad timing for us as it put paid to our trip to Kanchanaburi next week, hopefully we can do it by the end of next month.
