PSC golf from the Outback Golf Bar
Monday, May 19, Burapha – Stableford
Thirty-four players came to Burapha to play in Bob Lindborg’s Birthday Better Ball Bash. Traditionally now, Bob chooses this format, known somewhat confusingly as 4BBB (four better ball in the UK) or better ball pairs generally.
Electing to play A & B from the white tees, the course was in great condition and not very busy, so one of the favorite pairings, the two-ball of Steve Mann & Guy Brennan, were away well ahead of time, with all seventeen teams gone by 9.45.
A very happy birthday boy Bob, with Rak, Fun & Ning at Burapha.
Bob had chosen by far the best four-ball to play with; he and his partner Fun were joined by two more caddies from Burapha, Rak and Ning, who all looked absolutely lovely. Their golf wasn’t too bad either as Bob and Fun returned a score of 43pts to take sixth place on count back.
Defending champion Nuan, another Burapha caddie, played with Jim Bryan this year to win again on count back with 47pts from Graham Hiskett and Stefan Hoge; with the teams of Doug Campbell & David Day and Ivan Plunkett & Pete Stonebridge taking third and fourth, both on 45pts.
Back at the Outback, Bob had generously provided food; spaghetti bolognaise and wienerschnitzel, as well as ample Thai food for the caddies, who all came back to the bar and he also sponsored the near pins which were won by Nuan (A3), Dennis Pelly (A6) and Bob Finley got both on the back nine, B3 and B8.
After the presentation, the caddies took part in a putting competition on the Outback 6 holes astro-turf layout, which was won also by Nuan, who finished the course 2 under par.
All in all, a very good day out and for sure the Outback would like more players to encourage their regular caddies (or friends of) to play golf in the future. The better-ball format also proved popular, so much so that the Outback will stage one tournament a month of this type, alternating between the regular Monday and Friday courses, Burapha and Green Valley.
1st Jim Bryan & Nuan 47pts
2nd Graham Hiskett & Stefan Hoge 47pts
3rd Doug Campbell & David Day 45pts
4th Ivan Plunkett & Pete Stonebridge 45pts
Wednesday, May 21, Thai Country Club – Stableford
What can one say about this course other than it is true class, having hosted such tournaments as the Asian Honda Classic in 1997, which was won by Tiger, as well as the Johnnie Walker Super Tour in 1998 and four time host to the Volvo Masters from 2005 to 2008.
The course was presented today in great condition with both the greens and fairways being as good as anything in the Pattaya area, and apart from the difficulty of actually trying to get to the course, due to the roadworks etc., it set up an excellent day out.
Tim, Mark and Phil with their lovely caddies at Thai Country Club.
This was the first of four very exclusive visits to Thai Country Club, in a deal that culminates in the final of the Outback’s Race2Bkk here on August 20th, when as well as the 20 or 24 finalists vying for the 20,000 baht top prize, there will be other slots available for the normal daily comp.
We elected to play from the shorter white tees (6034 yards) as it was our first visit, which could be regarded as a sighting round. The scoring was about right, 38pts being the top score which works out at about par after taking the rating (69.4) and the slope (122) into consideration. However, in discussion afterwards the general consensus was to play the blues next time.
The excellent turnout of 29 players, who had the benefit of a two-tee start, were divided into two divisions, the first of which was won by Terry O’Connor on c/b (last 6) from Mike Gosden, both with 38pts, with J P Maffray in third on 37, getting there at the last hole with a very fine birdie and welcome to the Outback all three of you. Steve Mann took fourth place after starting from the 10th and amassing 22pts at the turn but disappointed on the back, with just 14 for a total of 36.
As we returned so late the presentation was held at 7pm, when Henry Wong was announced the winner of division 2 on c/b from Kim Danboise, again on c/b (last 6) and again both with 38pts, but at the time the cards were only checked manually. After entering the scores into the computer, the placings were reversed with Kim being the amended winner. Third place went to Tim Knight, enjoying his best round for a long time, on 37 and in fourth was Stefan Hofe (34) who headed three other players on the same score.
There were three ‘2’s from Jack Moseley & Brad Jordison (11th) and Mike Gosden (16th).
Finally, my thanks to the management at Thai Country Club who have made these visits possible and we look forward to our next trip here, which is now the amended date of June 11th.
Div A (0-15)
1st Terry O’Connor (10) 38pts
2nd Mike Gosden (11) 38pts
3rd Jean P Maffray (12) 37pts
4th Stephen Mann (11) 36pts
Div B (16+)
1st Kim Danboise (19) 38pts
2nd Henry Wong (20) 38pts
3rd Tim Knight (27) 37pts
4th Stefan Hoge (18) 34pts
Friday, May 23, Green Valley – Stableford
With Green Valley closed for the Pro Tournament the twenty Outbackers were moved to St. Andrews. Considering this is their signature course I was very disappointed with its presentation. I spoke to two Aussie visitors who have played six courses in the area and they rated this at the bottom of their list.
Three of our guys played in the little publicised Pro-Am that took place on Wednesday and a great day out with beautiful weather.
Back to our golf at St Andrews and Andy Makara with a great 24 on the front nine won the 2nd division with 36pts from Aussie visitor Rob Wode (34) and Les Easton (33), whilst Wally Brown won the top division with 34pts, ahead of Kev Waycott (33) and Dennis Pelly (32).
There were two ‘2’s from John O’Keefe and Murray Hart.
Div A (0-17)
1st Wally Brown (13) 34pts
2nd Kev Waycott (10) 33pts
3rd Dennis Pelly (12) 32pts
Div B (18+)
1st Andy Makara (25) 36pts
2nd Rob Wode (18) 34pts
3rd Les Easton (23) 33pts
Note: The Outback Golf Bar is situated about 6km from Sukhumvit Road along Soi Siam Country. Call Jack on 081 578 1956.
