Peters Troubles the HandicapperIPGC golf from The LinksSunday, January 15, Pattaya Country Club – Stableford28 players made the short weekly trip to Pattaya Country Club, and with a strong field the cut for the two divisions was 0 -15 and 16+. Due to the heavily (over)-watered first fairway, there was a brief discussion whether to declare “lift, clean and place”, but this was deemed unnecessary, a decision which may have cost some players a shot or two as this condition was apparent on a number of fairways, leading to some boggy lies just shy of casual water.In top flight, Russell Exley recovered from a slow start to record a level gross back 9, but his 36 points were only good enough for third place, behind Barney Sheedy (37) and Keith Woolley (38).In the B flight, Andy Galvin and Ted Murphy played some solid golf to record 35 and 37 points respectively. The Round of the day however belonged to genial Irishman Joe Peters, who recorded his best ever score in Thailand, carding a gross 82 off his 18 handicap to return a massive 44 points. Not bad for a 71 year old, although needless to say, Joe, it will be a long time before you play off 18 again!Joe’s card also included a brace of two’s with Jon Batty the only other beneficiary in the two’s comp.A flight1 Keith Woolley (14) 38 pts 2 Barney Sheedy (10) 37 pts3 Russell Exley (7)36 ptsB Flight1 Joe Peters (18) 44 pts2 Ted Murphy (22) 37 pts3 Andy Galvin (20) 35 ptsTuesday, Jan 17, Laem Chabang – Stableford27 players travelled to Laem Chabang, another firm favorite of the Links group, but with heavy rain during the front 9, one group decided to take advantage of the 9 hole “rain check”, so only 24 returned scores. The courses for the day were the Mountain and Lake, by far the easiest combination at Laem Chabang, and playing off the white tees at a little over 6000 yds, the point scores were understandably high, with over half the field returning 30 points or better and the css for the day played one below par.The two flights were split at 0-16 and 17+, with Barney Munnin taking first place in the A flight, shooting gross 82 to return 43 points. Returning Irishman Sean Connolly was second, 6 points behind, edging out John McKenna by a single point.In the B flight, Ted Murphy got his revenge on Joe Peters for his Sunday score, this time his second consecutive 37 point haul proved good enough to knock Joe back into second place by two points. Andy Galvin again had to settle for third.There were four two’s, the pot being shared equally by Andy Galvin, Joe McArdle, Frank McGowan and Michael Walsh.A Flight 1 Barney Munnin (17) 43 pts2 Sean Connolly (9)37 pts3 John McKenna (16) 36 ptsB Flight 1 Ted Murphy (22) 37 pts2 Joe Peters (18) 35 pts3 Andy Galvin (20) 31 ptsThursday, Jan 19, St Andrews – StablefordThe heavy rain before tee off led to a slight delay on Thursday, but did not deter any of the 29 golfers, although it may have been a contributor to the difficulty of the course, which played much harder than par off the white tees, and with only three players scoring 30 points or better the css moved out a full two shots to 76. In the A flight, handicaps 0 -18, Robert Lamond continued his good run of form, with the only level par round of the day, 3 shots ahead of John Chelo. Risto Kopu took third place by way of count back, beating Graham Johnson 14-13 on the back 9.In the B flight, Seiko Ojima was delighted to take the pot with 30 points. His victory was soured, however, when the following day he realized that he had left his wallet at the course, and spent most of his winnings on a taxi fare to go and retrieve it. Henry Mah and Mikko Antilla completed the places with 27 and 26 points respectively.The only two of the day went to Toni Nichols.A Flight 1 Robert Lamond (5) 36 pts2 John Chelo (18) 33 pts3 Risto Kopu (13) 29 ptsB Flight 1 Seiko Ojima (24) 30 pts2 Henry Mah (23) 27 pts3 Mikko Antilla (22) 26 ptsNoteThe Links depart from the hotel on Soi Buakhao at 9.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10.00am for Pattaya Country Club every Sunday. Sign up at the hotel or contact Jon on 0800211034. A full schedule of courses can be found on the IPGC website www.ipgc.org
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Groves the master of St Andrews IPGC golf from The Links Sunday, February 16th , Pattaya Country Club – Stableford 30 players made the short trip for the final time this high season, as the course is apparently about to close 9 holes for much needed renovation. There were the usual two divisions with the cut coming at 0-15 and 16+. The A flight proved to be a scorers nightmare, with a 5 way countback for third place on 33 points. Terry Kelly and Martin Higgins were the first to fall, only managing 15 on the tougher back 9, with Keith Woolley & Joe McArdle next on16. Des Griffiths, fresh over from Ireland, took the podium place with 17. There was also a countback for first place, with Peter Skinner fading after a 20 point front 9 but only 15 on the back. His playing partner Jon Batty continued his run of good form, playing off his new 7 handicap and finishing strongly, to score 18 points on the back 9 after finishing par-birdie-par on the tough final stretch. In the B flight, Andy Galvin triumphed for the second Sunday running, being the only player in either flight to shoot par, finishing one ahead of Rod Howett, with Jean Morel a further point back in third. Two’s went to Des Griffiths, Charlie Lapsey, Terry Kelly and Rod Howett. A flight 1 Jon Batty (7) 35 pts 2 Peter Skinner (10) 35 pts 3 Des Griffiths (4) 33 pts B Flight 1 Andy Galvin (18) 36 pts 2 Rod Howett (24) 35 pts 3 Jean Morel 18)) 34 pts Tuesday, February 28, St Andrews - Stableford With a number of regulars again choosing to play an alternative venue, a reduced field of 16 players signed up for St Andrews, meaning only one flight. This was my first visit there for a while, and although not my favourite course, it was as usual in good condition, although the greens had recently been top dressed and proved to be painfully slow. Mike Korneys putting lessons nearly paid off as he scored a creditable 34 points, only a wayward drive at the 18 cost him a place and he had to settle for fourth spot. Visiting Aussies Frank Dunstan and Glenn Eldershaw placed third and second respectively, but the round of the week went to Phil Groves, who went round in 3 over gross to score 42 points off his 9 handicap. Although I don’t normally do requests, Rick Morgan gets a special mention for his eagle 4 at the par 6 fourth. Unfortunately we haven’t yet introduced an “eagle pot”, much to Ricks consternation! Jon Batty registered his third two in four rounds to take the pot alone. 1 Phil Groves (9) 42pts 2 Glenn Eldershaw (23) 37 pts 3 Frank Dunstan (23) 35 pts Thursday, Mar 1 , Khao Kheow - Stableford A strong field of 22 players, including 9 single figure handicappers, meant we were back to two flights, with an unusually low cut coming at 0 -10 and 11+. It’s been a long time since our last visit, and we chose to tackle the B&C courses of the yellow tees. The course was generally in good condition, but was playing tough, and none of the strong field managed to play to par. Peter skinner managed his second podium finish of the week, beating Charley Lapsey 14 - 13 on countback to take third place with 31 points. The mysterious Mr Martin took second place with 32, but honours again went to Fairways regular Richard Hurley, who only seems to play with us when he’s short of a few Bob! The B flight was a close affair, with Joe McArdle, unusually relegated to the second division, taking the honours and pushing for promotion, ahead of Frank Dunstan and regular winner Andy Galvin. The two’s pot was shared by Joe McArdle & Des Griffiths. A flight 1 Richard Hurley (7) 35 pts 2 Mr Martin (9) 32 pts 3 Peter Skinner (10) 31 pts B flight 1 Joe McArdle (12) 35 pts 2 Frank Dunstan (23) 34 pts 3 Andy Galvin (18) 33 pts Note The Links depart from the hotel on Soi Buakhao at 9.30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10.00am for Rayong Green Valley every Sunday. Sign up at the hotel or contact Jon on 0800211034. A full schedule of courses can be found on the IPGC website www.ipgc.org |
