IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar

On Sunday, January 9, the Pattaya Golf Society travelled to Rayong CC to fulfil the next in their series of weekend bookings at the course and found that their stableford event got underway before time on an empty course which showed little after effects from the Asian Tour Q–School event which closed there the day before. The field was divided into two flights at twenty and under. In the second flight Pat Murphy found that his 32 points was good enough for third place, one behind Mr. Len's 33 point card whilst  Allen Dow took the flight victory with 36 points. In the top flight Paul McNally again shot a gross 76 for a level par stableford total which gave him third place, scant reward for such excellent golf, whilst Ronnie Ramsay's 37 points just edged him into second place. The best score of the day, again, was recorded by Jean Morel and his 38 points belied the fact that his front nine score was twenty three! Jean's short game and putting have improved so much that he is finding sub par rounds on a regular basis these days, and Rayong is a course he always enjoys. The day's only  birdie two was achieved by Steve Evans on the eve of his departure for the winter chaos of Wales. The Booby Bevy went to ten handicapper Mark Stubbing after a lacklustre round which saw him playing his first golf for four months, but he thoroughly enjoyed his first experience with the PGS. As did the other golfers at Rayong on such a fine day.

McNally Continues Fine Run
On Tuesday, January 12, the Pattaya Golf Society revisited Greenwood after an absence of a few months and found the favourite course in excellent condition, long off the back white tees and with fast greens. Conditions were perfect for an excellent stableford competition over the B and C nines. If one had any criticism it was that three of the four par threes were between 170 and 200 yards long and this takes the fun out of the shorter holes. However the two flights, cut at eleven and under made a good fist of things. In the second flight John Holmes made the most of his first round back to score 31 points and take third place whilst Ronnie Ramsay and Masashi Iizumi, both in good form at present, shared the win with 35 points each. In the top flight a returning and now retired Brian Beaupre posted 33 points for third whilst Wichai Tananusorn and Paul McNally shared the win with 36 points each. Paul's last three rounds have seen him play gross 75, 76 and 76 to emphasise the power of his game and it is gratifying to see his golf at this consistent level. Paul and Brian also shared the twos pot for their efforts on C6 whilst Ronnie Ramsay Snr savoured the Booby Bevy after a nondescript eighteen holes which saw him threaten the record low score with the group. But it was all about a fun day out on a beautiful golf course and everyone enjoyed the experience immensely.

Voller Smiles Again
On Thursday, January 14 the Pattaya Golf Society visited Bangpra to play a stableford competition on the always well presented course. On this occasion the greens had been lightly sanded and thus were a little slowert han usual but the rest of the course was fine. The two flights were divided at eighteen and under and in the second flight Masashi Iizumi ended his stay this time with a steady 32 points which gave him third place. Doubtless his smiling demeanour and adventurous golf will be missed in the months to come. In second place was Ray Atkinson, newly returned to the Kingdom and his 35 points just fell short of the winning score of Ronnie Ramsay by one point. Ronnie is another PGS golfer in form at the moment. In the top flight Dave Stockman recorded 33 points for third place and Richard Craig managed 36 points for second. The winner was Chris Voller and after a few weeks of experimenting with various replacement drivers he obviously found one to his liking and scored 38 points for the flight win. The only sub par round of the day it also represented the day's best gross of 77 shots. The twos pot was shared by Ray Banks, Dave Stockman, Paul McNally and Peter Duncan whilst Harry Cowling took the Booby Bevy for actually filling in the bizarre "Birthday" section on the scorecard. Maybe he was after a pressie from the recorder! It worked. As did Chris Voller's driver at last.