IPGC Pattaya Golf Society at Rabbi’s Elephant Bar

On Tuesday, 6th July, the Pattaya Golf Society once again visited the delightful course at Royal Lakeside between Chonburi and Bang Na. The day was heavily overcast and the predicted thunderstorm arrived to delay the final three holes by almost an hour on an otherwise excellent day for golf. The course was in excellent condition and the greens are the best in the area currently. Good scores are expected here but on this day the mosquitoes posed more problems than the course and the concentration of the golfers was certainly affected by their presence in the excessively humid conditions. Faring better than most was Wichai Tananusorn who posted a stableford score of 34 points for third place, two behind runner-up Masa Takano, once again finding good form as he also recorded the day's best gross of eighty shots.

The winner was Canadian Tim Lazecki for whom the course is certainly a favourite, having recorded net 68 there in early March. His 38 points showed the benefits of his recent sessions on the driving range developing more length and accuracy in his long game. There were no birdie twos and the Booby Bevy went to Sam McLellan on a dull day when nothing seemed to go right, except his shot direction! The PGS will certainly be back at Lakeside but not until the dry season arrives!

Sam Slips Back into Gear

In common with many other Pattaya golf groups the Pattaya Golf Society took advantage yet again of Green Valley's foresight in their pricing policy regarding St Andrew's and visited the fine course on Thursday, 8th July to play a stableford competition. The weather was set fair and the course was very well presented with greens at their very best.

Off the white tees the course is approximately 6350 yards and a severe test for high handicappers so it was expected the better players would fare best. In third place was Wichai Tananusorn with 33 points but in second was thirty-something handicapper John Robertson with 34 points, on a day when most, but not all, of his herculean drives found the short stuff. A new putter also had the desired effect. The winner was Sam McLellan with 35 points, who only two days previously had shanked his way around Royal Lakeside in the depths of golfing despair. On this day however most of his shots were true and considering it was his first experience of the course his result was something of a surprise. Play it again Sam? He certainly will! Wichai took the twos pot for two very fine efforts on the third and seventeenth holes which saw run-of-the-mill putts follow two exquisite tee shots. The PGS group certainly wishes to thank the Green Valley/St Andrew's management for their perceptive promotion of the two courses and will certainly be back at St Andrew's next month.

Jon Lay's Out a Fine Win

The Pattaya Golf Society visited the Emerald course at Ban Chang on Saturday, 10th July to play a stableford competition on the course which was in fairly good condition considering the amount of rain the area has had recently. Another "plus" was the lack of other golfers on the course and having a track virtually to themselves for the first two hours helped the enjoyment of the day. In fourth place was the ever improving New Zealander Brad Dippie and his 33 points was good value from the fourteen handicapper. Sharing second place were Masa Takano and Sam McLellan on 34 points and for Sam it was his final round this trip and a fitting way to prepare for a flight a few hours later. The winner was Jon Lay, firing a gross 75 for 40 points to post a second successive forty plus score at the course in eight days. His golf on a good day can be so clinical as his eclectic total of gross 68 over the two rounds shows. There were no birdie twos and the Booby Bevy went to Mr Len as consolation for the physical and mental exhaustion he was suffering as a result of six rounds in seven days, finishing with one point on each of the final five holes. But nothing can detract from the quality golf on show at Emerald.