Two of Thailand’s most popular sporting clubs have planned a bumper weekend of sport on the lush grounds of Horseshoe Point in Pattaya where a game of Australian rules football and a local grudge match of rugby will be played.   On Saturday June 26, the Thailand Tigers Australian Football Club and the Southerners Rugby Club will travel to Pattaya. The Tigers will play a hotly contested intra-club game where selection to represent Thailand in the upcoming Asian Championships will be on the line, while the Bangkok-based Southerners will play local club, the Pattaya Panthers.   The afternoon will kick off with the rugby game at 2pm, before the Australian rules match will be played. All three clubs are encouraging the local Pattaya community to come along and support a team and enjoy a barbeque and some ice cold and refreshing beverages.   Thailand Tiger’s President, Stephen Richards, said the Tiger’s have played at least one game each year at Horseshoe Point and each time a great group of supporters had turned up to watch the game.   “We hope we have a similar good response for sport lovers in Pattaya and anyone who might like a game of Australian rules or rugby should also come along and join one of the teams for the day,” Richards said.   “The Southerners and the Thailand Tigers are two pretty big clubs in Thailand who love their sport and the games are sure to be hotly contested. The rugby season is just about to start again so the Southerners will be looking to find some early touch while the Tiger’s players will be striving to make the side we will take to Shanghai for the Asian Championships against ten other teams.”

Southerners Head of Rugby Darrel Lintott said playing the Pattaya Panthers was always a big challenge and he was sure they would provide a great test as the 2010 rugby season kicks off in Bangkok.   “As a home game for the Panthers we are expecting a pretty tough game as they are always a very competitive outfit,” Lintott said.   “We have been doing plenty of work on the training track for the upcoming season and playing the Panthers will be a great gauge for us as to where we are at. Horseshow Point is a great venue to be playing at so we hope we can get a good crown down there for what should be a good game of rugby.”

Playing an 8-a-side and 6 overs an innings format the tournament provided a fast paced spectacle for those playing, as well as the many locals who turned out to support their respective teams. Of course the local cricket team had an unfair advantage, but the games were played in the true spirit of the sport.

PCC and the Golfers were the early form teams and both won their opening fixtures to set up a much anticipated final. The footballers, who missed their opening bowler due a late night World Cup experience, slowly got to grips with the game and its many vagaries to improve sufficiently to look expectantly forward to a third/fourth place play off against their oval ball rivals. It was the rugby team that took the day’s biggest hammering in their opening match at the hands of the golfers by conceding 90 runs, but they too soon adapted well to the unfamiliar game to have high expectations of clinching the bragging rights over their round ball opponents.

A day at the cricket would not be complete without rain and it duly arrived, quite literally with a bang, that halted play for half an hour and the players took the opportunity to revive themselves with some of the copious amounts of beer on offer.

Before the final matches the Thoroughbred teams, captained by the founding members Joe Grunwell and Graham Evans played their first ever match and in doing so established, what will surely be, a playing tradition that will last a very, very long time. The game went to the last over and Graham worked the penultimate ball smoothly through the covers to secure the joyous victory. The game gave all players immense satisfaction and most a new lease of life as memories of yesteryear came flooding back. To top off a wonderful day for the ‘more experienced’ cricketers the wives provided a cricket tea that personified the quality and class the Thoroughbreds bring to Pattaya Cricket Club.

In the playoff the footballers batted first, but their skipper Rick Bryant failed to live up to his hard hitting pre-match talk and was comprehensively clean bowled for a three ball naught by the wily Richard Reardon. Harpic Bryant valiantly carried her bat to finish 10 not out, but tight bowling and expert fielding positioning by Paul Crouch restricted the score to 28, with Richard Holt being the pick of the bunch. Despite Dave Brown and Mark Thomson’s best efforts with the ball and Helen Ball’s golden duck the rugby team easily reached their target, whereupon the drinking started in earnest.

In the final the golfers elected to bowl first in their game with PCC and it seemed a great decision as Andy Emery and Simon Philbrook removed the openers and kept the cricketers on the back foot. However, the senior players of Salman Khan and Leon Bouter capitalised in the final two overs with some big hitting to post a competitive 64. Lindon Giuffrida showed how to bowl fast and straight and the cricket captain for the day Leon displayed his left arm artistry to keep the pressure on the little ball players and despite a well constructed 24 not out from Gareth Gill the cricketers finished 10 runs short. The sigh of relief from the red leather ball team at the realisation that humiliation had been avoided was audible around the ground!

Special thanks go to the umpires Kim Fletcher and the irrepressible George Jackson and Mim the scorer.

Whilst there were winners and losers on the day the biggest winner was the game of cricket. This was a day that represented another giant step for the development of cricket in Pattaya and the ‘friendship of cricket’, the motto of Pattaya Cricket Club.

All players and social members are welcome and please contact us on pattayacricketclub@gmail.com or visit our website at www.pattayacricketclub.com

It was refreshing to have some new faces to photograph on Saturday after play.

I do not have a problem with photographing winners they are always well deserved. However when the same faces appear week after week it does not make for great viewing for the readers.

This Weeks “Happy” Saturday New Faces winners Dave Bell, Alan Rawson and Andre Coetreze

And it is great for someone new to step in to the spotlight. Who knows maybe for the first time in their lives.

See my report for Saturdays play and the picture below at Khao Kheow to find out who were the new faces.

I must say that it is also nice to get back to normality after the Songkran activities and our normal four outings of golf.

It started with Monday 20th and off to Bangpra.  

Just a small but who knows maybe exclusive group of just ten players.

I think that also had something to do with the weekend activities as well.

Mike Rushant was the man to make hay while the sun shined with his thirty-five pointer and take top honours followed home by Daryl Ottaway and Paul Scholes both at thirty-four with Daryl taking it after count back over the back nine. A single two from Jeff Boylan took home the goodies this week.

Tuesday 21st and off to Burapha again not great numbers took part but it enabled Daryl Ottaway to go one better than the previous day and take the win with a thirty-four just the one up on Larry Simpson at thirty-three (he also recorded the only two on the day) who in turn was one ahead of Jeff Boylan at thirty-two.

On to Thursday and our regular weekly visit to Phoenix Mountains and Ocean.

 A good turnout as players like this course. I am unsure why but the ladies seem to always do well at this course. Some might say that the yardage off the ladies tees is in there favour. True but you still have to play good golf to take the win and that is exactly what Amphan North is doing week after week this week with thirty-eight points and two ahead of Ted Senior at thirty-six. Two further back was Jeff Wilcox who topped a stack of thirty-fours beating Mod Chaviraksa by two on the count-back. I am unsure if there were any two’s on the day as no sheet supplied.

Saturday was the turn of a visit to Khao Kheow the second of our weekend regular venues.

So it is down to new names in the frame.

It was a win for Alan Rawson at thirty-six. A second to Andre Coetreze at thirty five beating Ted Senior on count back and Dave Bell fourth at thirty-four after he also beat Mod Chaviraksa on count back.

Three two’s recorded from Amphan North, Andre Coetreze and Daryl Ottoway

Just for reference Ted Senior was cut by one shot in handicap for general play under the twelve point ruling used at the TRGG and is now off 11.5 and it is about time to.  

If you want any further information about the golf outings played by the TRGG please contact the hotel on 0860567019 or call in to the Travellers Rest in Soi LK Metro.

Detailed Results for the week –

Monday 19th March at Bangpra

Mike Rushant                  35 hc 13

Daryl Ottoway                 34 hc 08 c/b

Paul Scholes                  34 hc 12 c/b

Fergus Brennan             31 hc 09

Tuesday 20th March at Burapra

Daryl Ottoway                  34 hc 08

Larry Simpson                  33 hc 10

Jeff Boylan                       32 hc 26

Paul Scholes                    30 hc 12

Thursday 22nd April at Phoenix – Mountain and Ocean

Amphan North                   38 hc 13

Ted Senior                          36 hc 13

Jeff Wilcox                          34 hc 23 c/b

Mod Chaviraksa                 34 hc 12 c/b

Saturday 24th April at Khao Kheow

Alan Rawson                  36 hc 14

Andre Coetreze              35 hc 08 c/b

Ted Senior                      35 hc 13 c/b

Dave Ball                        34 hc 18 c/b

Mod Chaviraksa              34 hc 12 c/b

Matt Miller on the left with Dale Drader on the right.

Checking of the cards revealed that the heat had in fact taken its toll on the scores.  Two Canadians ended up on top of the heap, Matt Miller with a 32, and Dale Drader with a 31.  Proving that a little heat is not going to slow someone who has been tested in some real summer heat.”

No movement throughout the league, as all the top teams won. The battle for Pattayaland once again ended in a split decision with Palmers taking the match and Cheers the beer. Both teams shared equally the delightful food bounty provided by Master Chef Bob of cheese, onion and potato pie (with Stilton of course) and a beautiful veggie soup with bread and butter. Did I say equally, Hairy Scairy Stan was last seen carrying a couple of containers of the delicious soup up to his quarters for a closer examination of the tasty ingredients, darts Stan and his compliments to the Chef! Graham’s boy and girls at O’Leary’s upset Deputy Matt and Sheriff Jim by taking both game and beer, the boys at the OK must have been sitting around their camp fire talking about darts instead of playing darts. Even Graham couldn’t believe how good his team played! Rising Sun had a long way to travel as they headed to Yates bar at least we saved Steven 100bt in baht bus fee’s,  Rock Steady Eddie and his nid noi team were waiting for us, and it was in and out quick as a flash as the Rising Sun team were not hanging about as it was all over by 10 past 10! But it wasn’t good enough to be top of the league as we are still a point behind the Mee Chew, Still we have two weeks to go! It looked like the Rising Sun were going to win this match without any under 10’s but Paul played so we got two! Still not bad and Monkey lost to a girl, Soaw (sorry wrong night that was Thursday night, not Friday night…OOpps) Mee Chew v Bunker Boy’s and we needed Mick and SupersTAr to beat Melly’s team as that would of put the Rising Sun top! We did hear that the Bunker Bar were 3 – 0 down at one point, but with supersTAr superb win over the viking with a 17 & bull finish,  it looked like it was turning around but as it happens Micks team could only get 3 games as they lost 7 – 3 to Mee Chew minus Melly, but he is back to try and win the league, game on! The Lucky Time Met with the London boys, I don’t know the score because I was not informed but sources say it was a fun night with loads of food and some unexpected wins ie Paul checked out his games…Lets Play Darts =–>

First and Second

  This was a small group as our numbers were cut into by escapees from free showers, and people marooned in Europe by ‘The Cloud’, also taking time out during this week. In fact we had not played for some time as we had taken a break from golf.

     So it was up the road to Greenwood, and what did we find?, well an empty Course. Changed and onto the Course and not only was the Course empty, but it was in great condition. So around we zoomed. They also had a ‘Special’ that was green, caddy and cart, plus a meal and a beer when we got back, all for 1500 Baht. Yes we had a bit of that. Back at Bert’s the scores were not bad!!, so the winner was Bill Knight with 36 points ahead of Steve Compton in second with 35 points and in third was Derek Brook with 33 points ahead of Peter Whitehead on countback.

 So to the near pins and with only one green hit by Peter Whitehead, yes 3 greens with no one on, we had a bit of a damp squid. So T.T.F.N..

Green Valley Winners

One of the main points they wished to communicate to all who attended was to apologize for some of the unfortunate misunderstandings regarding overbooking of the first tee on many occasions. Other topics would include course changes and future policy.

Green Valley runners-up

The meeting turned out to be one of great interest and proved to be very constructive. It was quite obvious that the management were keen to try and encourage future good relations with all groups. A free round of golf at St. Andrews 2000 after the meeting could only make the spirit even better!

Klaus Schackt, a long time member of Green Valley, had helped the Management Group to better understand the farrang way of thinking and their requirements.

Green Valley 3rd place

At the end of the meeting Klaus unveiled their plan to organize a 144 player strong competition in the way of a four ball scramble with a shot gun start. This was greeted with huge delight, especially when it was announced that the only cost would be the caddy fee of 250 baht. I have never seen a competition fill up so quickly.

And so the day came upon us. The weather was set fair, although a little hot but with a nice breeze to keep the humidity down.

After many days leading up to the competition where poor old Klaus had to contend with many changes over the phone the final start sheet was compiled and the transport buses ferried everyone to their respective start holes to await the BIG BANG? AND IT WAS!

One of the topics of the original meeting was to announce the changing round of the course back to having what is now the 5th hole reverting back to the 1st. This would have been superb for my two teams who had been drawn out to start on 2nd hole. This would have been quite a nice comfortable par 4 to start on. Somewhere prior to the game the idea of changing the course round was abandoned which meant my two groups were, in fact starting on the par 3 surrounded by lots of water. YOU WICKED MAN, YOU? Never mind both teams managed to record a par.

What a stroke of genius to decide to draw a circle around every hole on the greens so as to accept that any ball played within it could be assumed a gimme. This seems to be a great way to speed up a scramble. And it did.

After the game it was shower time and into the main ballroom for food and drink (again supplied free of charge by the Green Valley management) and to await the prize presentation. The food was very adequate and the free beer soon disappeared, (No surprise)

The result of the tournament was: -

1st PLACE; (Nett 56.3) HARRY RILEY, DAVE STOCKMAN, MARK WILLIAMSON & PAUL BUTLER.

2nd PLACE; (Nett 56.9) BRUCE TOLLIT, DAMIEN TRANT, JAMES SAVAGE & PHONSE McGAHAGN

3rd PLACE; (Nett 57.2) ROY THORNTON, GRANT CADELL, BARRY TRAYLING & RICK HOLMES. 

As you can see all of these players received a very handsome trophy each, presented by the general manager of Green valley, KHUN NIRAND.

After the main prizes were handed out it was time for the lucky draw. Thank god for lucky draws. It’s the only way a lot of players (including myself) can ever win anything.

Again, it has to be said the amount of lucky draw prizes and the quality was a tribute to GREEN VALLEY for their generosity. At least one member of every team won something.

After the presentation I was informed that there had been a HOLE IN ONE recorded on the day by BOB PATTERSON, but for some unknown reason either he or his team did not wish it to be publicised? No fear of a bar bill. The beer was free?

Never mind, CONGRATULATIONS FROM EVERYONE.

Finally, the object of the whole exercise was to create good will from the management of GREEN VALLEY and there was no doubt about it, they succeeded hugely.

From all the players who were treated to this event we all say a great big THANKYOU 

With the future in mind, GREEN VALLEY GOLF CLUB are to hold another day out on the 28th APRIL 2010. This will be an individual competition with special green fee rates applying on the day. For further information regarding this please contact The Information Desk in the Club House. 

Mike Gerrard. 

PP Klaus Schackt.