Allidi Has A 69 At Emerald!

by Peter Blackburn

Emerald – Stableford

After one no-show we settled for a field of 18 golfers and assembled at The Growling Swan in preparation for the trip to the Emerald Golf Club. There had been several recent negative reports regarding the condition of this golf course and some had vowed to give it a miss for a while, but we decided to find out for ourselves as it is popular with our members. We welcomed back Sandy "leaperfrog" Leiper after his short trip to Scotland and also first timers Jan Piet Andersen and Thor Olsen, formerly of Norway but now residing in Pattaya. The skies were clear and another fine day was anticipated as we left the GS on time. The journey was a touch slower than normal and we arrived at the course 50 minutes later to find it practically deserted. This enabled us to tee off at our leisure. Our first group, a three ball, got away 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Carts were allowed on the fairways at a 90 degree angle but, as there had been rain overnight and conditions appeared a bit wet, winter rules through the greens were allowed.

It was hot with blue skies above and as we proceeded we were all remarking on what the fuss had been about as the golf course was completely playable with several areas of G.U.R on the approaches to some of the greens but not posing any real problems for those who are truly dedicated to and enjoy the game of golf.

We were held up on the front nine by a slow non-Thai four ball which resulted in a time of two hours and 15 minutes, but after a talking to by the course marshall they shot away on the back nine. Although as it was becoming very hot we found it necessary to take a couple of drink breaks.

We finished our full round in four hours and 30 minutes. It must be said that we found the golf course in quite good shape considering their problems with recent rain. The greens were firm and true and at times fairly slick. We will most certainly be back next month!

We were able to have two grades with three podium spots in each. A Grade was for handicaps 0 to 18 and B Grade for 19 and over. We had nearest the pins on all the par threes, which were sponsored by Graham Buckingham, Brad Todd, Mozart Bronze and The Growling Swan. There were also rewards for longest first putts on the 9th and 18 greens, which were sponsored by the guys from Mandurah Country Club. Many thanks to these golfers for their generosity.

Two handicapper Mike Allidi certainly had no trouble with the golf course as he carded a gross 69 with 15 pars and three birdies to give him 41 Stableford points and a clear winner in the A grade. In second spot came Eddie Townsend with a fine 38 points and the colorful Walter Baechli finished third with 36 points. Once more it was Brad "Toddy Junior" Todd who won the B grade with a solid 34 points, three points ahead of Graham "Grunter" Buckingham in second place and veteran Kevin Dinan third with 29 points.

Results for Emerald:

A Grade – 0 to 18

1st – Mike Allidi (2) – 41 points

2nd – Eddie Townsend (18) – 38 points

3rd – Walter Baechli (18) – 36 points

B Grade – 19 and over

1st – Brad Todd (19) – 34 points

2nd – Graham Buckingham (24) – 31 points

3rd – Kevin Dinan (26) – 29 points

NTP's

5th – Mike Allidi

7th – Graham Buckingham

13th – Bjarne Kjaer

15th – Brad Todd

LFP's

9th – Walter Baechli

18th – Bjarne Kjaer

The Growling Swan NAGA Award (for worst score on the day and discreetly their score is not made public) was well won on this occasion by Allan "parrot" Tranaeker and, as is usual for him, he accepted the award in fine spirit. Then it was back to The Growling Swan for many Aussie cold, low-priced beers and the usual post mortems of what could have been on the golf course earlier. Lots of fun and "mickey taking" of course and a great way to finish a good day.

Growling Swan Golf welcomes golfers of any persuasion – low and high handicappers alike, female golfers and beginners. We generally play Mondays and Thursdays, meeting at The Growling Swan (formerly The Bunker Bar) in Soi Chaiyapoon at 8 a.m. with transport departing at 8:30. For bookings or more information please contact Peter on 0806 351 386 or email petermbl@hotmail.com