GOLF NEWS
Hua Hin Golf Society
Monthly Competition: This competition is being played funnily enough once a month, for those wishing to play from one tee box back from our normal tee boxes, (entrants are limited to group 'A' players), and on that day there is also a Stableford competition as well, off the normal tee boxes.
Autumn Trip: 1st September to 4th September. The sign up sheet is now available at Bernys Inn. We are arranging a trip back to Ratchaburi, where we will be staying at the Western Grand Hotel which is a different hotel to previous visits. The golf courses being played are: Monday 1st September - Dragon Hills. Tuesday 2nd September - Suwan (Note: not Sawang). Wednesday 3rd September - Royal Ratchaburi. Information is on the Societies Notice Board and the web site. Members will be given priority.
Match play: First/Preliminary Round 17 October
Stroke play: 28 November & 2 December
Scratch play: Open to Category 1 & 2 players (handicap 12 & under) 9 & 12 December
Recent Results
15 August – Palm Hills
One Group Only – Stableford
1st Helmut Ruchti 37 Points 24 hcp. 2nd Nitha 35 Points 15 hcp.
3rd Jon Lundgren 34 Points 8 hcp. 4th Mick Evans 34 Points 10 hcp.
12 August - Lake View
One Group only - Stableford
1st Sam Sheriff 39 points 7 hcp. 2nd Calum 38 points 10 hcp.
3rd Mick Evans 37 points 10 hcp. 4th Kari Matti 34 points 5 hcp.
8 August - Springfield
One Group only - Stableford
1st Enrico 37 points 16 hcp. 2nd Kari Matti 36 points 5 hcp.
3rd Barry (g) 34 points 10 hcp. 4th Sheila Bird 34 points 21 hcp.
5 August - Royal Hua Hin
One Group only - Stableford
1st Judith Thomson 37 points 36 hcp. 2nd Jon Lundgren 35 points 8 hcp.
3rd Ian Henderson 33 points 7 hcp. 4th Peter Tucker 32 Points 9 hcp.
1 August - Black Mountain
One Group only - Stableford
1st Kari Matti 39 points 6 hcp. 2nd Ulf Sparvman 37 points 3 hcp.
3rd John Rouhiala 35 points 13 hcp. 4th Niclas 34 points 15 hcp.
28 July - Majestic Creek
One Group only - Stableford
1st Chris Davidson 36 points 19 hcp. 2nd Kari Matti 36 points 7 hcp.
3rd Ben V. Amelsvoort 36 points 19 hcp. 4th Richard Denyer 35 points 15 hcp.
25 July - Springfield
Competition played from one tee box back from our normal tee boxes stroke-play.
1st Per Eriksson net 73 6 hcp. 2nd Ulf Sparvman net 75 3 hcp. 3rd Barry Moore net 76 7 hcp.
Group A - For players handicapped from the White Tee Boxes - Stableford
1st Fritz Schroeder 31 points 7 hcp. 2nd Graeme Pearson 29 points 14 hcp.
3rd Kari Matti 29 points 7 hcp. 4th John Rouhiala 28 points 13 hcp.
Group B - For players handicapped from the Red Tee Boxes - Stableford
1st Boom Schroeder 38 points 14 hcp. 2nd Sainapa 35 points 25 hcp.
3rd Ooi 25 points 31 hcp.
22 July - Lake View - Toby's Memorial Trophy
48 entrants 24 Teams to the competition.
Winners of Toby's Memorial Trophy on Count Back - Adrian Salt & Robert Baker 49 points.
Runners Up - Peter Tucker & Steve Aristodemou 49 points.
Fixtures for September 2008
Monday 1st Dragon Hills - Ratchaburi Trip
Tuesday 2nd Suwan - Ratchaburi Trip
Wednesday 3rd Royal Ratchaburi - Ratchaburi Trip
Tuesday 9th Black Mountain
Friday 12th Majestic Creek - Stableford + 11th Round of the Summer Pairs
Tuesday 16th Royal Hua Hin – 4 Ball Texas Scamble
Friday 19th Palm Hills - Stableford + 12th Round of the Summer Pairs
Tuesday 23rd Springfield – Stableford plus back tee competition
Friday 26th Lake View - Stableford + 13th Round of the Summer Pairs
Tuesday 30th to be announced
Forthcoming Events.
May to September - Pairs Match play League
September - Autumn trip
Match play - 1st/preliminary round – 17th October.
Stroke play - 1st round 28th November, 2nd round 2nd December.
Scratch play - 1st round 9th December, 2nd round 12th December.
For updated information visit our web site: www.huahingolfsociety.com
Contact us by email: huahingolfsociety@hotmail.com
BUTTERFLY ROCK GOLF CLUB
The results for the end of July into August have produced some remarkable scores, particularly on Mondays where our Captain has finally hit some form and where John Anstee has re-discovered his youth. Intervening returns, however, show how fragile form can be, suggesting that we will always suffer more from the ridiculous than the sublime. Our Trophy was the Jack Curran Cup which was won by Doug Miller who is in a rich vein of form at the moment. His score of 40 Stableford points was hotly pursued by our other man in form, Peter Fitzpatrick (38), Brent O’Bell (37) and Vice Captain, Paul Williams (37). The donor of the Trophy, Pat Curran, was regrettably unable to compete in the tournament as he is still recovering from a tussle with some railway tracks but his generosity was lavish and his lively presentation admirable. All competitors had a great day and our thanks are once again due to Pat who will hopefully be back on the course soon. Our ‘fun’ competition was with 3 clubs and a putter, the result of which perhaps suggests that the single figure players are burdening their caddies unnecessarily. All four top places went to single figure players with very respectable scores which firmly establishes that we need more clubs and they are very few! Congratulations to Paul, Kari-Matti, Doug and Timo. Kari-Matti has had a very good month, playing some exceptional golf - possibly because he no longer has to clean his own car?
Looking forward to September, the Club has a very busy schedule planned. The Club Championship will be staged at Lake View on the 1st and at Palm Hills on the 3rd. The format will be the usual Medal and defending champions, Bob Welsh and John Anstee will be competing. On the 17th, The Landcorp Trophy will be held at Lake View. Brent O’Bell, the donor, has asked for a rather different format and it has been agreed that two teams will compete in a Ryder Cup format. The team of English players will meet the Rest of the World in a better ball first nine holes and a singles second nine in what is sure to be a fiercely contested event. Already, there have been dark mumblings of ‘dirty tricks’ and something antipodean known, I am told, as ‘sledging’! Surely not. In an attempt to protect the innocent, birth certificates will not be required to support entries to either team.
Another two day event is planned at Dragon Hills for the 24th and 25th September. Details will be published on our website and at the Limelight Bar. This will hopefully be as well supported as earlier events. Finally, most Courses have extended the August festival rates through September, so let’s take full advantage with some big turn-outs. Enjoy your golf.
BRGC RESULTS
14th July – Lake View – Stableford
1st Don Wyber (G) – 34 pts (16 hcp)
2nd Howard Lewis – 32 pts (26 hcp)
3rd Bob Welsh – 32 pts (7 hcp)
4th David Rawlings – 32 pts (18 hcp)
21st July – Lake View – Stableford
1st David Rawlings – 39 pts (18 hcp)
2nd Paul Williams – 36 pts (3 hcp)
3rd Peter Fitzpatrick – 36 pts (7 hcp)
4th Larry English – 36 pts (8 hcp)
23rd July – Lake View – Stableford
The Jack Curran Trophy
1st – Doug Miller – 40 pts (10 hcp)
2nd – Peter Fitzpatrick – 38 pts (7 hcp)
3rd - Brent O’Bell – 37 pts (14 hcp)
4th – Paul Williams – 37 pts (2 hcp)
28th July – Lake View – Stableford
1st – David Rawlings – 40 pts (17 hcp)
2nd – John Anstee – 39 pts (19 hcp)
3rd – Mike Ford – 37 pts (13 hcp)
4th – Steve O’Brien – 36 pts (16 hcp)
30th July – Majestic Creek – Medal
1st – Kari-Matti Manniko – 76 – 7 – 69
2nd – Doug Miller – 78 – 9 – 69
3rd – Steve O’Brien – 85 – 15 – 70
4th – Bill Malone – 89 – 19 – 70
4th August - Lake View – Stableford
1st – John Anstee – 41 pts (18 hcp)
2nd – Peter Tucker – 40 pts (9 hcp)
3rd – Kari-Matti Manniko – 40 pts (7 hcp)
4th – Steve O’Brien – 37 pts (15 hcp)
6th August – Lake View – 3 Clubs + Putter
1st – Paul Williams – 35 pts (2 hcp)
2nd – Kari-Matti Manniko – 34 pts – (6 hcp)
3rd – Doug Miller – 31 pts – (9 hcp)
4th – Timo Ripatti – 31 pts – (7 hcp)
Fixture List for September
1st – Lake View – Medal (1st Round Club Championship)
3rd – Palm Hills – Medal (2nd Round Club Championship)
10th – Majestic Creek – Better Ball
17th – Lake View – The Landcorp Trophy (England V R.O.W.)
24th and 25th – Dragon Hills - Two day competition
On The Green
Dutchman Michael van Amelsvoort (35), the Head Golf Professional at Springfield Village has been around Hua Hin a long time. “My parents were expats, and I first came here in 1990 as a 17-year-old kid”, he says. “My dad worked for a big oil company, so I was educated in this area, went on to study hotel management, and then took a course in Golf Course Management in Phoenix, Arizona from 1998. When I came back to Thailand I did some freelance teaching, and then started working full-time here in April 2000, so I have been here now for eight years.” The vast spread at Springfield (27 holes, par 72) was designed by Jack Nicklaus no less, and opened in 1993. The Thailand Golfing Pocket Guide (Paul Lees & Mike Staples) states, ‘You could not mistake this Nicklaus design – long waste bunkers on several holes, other bunkers exactly where a club golfer hits the drive and water to keep the player hitting in the direction Jack wants you to. It’s as if he takes an average handicap player out with him; watches the player hit and then says “Let’s put the hazard right here!”
The course record at Springfield is 63 strokes; set by Pablo del Olmo of Mexico at the Thailand Open back in 2000. “We are hoping for some top tournaments in the future”, says Khun Michael, “but right now we are engaged in a lot of renovating, getting the course back to its original design during this Golf Festival (August, 2008) and that will involve cutting back overgrown areas, and also moving and replanting some trees. By November, we should be ready to welcome large tour groups. Corporate groups can always make deals with us for a complete golfing package, including accommodation: we have a hotel here with 98 rooms plus condos and bungalows close to our popular Health Spa. There is also an Italian restaurant and a golf pro shop.” Springfield’s facilities include a well-equipped kindergarten (children’s playing area) and a large swimming pool compete with an impressive water
fall backdrop. “We sell 30-year memberships, but there are also a lot of expats in the area who have bought life memberships”, says Michael. “Right now we have about 800 active members, and some keen golfers here play year-round. “The original signature hole is on the ‘A’ course, number 6 - a par 3, but most players know Springfield for the 18th hole on ‘B’ 9; it’s a par 5 with a dogleg green.” The courses are hydrated on site. ‘We have our own lakes, and we collect additional water as it rains. A sprinkler system is used on all the greens regularly. Even if we get a long period of drought, we can survive for a long time without additional water.” Springfield has 350 female caddies in high season (November to March). “We train them for a month each with my caddy-master, taking them out over 18 holes and show them the chipping green on every working day that month. Then we hold caddy seminars where we give them manuals to study. I think it is very important to have well-trained caddies on our courses, because they spend more time than anyone else with our guests. “We encourage feedback also: each player is given a card with which they can ‘grade’ their caddy by ticking off boxes. Next to the caddy’s number are four boxes ranging through ‘poor’, ‘average’, ‘good’ and ‘excellent’. Players fill them in and drop them into boxes and that way we can monitor each caddy’s preformance, and help them to improve if they need to. The 50 best women become ‘Golden Caddies’, working as managers in the group. The Golden Caddies wear gold bibs, so that they can be spotted easily. With a large group of players, we often send two rookie caddies out with a golden caddy so that the beginners can learn from them. We also teach them English, and we take our caddy training very seriously here at Springfield.” Michael claims that walking the Springfield course can help players lose around 230 calories per hour, “if they drag their own carts. Even without pulling carts, a player walking around 18 holes can lose something like 190 calories an hour. That’s good exercise, and without much effort.” For those who prefer to drive the golf carts are electric (of course!), in keeping with the environmentally friendly philosophy at Springfield. “All the courses around here, Black Mountain, Palm Hills, Majestic, Banyan, etc. offer excellent facilities, so we have to be competitive”, he concludes. “This month (September) our green fees will start from 990 baht. “What we have here at Springfield is the Nicklaus name and the spread-out nature of our courses. All our holes are separate. When you are driving and putting on any hole, you don’t see another fairway coming up.” Golf in Bangkok, and indeed Thailand and the whole of Asia is back in for a treat in January 2009 when the Third Royal Trophy match between the best of Asia takes on the Europeans, under the Captaincy of Seve Ballesteros in the exciting Ryder Cup format so loved by golfers the world over. A match made in heaven: The third edition of the prestigious Royal Trophy has been scheduled to take place on 9-11 January, 2009 at the highly exclusive Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok, Thailand. The unique and emotionally-charged competition played between the continents of Europe and Asia will continue to feature foursomes, four-ball and singles matches – all played in a team match-play format. The best players from Europe and Asia will compete for stewardship over the perpetual Royal Trophy – graciously donated by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and for the pride and honour of their respective continents and people. The Royal Trophy is the result of the legendary Seve Ballesteros’ dream of bringing the three billion people Asian continent together to compete against the masters of team golf – Europe, in a Ryder Cup format. The first two editions of the Event were staged with great success as the matches attracted record galleries and featured the highest standard of professional golf. Over the two inaugural editions of the Royal Trophy, the five-time Major winner and all-time Ryder Cup hero Ballesteros led the European effort as Captain and counted with some of the continent’s very best players including Ryder Cup stars Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, David Howell, Robert Karlsson as well as legends of golf Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam. The Asian Team was led by Japan Tour Lifetime Member Massy Kuramoto in the first edition and then by 35-tournament title winner Joe Ozaki in 2007. The Asian troops to battle the Europeans have included many of Asia’s top talents including Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal from India, Zhang Lian-wei from China, Japan’s number one player Toru Taniguchi, Korea’s Y Yang and Thailand’s golf stars Thongchai Jaidee, Thaworn Wiratchant and Hua Hin’s own Prom Meesawat. Ballesteros’ vision in creating the magnificent championship is to drive the growth of Asian professional golf and the popularity of the sport to a level comparable to the United Kingdom and continental Europe. “The Royal Trophy is becoming the greatest force for the further development of golf in Asia, in the same manner that the Ryder Cup played such a role for the European Continent in the 1980s and 1990s. I believe the Royal Trophy will grow into one of the world’s most important sporting competitions,” said the charismatic Spaniard. Preparations for the staging of the Royal Trophy have already been underway for six months to ensure that the Captains, the players and the tens of thousands of fans attending the Event have the best experience possible. “We expect the 7,470-yard Amata Spring layout to be in flawless condition; the purpose-built VIP Champions Club to feature the most luxurious golf corporate hospitality in Asia, and the Entertainment Village to have on offer to the fans great food, refreshments, games and the latest in golf equipment,” said Lincoln Venancio, Managing Director of Tournament owners Entertainment Group Limited. “The atmosphere at Royal Trophy is electrifying. The quality of golf is outstanding and the team match-play format adds a very high dosage of competitive and team spirit. It is an event not to be missed,” added Venancio. While the first players selected to represent Asia and Europe respectively are expected to be announced in the near future, it has been confirmed that Ballesteros (also known to his peers as ‘the man with the touch of an angel’ due to his almost magical ability around the greens) will be leading the Europeans for the third consecutive time. “I have thoroughly enjoyed leading Europe in the first two editions of the Royal Trophy. I am very much looking forward to competing against the Asian Team again and I can assure the fans that we will feature a fantastic set of European players,” added the former world number one player. Leading the Asian charge for the second time will be one of the most successful players in the history of Asian golf, Japan’s Joe Ozaki - who continues to find great success as a senior player in the Champions Tour in the United States. “I have learned a lot from the experience of leading our Team against the Europeans in 2007 and I have every intention to lead our Asian continent to victory in January of 2009,” said the Japanese golfing giant. Admission tickets to the Royal Trophy are available at www.theroyaltrophy.com and Exotic Golf Holidays are proud to offer a range of packages for those wishing to not only watch the action live but also for those who would like to participate, whether it be as a Marshall ‘Inside-the-Ropes’ or attending the invitation only Captain’s Pick Cocktail Party and exclusive access to the VIP area situated between the 9th & 18th greens, or even play a round on the tournament course on the Monday! For more information, email royaltrophy@exoticgolfholidays.com or, visit the exoticgolfholidays.com website. The Royal Trophy Premier and Major Sponsors include Heineken, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), PTT, Siam Commercial Bank, Toyota (Thailand) and Sodick (Thailand). For further Tournament information, please call +662 651 9499 or visit the official website www.TheRoyalTrophy.com. The third edition of the Royal Trophy will be held on 9-11 January, 2009 at Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok, Thailand and is promoted by Entertainment Group Limited and Amen Corner.
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