Office Bearers:
- EL Pres – Paul Geddes
- Vice Pres and tour MOF – Iain Wise
- Scribe – Geoff
The KL faction of Paul Geddes, Iain Wise, Stan Constantinides, Ted Parslow, Bernie Schobert and Geoff McLaws arrived in Bangkok on Monday 15th May. Despite AirAsia’s less than people-friendly check in process at KLIA2, the flight departed on time and everything went smoothly from that point on, really!!
Meeting our international KLOGGERS at the hotel and later at ‘a bar across the road’, we quickly re-established connections and heralded in a great tour to come. John Lee, now a resident of Thailand, joined us for the first two games and our tour organiser, Darryl, joined us for the final two, making up the 12 players. It was great to catch up with Frank McKenzie, Brian Jeffers, Colm O’Donovan, David Hewitt and of course, Rikki Ingham.
Tuesday 16th May.
We played our May Monthly game at the magnificent Thai Country Club. In almost perfect conditions we all teed off from the 1st hole. I say ‘almost perfect’ because the heat (37°) was almost unbearable and many of us suffered throughout the round and afterwards. The greens were running well and true at about 8.5 to 9 feet on the stimpmeter. The course was a pleasure to play.
Results:
NTP’s
Hole 3 – Colm 7.5m Hole 11 – Rikki 11.5m Hole 16 – Bernie 23m
There was no winner on Hole 6.
Lowest Gross:
Ted Parslow – 90 (Lowest Gross) 3rd Place – Geoff McLaws 75/38
2nd Place – John Lee 87/38 1st Place – El Pres, Paul 81/39
COTD Nominations
- Stan nominated John Lee for teeing off from the hole behind and his ball landing 6 metres away from Stan.
- Brian nominated Iain for trying to move the red tee markers in order to make Brian’s tee shot short of the ladies tees.
- Iain nominated Brian for moving the white tees forward.
- Paul nominated Geoff for trying to get into locker 252 when his locker was actually 107. Then, post-game, for trying to access his locker with the wrong key.
- Rikki nominated Frank for not having collected enough fines money to cover costs.
- Paul nominated Iain for arriving at the nominated bar the previous evening at 6.32, 32 minutes after the agreed meeting time.
- Geoff nominated John Lee for managing to get skid marks on his white trousers (pointed out by the caddy)
Geoff was the clear winner and was nominated as COTD.
Wednesday 17th May
The first day of the two day competition took place at Alpine Golf and Country Club. On the way to the course, Rikki regaled us with his account of the morning so far. He had lost his golf shoes and his watch and was late on the bus because he had been searching for his shoes. Rikki outlaid 4500 Baht for a new pair of Footjoys!
Alpine is a beautiful track but once again the heat was well on the advance (36°) when we teed off around 11am. The golf course was in great condition and the greens were running smoothly, but there were some complaints about the caddies! The scores were pretty exceptional too, with 2 x 36 points, a 37, a 38 and 2 x 41 points.
Team Photo.
NTP’s
Hole 3 – Stan 7.5m Hole 12 – Ted 9.5m
Notably, Ted Parslow also had 84/41 but lost on count back.
Great rounds of golf guys.
Rikki was still in disbelief of John’s ability to both hit the ball and putt so well given the number of beverages he consumed.
COTD Nominations.
- Paul for giving Brian Vodka on the first tee – not fair and not necessary! (Brian, really?)
- Paul nominated Brian for being a pussy. (Very justifiable)
- Geoff for caddy abuse!
- Rikki nominated Brian for taking his golf shoes and his watch.
- John Lee for phone abuse and walking in front of other players while they were playing their shots.
- Rikki for leaving his shoes and watch ‘somewhere’!
- Ted for leaving his locker key in the buggy requiring a lengthy search after his round. (he wasn’t getting on the bus without a shower)
John Lee was voted the COTD.
Thursday 18th May
The second day of the two day competition took place at Royal Gems (The RG City) Golf Club. The first and only golf course in Asia truly inspired by Augusta and the world’s greatest holes. The back 9 is a mirror of Augusta’s back nine save for the pine straw and pine trees.
This course was also in great condition with very good greens and great weather again, albeit, hot! (35°) A special mention to Darryl for taking the 12th spot and making it a very enjoyable day.
NTP’s
Hole 16 – Colm 7.6 inches? (19.3cm) Winner on the day: Rikki with 94/41 pts
Well done Rikki!
Places for the 2 day competition.
2nd Place – Rikki with a total of 72 pts 1st Place – Ted with a total of 75 pts
Horse and Jockey
In eighth place the Jockey was Brian and the horse was Geoff. The jockey only just made weight! Don’t leave me hanging Brian!!
In first place the Jockey was Colin and the horse was Ted.
COTD
- Rikki for being last on the bus today (but I had 41 points).
- Ted for being an all-round C*nt. Actions included temper tantrums, caddy abuse, sleeping on the course and throwing clubs, etc.
- Rikki nominated everyone else for not winning. (Bad call Rikki)
- Paul was nominated for being bulimic before the game.
- Brian for spewing in his room, pissing on the floor and not realising it until he stepped on the wet floor in the morning.
- Rikki for not reading his updated emails.
Rikki was unanimously voted COTD (did I mention his 41 points), although Brian was a very close second. The hilarity of Brian’s story though, was in keeping with KLOGS expectations and was not deemed as worthy as Rikki.
Friday 19th May
The last of our away games was held at Subhapruek Golf Club. This course surprised many as it is a very good layout with water playing a role in many of the great holes. In my opinion, this course should be on the agenda for any Bangkok tour, although we haven’t yet experienced even half of the courses available in and around Bangkok. This was a team game and Darryl once again made up the numbers to balance it out.
Each flight played as a four-ball with the rules being: each player tees off. (minimum four drives each) Whichever drive is selected, the other three players play the next shot and so on until they reach the green. Then every player in the group has the opportunity to putt.
The teams:
Team 1 – Geoff, Ted, Dave and Brian
Team 2 – Paul, Bernie, Iain and Rikki
Team 3 – Darryl, Stan, Colm and Frank
Winners and Placegetters (scores).
3rd Place – Team 2 (+5) 2nd Place – Team 1 (Par)
1st Place – Team 3 (-1)
COTD nominations
- Rikki for going out the previous night with Paul and Iain, getting completely wrecked and then discovering that they were all in the same team for the teams event.
- Rikki for having 41 points yesterday and for not even hitting a fairway today.
- Dave Hewitt for sitting in quietly in the corner without telling everyone that he was going to see erstwhile member, Ron McLung at the Sports Bar post dinner. (Where were you Ron?)
- Stan for wandering along the showers post-game to see which were empty or full.
- Dave for calling Stan so short that he could easily see under the doors.
Dave was unanimously voted COTD.
COTT nominations
- Iain for being late on the bus and it was noted that he was wearing the same clothes as he had been the night before. His attempts to change his shirt on the bus were laughable.
- Brian for thinking that a 3XXL shirt would fit him.
- Paul for looking as bad as his Doris.
- Iain for organising the perfectly sized tour bus!
- Iain for being late to the bar!
- Rikki for his many indiscretions and not shutting up about his 41 points!
COTT winner, without need for a recount.
This was the end of competition but of course, not the end of celebrations. It proved a little too much for our overall COTT winner. Pouring his beer and Baileys in his shorts and socks!
This May Away tour was most enjoyable and memorable. Good friends coming together to enjoy everything they love the most! Absolutely loved it.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the assistance of our sponsors, Siggy for supplying the balls and Ricardo for the wine. Unfortunately, being an international tour, the wine was difficult to transport but the balls happily found their place in assorted luggage.