Tag: Hua Hin

November Away 2017 Hua Hin, Thailand

On By Dave EvansIn Away Games, KLOGS, Monthly MedalLeave a comment

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The KLOGS made our second trip to Thailand this year, this time the venue being the picturesque seaside resort town of Hua Hin which we visited from 14-19th November. We had an interesting drive down to Hua Hin as two of the seven-man KL contingent (Berni & your scribe) were left behind by the coach after a brief stop for provisions en-route so had to be recovered by a motor cycle rescue team ! However, all 7 did eventually arrive in Hua Hin, where we were joined by the local participants from Thailand and the Australian tourists. We were supported by fitness coach, Richard Moss, who flew in specially for the event.

Tour accommodation was at the Wannara Hotel which was fine for our needs and handy for the beach and local cultural attractions.

For the first three rounds, we had 13 players including 1 visitor (Ron) as Richard Greene could only play on Day 1 & Day 4 and with Gary Cooney joining on Day 2.

1st Day – Monthly KLOGS Medal – Springfield Royal Country Club

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Day 1 dawned sunny with light cloud. The course was in good condition and the scenery very attractive.

Results

Making something of a habit of winning the first day was El Pres (Iain Wise) with a score of 91 for 39 points (cut 4), followed by Pietro Martucci with 96 for 38 points (cut 2) & Martin Walsh with 87 for 37 points(cut 1).

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Full results below :

  • NTP winner #4 : Rikki Ingham
  • NTP winner #6 : Richrd Greene
  • NTP winner #14 : None
  • NTP winner #17 : David Hewitt
  • Lowest gross : Berni Schobert (84)
  • Last birdie : not won as those with birdies had other prizes

Colm O’ Donovan was also belatedly presented with his winners tankard from the Chiang Mai tour, the wrong tankard having been brought to that event !

COTD 

There were only 2 nominations for this initial award :

  1. El Pres (Iain) – for leaving 2 people behind on the trip from Bangkok to Hua Hin, and for reading out the flights for Day 2 as Day 1
  2. Allan – for leaving his smokes in a bar then begging for some before the bus

An easy decision this, and also continuing his first day trend from Chiang Mai, the clear winner was Iain Wise.

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2nd Day – 1st Day of Competition – Black Mountain Golf Club

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After a major storm during the night, the omens were not good for a dry day on the golf course, but despite thunder being audible throughout the day, the rain held off with only a brief 5 minute shower.

Following the group photo, we had a late start at ~ noon, tee-ing off from the 61 tees.

This course has beautiful views on almost every hole and was in good condition despite the overnight rain.

Results

The results were closely spaced on this first day of the competition, with the leader(s) on 40 and the tail end of the field with 31. The winner on countback was Martin Walsh with 83 for 40 points, followed by Gary Cooney (80/40) then Berni Schobert (83/39) & Ron McLung (89/39). These four would make up the final flight for Day 2.

Full results below

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  • NTP winner 1st Nine : Jimmy Leggett
  • NTP winner 2nd Nine : Gary Cooney

Martin’s prize was a pair of shorts from the pro-shop, though he opted for a more sober colour than El Pres when he won in Chiang Mai (see group photo)

COTD

There were again only 2 nominations for this award :

  1. Iain Wise – for various (undocumented) indiscretions
  2. Martin Walsh – for turning up late at the pub the previous night with his shirt on inside out, claiming he had only been asleep

And the winner (again) was Iain Wise

3rd Day – 2nd Day of Competition – Black Mountain Golf Club

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The second day of the competition was a sunnier and much hotter day at Black Mountain and many people (your scribe included) were beginning to flag, particularly since we also tee’d off from the tougher 65 tees.

Results

Given these earlier factors, scores were not as high and there was a much bigger spread in the field (37-17).  Most of the leading contenders maintained their form on the second day with Martin Walsh holding onto his lead and finishing 1st with 169/77 but with Pietro (dark horse) Martucci making a challenge and moving from 5th to 2nd place with 189/75. Gary Cooney was 3rd with 166/74 and had the lowest cumulative gross.

Full results below

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  • NTP winner 1st Nine : Bernie Schobert
  • NTP winner 2nd Nine : Colm O‘ Donovan

The winners of the Horse & Jockey competition were Martin with Pietro for 1st and Colm with Ron for 10th. (A couple of players, including your scribe, mounted a challenge for 10th place instead, but ultimately dived too low !).

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COTD

There were 4 nominations for this:

  1. Berni – for helicoptering his golf club into the water, to follow his golf ball
  2. Gary – for wearing a jockey shirt
  3. Frank – for getting stuck in a morning traffic jam so arriving late for the coach, and for falsely accusing Gary of not bringing Baileys .
  4. Rikki – for 5 points in 1st 9 holes

And the winner was Frank McKenzie !

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Later that evening all players except Jimmy (who was asleep apparently) plus Richard Moss had a very pleasant dinner with wine & beer at Carlo’s restaurant near the hotel.

4th Day – Team Scramble – Seapine Golf Course

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Another attractive and challenging golf course with a number of holes bordering the Gulf of Thailand. The weather was hot and sunny; fortunately the cooling sea breeze helped on some of the holes.

For this event we were joined by two further guests from Hua Hin (Richard & Trevor) to make up four 4-player teams.

Results

The team of Gary, Frank, Richard (G) & Dave E mastered the course, with 2 early birdies and no bogies; holing 3 long pressure putts later in the round to maintain the bogie-free round to give a score of -2.

Second was the team of Allan, Colm, Richard Greene & Trevor at +1, then Iain, Bernie, David & Jimmy in 3rd and Martin, Ron, Rikki & Pietro 4th .

COTD

There were 4 nominations for this:

  1. Pietro (Luigi) – for playing patience on his phone during the speeches and for repeatedly calling Allan, Dave
  2. Jimmy – for sleeping through the team dinner
  3. Trevor – for being nicknamed TC
  4. Frank – for being given deodorant by Jimmy then leaving Jimmy’s flight

And the winner was Pietro !

COTT

However finally, it was time for that most prestigious of awards, COTT

It has to be noted that the COTD nominations on this tour were fairly tame by recent standards (old age setting in ?)

So with 2 COTD wins during the week, Iain Wise was elected 2017 November COTT !

The various prize winners received sleeves of balls courtesy of Renaissance Hotels (thanks to Robert Frager) and Liberty Travel.

Fines & Honesty Jugs

There were not many jugs on this tour, but the Fines Master (Martin) was in fine form, penalising numerous people for various misdemeanors. As a result, we topped up the WHIP by ~ 7000 baht.

Thanks

Thanks to El Pres for his organization of the tour, to the overseas participants for making the long trip from Australia, to Richard Greene for his hospitality food in his bar on the second night and to our local guides, Frank, Gary & Richard who kept us well advised on the local scene (and the coach on the right road to the course !)

Commiserations

Unfortunately Ricardo Castro (Moneybags) was again unable to join the tour.

Sponsors

Our sponsors are a main reason that we can play at good golf courses and award members with trophies, attractive prizes as well as “KLOGS” signature golf balls. In order to show our appreciation we encourage members to support our sponsors.

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And the last word on the tour goes to Martin on the phone to his (obviously Irish) taxi driver before heading off to Departures “Oi said Arrivals cos’ I’m arriving !”

Photos : courtesy of your Scribe & Bernie.

 

May 2015 Away to Hua Hin, Thailand

On By In Away GamesLeave a comment

Group Photo Edit-crop

The KLOGS May Away 2015 was another great success. The 14 participants, 13 playing and Frank McKenzie crook with a damaged shoulder came from far and wide and descended on the quiet resort town of Hua Hin Thailand. Nine travelled on the official Air Asia tour flight and after some delay at Don Muang airport due to the late arrival of the bus the contingent all joined up on Wednesday evening. The Parslow brothers Geoff and Ted were welcomed as guests and brought some much needed improvement to the standard of play.

1st Day – Monthly Medal Black Mountain – Hua Hin

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Black Mountain Golf Club opened in 2007 and the recent host of the True Thailand Classic was in good condition. The excellent greens were fast and true and the scoring for the day was reasonable. David Hewitt took the honours with a good 41 points (cut 5) winning the monthly medal, followed by El Scribe with 38 (cut 2) and 3rd place El Pres with 35 points (cut 1).

Mike Smith was awarded COTD for his exploits on the ninth hole – taking 4 shots to pass the red tee box. Good food followed before returning back to the City Beach Hotel. It should be noted that our COTD winner tried to leave his trophy behind at the golf club a truly heinous crime.
Results

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To demonstrate the calibre of player Klogs now attracts it is of interest to include the scorecard from one of Geoff Parslow’s earlier warm up games played in 1979 at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the winner of that event was the one and only Seve Ballesteros aged 22, Geoff made the cut and finished back in a respectable tied 54th place!!!

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Day 2 – 1st Day of 2 Day Competition Banyan Golf Club

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The customary 2-day competition to determine the tour champion also had horse & jockey prizes for 1stand 6th, the draw being conducted on the bus in the usual confused manner, horses and jockeys being mixed up.

Banyan which opened in 2008 is another fine course in the Hua Hin area. The course was in good condition again with fast and true greens. The highlight of the day was Rikki Ingham who aced the short par 3 fifteenth. The disappointment however must be the miserly rewards handed out by the club for this remarkable achievement. A free round for 2 without buggy and caddy and a Banyan luggage tag is a poor show. Many clubs hand out substantial financial reward which needs to be converted into F & B which must be consumed on the day.

The day’s winner was El Scribe with a score of 92 for 42 points and he was duly presented with his choice of shirt from the pro shop. The full results of the competition can be seen in the 2-day summary.

A late lunch was taken, washed down with copious quantities of beer.
Rick’s Ace – 15th Hole at Banyan

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Novelties were awarded as follows:

  • NTP 1:                                   Rikki Ingham hole in 1
  • NTP 2:                                   Allan Wright
  • Last Birdie:                           Richard Green
  • Longest Drive:                     Geoff Parslow
  • Lowest Gross                       Martin Walsh -82
  • Wooden Spoon :                Ted Parslow (ocb)

COTD Nominations:

  • Martin Walsh: For repeatedly trying to throw away Geoff’s scorecard, and for also screwing up the
  • holes to be played as novelties.
  • Allan Wright: For causing mayhem in the vicinity of the ladies tee box as consultations took place to
  • determine whether he had passed the ladies box.
  • Mike Smith: For being disorientated on leaving last night’s final watering hole.
  • Richard Moss: For playing his second shot from 30 yards behind the black tee box

El Pres was given the award and drank from his new trophy. Similar to the previous day’s winner he contrived to leave behind his trophy on the golf terrace. Retribution was made on the bus back where he was re-united with his trophy and again had to drink from the mug this time filled with his favourite Baileys.

COTY Proxy

At the January AGM Wayne Beck was given the COTY award for 2014, as this was the first opportunity Brian stood as proxy for Wayne and will hand it on to him when he sees him on his return to blighty.

Third Day – 2nd Day competition Banyan Hua Hin

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We returned again to Banyan for day 3 and enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the course before the round, pins had been relocated and the course was again in superb condition. In accordance with tradition the players went off in reverse order. The main contenders being packed together in the final flight. El scribe maintained his good form from the first round and recorded a 91 for 43 points to take the days reward and the Champions Trophy (cut 2 for the Money game). In second place overall was Mike Smith and third El Pres. El Pres was doubly happy as he was the jockey on the winner with the pair sharing 8,000 baht. The sixth placed horse and jockey were Ted Parslow ridden by Rick Brown with each netting 2,500 baht.

Novelties were as follows:

  • NTP 1-                      Mike Smith (Birdie)
  • NTP 2-                      Nobody all fined by the Fines Master
  • Last Birdie               Ted Parslow
  • Long Drive               Geoff Parslow
  • Low Gross               Geoff Parslow
  • Wooden Spoon        Brian Jeffers



Results of 2-Day Competition

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COTD Nominations:

  • Rick Brown: For getting his fishing tackle out on the course and playing from behind the
  • black tee box on the fourteenth hole
  • Allan Wright: For leaving his shoes behind and buying new ones.
  • Richard Moss: For nominating the caddy that was the closest resemblance to himself.

Richard was given the award.

After drinks at the club we proceeded straight to the Electric Mango (a good recommendation from Richard Green), venue for the tour dinner a restaurant on the way back to Hua Hin from Banyan. Due to the bus being unable to negotiate beneath the resort low signage (see left) we walked the last yards to the restaurant where we were all seated on one long table. An excellent meal was enjoyed by all, most people selecting steaks.

Day 4 – Money Game –  Springfield

Springfield

Springfield Royal Country Club was the venue for the final day’s game. The course was the poorest of the three we played. Questions should be asked about the sanity of playing off the blue tees which in many places were co-incident with the gold tees.

The money game was played with two players partnering for the better stableford point on each hole based on the individual handicap. The teams were put together by the results of the 2 day competition with the highest and lowest stableford points paired together as the first team and so on.

The full results are as follows. Due to the odd number Rikki Ingram had a blind draw and drew Rick Brown resulting in him taking the wooden spoon or in this case golf club cocktail stirrers

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COTD nominations

  • Richard Moss  Three shots to get passed the red tee box.
  • Rick Brown for soiling his pristeen coloured shorts after playing from the water
  • Geoff Parslow for his skippy impersonations the night before.

Geoff won the final COTD.

In closing the tour El Pres thanked all participants, especially those from overseas, and wished all a safe trip to their next destinations.

A big thank you also to Frank McKenzie for acting as Tour Money Bags and acting as Fines Masters

Our sponsors are a main reason that we can play at good golf courses and award members with trophies, attractive prizes as well as “KLOGS” signature golf balls. In order to show our appreciation we encourage members to support our sponsors.
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November 2012 Away – Hua Hin, Thailand

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Scribe Report

Hua Hin, Thailand

22 – 25, November, 2012

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Eight of these arrived a day or two early to adjust to the time change and to enjoy the wonderful flavors and tastes of food and other delights in the Land of the Smiles.  Two elected to arrive on the suggested departure flight which was scheduled to arrive at 10:25 – with a 11:30 tee time this was a bit of a tight schedule to clear customs, immigration, go to the toilet, get baggage (and golf clubs), find the bus and transit the required 30 minutes from airport to golf course.  It was even more critical as the Tour Instructions clearly stated that anyone arriving late would be accessed a 500 Peso fine.  Klaus and El Prez paid their fines of 500 Baht without too much complaint.  The problem was not theirs but, of course, was fully the fault of the airline.  We did not think we stood a chance of Hades of collecting money from Malaysia Airlines so David Hewitt, Tour Money Bags, quickly snatched up the funds.

Day 1 – Summit Windmill  Golf & Country Club
The late arrival of El Pres and Herr Klaus did cause a bit of a problem – they had all the required documentation to allow us beyond the practice putting green.  Lord Hewitt went begging to the Starter with his now fat wallet and like a miracle from the sky – our starting time was moved to 12:00 noon.  Unfortunately, the 1st Group had to tee off from Hole No. 2 and the other two groups teed off at Hole No. 1.  This delay also caused a bit of a problem with the Caddies who seemed to disappear looking for food.  As all of you know, if a Thai has nothing to do they will look for food …….. or something.

Summit Windmill was designed by Nick Faldo and opened in 1991.  It is similar to most golf courses in the Bangkok area in that it is fairly flat with undulating mounds.  However, as you also know, sand and water are plentiful in Bangkok.  The course was laid out such that you could challenge the golf holes by taking the infamous Tiger Line over the sand and/or water as much as you dared to do.  By playing a little further left or right you could be safe but have a much longer 2nd shot (maybe 3rd as well) to the green.  Definitely an advantage to the long hitters.  This proved to be the case with Herr Klaus – the owner of one of those white demons R-11.  He began the day with a 21 handicap and ended with a 17 handicap as he shot a blistering 93 for 36 points.  The nearest player close to him was Boomer Rikki Ingram who shot a very nice 90 but was playing off a 16 handicap.  Next was Happy Feet Lord David Hewitt with a 104 and 30 points off a 29 handicap.  However, he was just warming up for the weekend.  Herr Klaus and Sir Rikki were mostly quiet for the remainder of the weekend.

The Quote of the Day would have been awarded Lord David Moneybags.  As The Lord and his worthy Colonel were walking up to two golf balls in the fairway, the kindly Colonel asked the Lord “What ball are you playing?”.  The Lord replied,

“I have no f**king idea.  I lost so many balls I have no idea what I am playing.  Probably the longest.”

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One interesting thing about this course is they have an Ambulance Buggy – available for emergencies on the golf course.  Since this is an emergency vehicle it comes with a supercharged V8 engine to quickly deliver the patient to the nearest pub, toilet or hospital depending on the type of emergency.  As it turns out, we could have used this buggy later in the weekend.

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Day 2 – Black Mountain Golf Club  

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Black mountain is a well known great layout.  The course was designed by Phil Ryan, Golf Architect, and opened in 2009.  It is a Championship Golf Course with five tee boxes.  The Champion Tees play 7,550 yards with a Slope Rating of >146.  We played the “65” tee boxes which is equivalent of Blue Tees.  It measured 6500 yards with a slope rating of 135.  It was a challenge but it was fair.

We were scheduled in the reasonably early morning – the first day of the two day Away Competition.  Tee times beginning at 9:20 am – very reasonable for Gentlemen of the Game.  The course was in absolutely great condition – greens putting true and of medium speed.

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Day 3 – Banyan Golf and Country Club  

Banyan is another Championship Course that opened in 2004 and from the black back tees plays at 7,361 yards with a slope rating of 137.  Fortunately we played from the white tees with a distance of 6,300 yards and a slope rating of 120.  The course was in absolutely great condition.  However, most of us had some difficulty with the speed of the greens.  It caused havoc with “blowing the my hole” for the most of us and was to continue to haunt us the following day.

The Main Event of the day was no doubt Wayne Beck having a major discussion with his caddy on the bend in his willy.  This was not only a discussion but was also accompanied with a visual presentation – as is done at fine musicals.  This was on approximately the 14th or 15th hole.  Lord Fast Feet David was in a desperate battle to win the Two Day Away Competition.  At least he thought he was.  He was actually about 10 strokes ahead of the next contender with 3 or 4 holes to play.  But he was beginning to tire out a bit and was getting nervous about the whole thing.  On the 14th or 15th tee box there was a great commotion coming from one buggy.  Lord David instructed me to go quiet them down so we could get along with the game.  Following instructions I marched to the buggy with a glare the Colonel would be proud of.  I was amazed to find Wayne had his willy out and was explaining to the wide eyed caddy why it was bent to the left and was slightly rotated.  I am not sure the caddy understood his Thai but was certainly fascinated over the entire situation.  He was trying to make her understand it was a result of heated reckless action in his youth before he found out about girls.  All I could do was report the situation back to Lord David and suggest he continue with his game.  That was when Lord David failed to drive the ball beyond the Ladies Tee (much muttering).  For myself, I was awarded the COTD for willy watching when as I actually just following orders.  As for the Caddy, I doubt very seriously if he will ever caddy for a farang again.

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Day 4 – Springfield Country Club 

Another Championship Golf Course designed by Jack Nicklaus and established in 1993.  There are three 9 hole courses – Mountain, Lake and Valley.  We were charged with overcoming the difficulties of the Lake and Valley having a combined length of 7,109 yards and a slope rating of 136 from the Gold tees.  We were tired and worn out from a lengthy seafood dinner the night before, a couple of quick ones (beverages) on the way back to the hotel and an extremely early wake-up call.

As to be expected the course was in excellent condition.  However, we found the greens to be very slow and we struggled with getting the ball to the hole.  In all fairness, we were a little tired.  I am sure that is the reason for no one winning the longest drive and no one winning the NTP on the front 9 – it was an absolutely long 150 yards almost straight uphill with a fierce gale forced wind in our face.  That’s my story and I am staying with in.

This was of course the day of the Money Game.  El Prez assigned each Jockey to a Horse and amazingly they were all in different groups.  It must be magic.

The results were:

  • Karl and Wayne:                        41 Points
  • Frank and Rick:                        39 Points OCB
  • Jimmy and Gary                        39 Points
  • Klaus and Rikki                        28 Points OCB
  • David and Richard                        28 Points

Klaus won NTP on back 9.

I suppose the most interesting thing occurred in our group at the 3rd Tee Box.  After finishing the 2nd hole, Frank drove up in the buggy and left El Prez with us.  He said he had a touch of the Deli Belly and would be back very quickly.  The 3 ball in front finished and disappeared while we waited.  The 2-ball behind was finished and just walking to the hole.  We almost let them play through but here comes Frank in the slowest buggy on the course ….. and the most smelly.  It seems he did not quite make it to the toilet.  In all years of playing many golf courses with lots of rascals I have never had anybody shit their pants while in my group.  That is a thing of the past.  Klaus and I refused to allow El Prez to ride in our buggy for the remainder of the round.

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Editor’s Note:  If the above remotely resembles the golf outing you attended, it is purely coincidental. Management takes no responsibilities for the content of this document.  In fact, management takes no responsibility for anything and if you think so then you can go and fornicate yourself .