Phoenix GCC

The Bunker Boys - Champions

The Bunker Bar v Tony’s Tiger

The final days of the MBMG Matchplay league could not have been closer. 3 teams on 21 points and the 4th team on 20 points and only our game against Tony” Tigers at Phoenix to be played.

Tony had assembled a strong team needing only a half to be crowned champions and 9 of his team with handicaps of 10 and less. But The Bunker boys are a tough bunch and would fight all the way.

PJ Redmond was disadvantaged against Brian Jacks receiving only 3 shots when the handicap difference was 8 but he took the match to the 16th  and was supported by Ron Ryan who  came in with a valuable half coming back from dormy 2.

John Hughes was his usual reliable self having a tough game with Neil McAllister winning on the 17th and has only lost 1 game in the league. William Macey had one of those games that only happens occasionally for us mere mortals, beating David Richards 5 & 4.  The ice cold putter of Glen Cunningham allowed Andy Mills to dominate but Gerry Cooney took The Bunker a step closer to winning by beating Ted Morris 4 & 3.

The Bunker were now leading by 3 ½ matches to 2 ½ and required a total of 5 ½ matches to win the league. Allan Sullivan lost to Chris Holmes but Paul Smith stuck to his task and won on the last hole. The Bunker now needed 1 match from the two still out on the course.

Tony Robbins entered the changing rooms first and declared that he had lost to Geoff Bowers so now The Bunker needed to win the last match. Nails were being bitten, hair pulled out waiting for Mashi Kenatta. What was the result Mashi?  He had beaten David Smith 4 & 3 for The Bunker to be crowned Champions in the inaugural year of the MBMG Matchplay League.

WELL DONE THE BUNKER BOYS!

Wednesday 5th November 2008

Crystal Bay

Crystal Bay

Playing a Medal round at Crystal Bay the cut was set at handicap 15 and with a bit of wind and rain swirling around most of the day the scores were not that pretty.

John McDonald had the best round of the day shooting a level par to win the A Flight with JJ Harney second a couple of shots back and Takeshi Hakozaki having a reasonable round on his “home”course finishing third.

The scores were fairly average in the B Flight where Dave Keats beat Arthur Rowley on a count back to win and Geoff Hart took third spot a shot further back.

Near pin prizes went to Mashi Kaneta, Peter Habgood, Tony Berry and Glen Cunningham.

A Flight
1st John McDonald (hcp 7) nett 72
2nd JJ Harney (hcp 12) nett 74
3rd Takeshi Hakozaki (hcp 12) nett 76

B Flight
1st Dave Keats (hcp 26) nett 78
2nd Arthur Rowley (hcp 28) nett 78
3rd Geoff Hart (hcp 19) nett 79

Monday 3rd November 2008

Treasure Hill

Treasure Hill

John Hughes warmed up for the big Matchplay game on Friday by winning the Medal round here at Treasure Hill. Making light of this tough course John came into the clubhouse with 35 Stableford points.

Colin Stokes had one of his better rounds too to take the runner-up spot ahead of Ron Ryan in third and Lawrence Harding in fourth place.

The par three holes are never easy here and once again only three were hit with prizes going to Mashi, PJ Redmond and Gerry Cooney.

Results:
1st John Hughes (hcp 15) 35 points
2nd Colin Stokes (hcp 25) 33 points
3rd Ron Ryan (hcp 15) 29 points
4th Lawrence Harding (hcp 21) 28 points

MBMG Sponsors of the Matchplay League

The Outback Bar v The Bunker Bar

Monday October 27th was the date for the most recent round of the MBMG Matchplay League in Pattaya. Good, clean living must have been the reason that the deluge that hit Pattaya on Monday circled Burapha, for not a drop of rain interfered with this match play event.

Other than being very wet in parts, the course was in good condition, at least conditions that turned out to suit The Bunker Boys who went on to win the event by a very convincing 7 matches to 3.

This result puts The Bunker Bar in third place and still with a chance to go on and win the league.

Paul Smith and Gerry Cooney were both two down after the first two holes only to come back with both winning, by 4 and 5 holes respectively. Ron Ryan won 2 & 1 and PJ Redmond had a steady match going on to a comfortable win 6 & 4.

John MacDonald only returning to Pattaya the day before the match, obviously needs time to adjust and lost 3 & 2. His playing partner, Tony Robbins, also lost his match 2 & 1. At this stage we still needed 2 points to win the match but Dave Booton lost his very first match play event making it very close at 4 – 3.

Burapha

Nails were firmly clenched in the teeth as it was a little too close for comfort! Allan Sullivan three down at one point came through with a great win to snatch victory on the last  hole and the ever reliable John Hughes, who could not miss a putt all day won on the 17th with a difficult downhiller from 10 feet. Nerves of steel John! Captain William had one of those good days, beating their Captain Jack by 4 & 2 to wrap up what was in the end a very comfortable 7-3 victory for his team.

Only one game to go and any one of the top three teams can still win the league. The Bunker Boys in third place take on Tony’s Tigers who lie second and league leaders The Caddy Shack play against The Golf Club who are no pushovers. So, if The Golf Club take at least a point off The Caddy Shack and The Bunker see off Tony’s Tigers we could be crowned champions of the first ever MBMG Matchplay League! Fingers crossed for what could not be a more exciting finish to the matchplay season!

* 1 point deducted for fielding an ineligible player

The Bunker Boys were not their usual bubbly selves when they returned to the bar. 2 halved matches in the last three games has made a big dent in the title challenge but two matches remain and anything can happen in golf.

Cafe Kronberg were the guests at Bangpra and it was the first time we have seen the new club house. Bangpra must be congratulated on a job well done but work still continues on the golf course.

The visitors could only manage a team of 6 players at this time of year and honours were shared 3 matches each.

A break for an hour at the 10th hole could have upset everyone’s concentration and it certainly did PJ Redmond who lost the back nine to Peter Basi after being in the lead at the break. John Hughes was his usual reliable self winning 3 & 1.

William Macey was dormy 4 but pulled out all the stops still to lose to a 10 foot putt (or was it 20 feet) by David Richardson on the last. His playing partner, Mashi Kaneta, made every effort however to show generosity to his opponent by going from 4 up with 8 to play only to win on the last green.

John Macdonald could not overcome the steady play of Monte Sykes but then Gerry Cooney came good again earning the half with a 3 and 1 win over Ebrahim.

Spirits were lifted somewhat back at The Bunker with large helpings of Mick’s Spaghetti Bolognese washed down with generous quantities of Singha!

Boys From The Bunker

This year The Bunker Bar Golf Society got together with a number of other Golf Societies and helped to form the Pattaya Golf Matchplay League 2008, sponsored by MBMG Financial Group.

The teams consist of a minimum of 6 players and a maximum of 10 players to have flexibility for the low and high seasons. One “Home” game and one “Away” is played each each month with the exceptions being April (Songkran) and September when the Ryder Cup is played.

There have been some great matches played and all have been played in the right spirit with good sportsmanship shown by all players. An outstanding feature has been the friendlines shown by supposedly “rival” golf organisations like IPGC and PSC which can only be a good thing for golf in the region.

It has also been a good opportunity for The Bunker’s regular golfer’s to get to know many other fellow golfer’s from around the city and to visit their local drinking holes to rib each other about the day’s golf and to generally have a good time.

The first season is coming to a close as most teams only have two or three matches to play and it is very close at the top with The Bunker Boy’s only two points behind the leaders Caddyshack. The three remaining games see us play at “Home” to Cafe Kronberg tomorrow 3rd September (delayed August game), “Home” to Tony’s Tigers and “Away” to the Outback Golf Bar.

With more “regular” golfer’s returning each week to Pattaya, William Macey the team Captain (who I must say has done a splendid job along with Vice-Captain Geoff Parker) will have a strong squad to choose from for the last three games.