𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗙 𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗬…….𝗞𝗵𝗮𝗼 𝗞𝗵𝗲𝗼𝘄…𝗔+𝗕…….𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀. 𝗝𝗮𝗻.𝟮𝟴…….𝗦/𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱
𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡
At our last visit here, an impromptu game as our scheduled course had a Covid scare, we played from yellow tees. This brought complaints that the course was too long for players with higher handicaps. The winner that day, Tony Browne, played off a #21 handicap.
This time around, to try to be fair, we played the shorter white tees with, naturally, complaints from low handicap players, that this was too short.
Read on:
Michael Blumhagen (handicap 9) and Mark On (h/cap 11) went to the line neck and neck, both scoring sub handicap 39 points.
Michael, with a gross 78, narrowly beat Mark on countback, due to a better back nine, for his second win in a week. Mark is a newcomer to Links and playing well, a win seems not far off.
Thierry Petrement is consistent and also scored better than his handicap of #10, with an excellent 38 points for third place.
Dave Arataki is not a low handicapper, but played out of his skin to finish fourth with 37 points after being all excited at the half way, having already scored 20 points. He kept his concentration going to finish out the game nicely.
Nineteen players came out after a late withdrawl and this enabled us to have near pins on each Par.3
Some comments suggested that only low handicap players can win near pins as they have the ability to put the ball closer to the pin.
Another myth busted this day as only one pin was won with a handicap less than fifteen.
𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐬: Dave McKey (21), Markku Tynell (25), Mike Ehlert (10), George Mueller (15)
𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗵𝗮𝗼 𝗞𝗵𝗲𝗼𝘄
1st Place – Michael Blumhagen (9) – 39 pts c/back
2nd Place – Mark On (11) – 39 pts
3rd Place – Thierry Petrement (10) – 38 pts
4th Place – Dave Arataki (25) – 37 pts
𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗲 (non winners) – Steve Moxey – 20 pts
𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗲 (non winners) – Len Jones – 20 pts
Steve (I never win a countback) Moxey didn’t need to win or lose a countback for best front nine of 20 points and Len Jones found something extra on the home run to have best back nine of, also, 20 points.
As can be seen by the fact that eight players scored handicap or better, the course is in really nice condition. Although there were mud spots due to a lot of watering, the fairways provided good run and the greens, as usual, were true and had good pace.
The weather seems to be warming up and, together with a lot of cloud, visible through the pollution again, felt quite humid and sticky. It would have been nice to have a shower but, alas, not yet.
Khao Kheow had a special price of 𝟭𝟭𝟱𝟬 𝗯𝗵𝘁 all-in, and this will continue for the month of February. We are getting some nice pricing now, so we will take it while it lasts.
We all know that when we golfers get to the first tee, we hope for a good swing and just a little bit of luck. Due to the handicap system, anyone can make a good score on a given day, playing the course they are allocated as happened this day.
𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐: Winner, 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑩𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒉𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏.
It’s the same photo because he keeps escaping the camera.
