Colm O’Donovan Smashes Handicap

When he arrived for this trip Colm O’Donovan stated that he wanted to get his handicap down to 16. Well, he did that with some top scoring and today smashed it again with an amazing 44 points at Burapha.

There was a light drizzle as the twenty- one players arrived at Burapha. By the time check-in was done it had cleared and play got away on time. There were a few more periods of similar drizzle during the round, but not enough to cause a stoppage, and it did keep conditions pleasantly cool.

The greens have recently had their maintenance and were a little bumpy while the rest of the course is in very good condition, enabling some very high scoring.

Only one flight today and, as already stated, Colm O’Donovan had the highest points score, but right behind him came some excellent scores to fill the podium.

Maurice Roberts has had some good games recently and today’s 42 points, by far his best, gave him second place.

Kevin McEntee, who is on the comeback to some good form, chimed in with 41 points for third spot while Derek Phillips had one of his better days and, even though wiping ( blobbing) the last hole, put together 40 points to hold fourth place.

Near pins: Kevin McEntee (C5), Colm O’Donovan (C8), Jacob Cummings (D2),Donal McGuigan (D8).

Winners Burapha

1^st  Place – Colm O’Donovan (16) -44 pts

2^nd Place – Maurice Roberts (12) – 42 pts

3^rd Place – Kevin McEntee (11) – 41 pts

4^th Place –  Derek Phillips (16) – 40  pts

Best Front Nine ( non winners) – Dave Arataki – 23 pts

Best Back Nine ( non winners)  – Colin Smith – 21 pts

Who would have thought that such a high score, 13 points on a nine, would win the “silly hat”? It went to a countback on that score and “ good ole” Tip Briney was the lucky one, again.

There were two non-finishers, both retiring with injury, so were taken out of calculations for the “wig”.

Darren Beavers was offered a good price for a driver by a friend of Phil’s. He saw the same type in a shop and let himself be talked into buying it at a higher price. He also had the lowest score, so wore the “wig” anyway.

No hold ups on course, and a quick trip back to Links, arriving so early that it caught the kitchen staff unprepared, so a bit of a wait for the food.

It is low season so numbers are down but it also gives us some early finishes, for now.