This month's golf news and features
Hua Hin Golf Society
Society Champion (Scratch Stroke Play)
Ulf Sparvman has won this title by a massive 11 shots from
Mick Evans, played over two rounds at Springfield and
Majestic Creek respectively. Ulf shot two 77's against Mick's
aggregate of 165 shots; there were only eleven entrants.
Stroke Play against Handicap
Played at Lake View over 36 holes on 22nd and 25th
November, Mick Evans triumphed with a total net score of
139 shots off a 7 handicap. 2nd Jill Moore 140 net 15 hcp.
3rd Don Horton 142 net 18 hcp. 4th Terry Burge 143 net 18
hcp. There were 50 entrants.
Other recent results
18th November at Royal Ratchaburi 30 players one group 0
– 36 hcp. 1st Terry Gallagher 37 pts 16 hcp. 2nd Peter Kern
36 pts 14 hcp. 3rd Kjell Herbertson 36 pts 14 hcp
25th November at Lake View 19 players one group. 1st
Dave Stott (guest) 36 pts 12 hcp. 2nd Peter Tydeman 36
pts 17 hcp
29th November at Dragon Hills 31 players one group
1st Brian Reeve 41 pts 17 hcp. 2nd John Pritlove 36 pts 11
hcp. 3rd Kuki Paulini 34 pts 6 hcp
2nd December at Springfield 36 players
‘A' Group 0 – 18 hcp. 1st Sheldon Bailey 39 pts 10 hcp. 2nd
Jim Kennedy 36 pts 16 hcp
‘B' Group 19 – 36 hcp. 1st Morgan Wallengren 35 pts 21
hcp. 2nd Monta Suwandee 32 pts 20 hcp
6th December at Majestic Creek 45 players
‘A' Group. 1st Don Horton 41 pts 18 hcp. 2nd Canada Bob
(guest) 39 pts 14 hcp
‘B' Group. 1st Kieron (guest) 41 pts 22 hcp. 2nd David
Buchan 38 pts 20 hcp
9th December at Lake View 53 players
‘A' Group. 1st John Pritlove 70 net 11 hcp
2nd Rene Bernard 71 net 9 hcp
‘B' Group. 1st Berny 38 pts 19 hcp. 2nd David Buchan 37
pts 19 hcp
13th December at Panurangsi 31 players one group
1st Terry Gallagher 38 pts 15 hcp. 2nd Kjell Herbertson 36
pts 14 hcp. 3rd John Pritlove 35 pts 8 hcp
16th December at Lake View 61 players
‘A' Group. 1st Kevin Rahm 66 net 17 hcp. 2nd Canada Bob
68 net 14 hcp
‘B' Group. 1st Helmut Ruchti 39 pts 25 hcp. 2nd Alan Rawson
37 pts 24 hcp
FIXTURES JANUARY
Friday 6th Kaeng Krachan. Tuesday10th Springfield .
Friday 13th TBN. Tuesday 17th Majestic Creek.
Friday 20th Panurangsi (Ratchaburi Military).
Tuesday 24th Lake View . Friday 27th TBN. Tuesday
31st Royal Ratchaburi
Forthcoming Events
January 26th 2006 AGM at Lake View 18:00 hrs.
April 2006 Annual Family trip. Destination will be
decided during January, probably the Chiang Mai
area.
Fit for Golf
This month is a continuation of the subject covered in
December. Now you have all equated your BMI then it is
time to tackle the issue.
Firstly there are a few things that you need to know before
the losing of a kilo or two can be challenged. This is what
happens to the body when it is in an obese condition. The
centre of gravity is altered moving you out of the best
way to stand when playing a shot. What happens more
specifically is the muscles on the front of the hips tighten
up and that in turn puts pressure on the lower back. Because
of that the big muscles situated in the buttock region get
weak and the body then depends on the hamstrings and
lower back muscles (lumber erector spinea or LES) to do
the job required. As they, LES, tighten the lower back will
arch more leading to the risk of lower back pain.
To make matters worse being obese will make the internal
abdominal area weak too. From reading previous articles
you will know how important that is to the well-being of
the body and the golf game. So what do we do to address
this problem?
Playing golf is a good form of exercise but for those that
fall into the obese category not enough. An increase of
aerobic exercise is important. Going to a gym will give you
all the machines you need but for people who don't like that
atmosphere then walking is your best way to lose the excess
fat. Try to walk up to 20 minutes at least three times a week,
as well as your golf. As you find the 20 minutes getting
easier you can increase your pace. The harder you work
the more calories you burn and in turn more fat gets burnt.
Keep to 20 minutes, so as you get faster then go further.
To simply explain how to lose fat all you have to do is
burn more calories than you eat. With this in mind, cutting
down on some of the amounts eaten can help. Don't starve
yourself just limit the intake a little. It will be trail and error
to see if the right portions are being taken. As stated in
some of the earlier pieces written, “it has taken years to get
out of condition” so take a little time to bring yourself back
to reasonable fitness.
For more information on how to get your BMI down and
improve your golf game call
Terry on 01-0096588 or look at the Fit-foregolf website.
JOHN WITHER SPONSORSHIP UPDATE
End of Season Report
The Asian Tour year has ended, with John finishing 92nd in the order of merit. Other Hua Hin based pros had a mixed year – Corey Harris 73rd, Jochen Luprian 78th and Greg Hanrahan 83rd, but congratulations must go to Prom Meesawat (15th), Simon Yates (16th) and Prayad Marksaeng (18th). The Asian Tour differs from the European and US Tours in that to retain your playing rights for next year, you have to finish in the top 60, as opposed to the top 125 – so it is a lot tougher. This means that John has to go back to qualifying school in Malaysia from Jan 11th – 14th. He thinks he is better prepared this time, and has got used to the life of a tournament professional. “It is really not that easy to acclimatise to this lifestyle” he said, “having to deal with so much travelling, airport hold ups and living in hotels for weeks on end, and then try to play consistently good golf”. That indeed is one of his goals for next year – consistency. “I have learned a lot this year – I have proved I can compete, but to be in the top 60, I have to be more consistent over 4 days. I think I have overcome a lot of the nervousness that I felt, and it can only improve more with experience”. John plans to finish as high as possible at qualifying school – a top 5 finish will enable him to get into more tournaments, and then to have a much more positive start to the year than last time. “I can't afford to do what I did last year – missing the cut for virtually all of the first half of the season. I need to get into gear straight away, and I know that's what my supporters and sponsors want”.
Indeed another sponsor has been added to the list – Arthur v Vliet and Rob Prudon of Vernel BV, who are based in Holland and come to Hua Hin for holidays.
We hope to be able to report some good news on qualifying in next month's Observer.
GOOD LUCK JOHN!
Details of all the sponsors can be found on the website WWW.HuaHinHH.com , please visit it. Anyone interested in further details on sponsorship please contact Barry Moore at The Road Hole or by email to barrypm@hotmail.com
State Of The Game
By Tom Duzanica
Deadlines! I've got a few hours to get this out and it is going to be short and sweet (yeah Mick stop cheering and start reading I don't have time for your sarcasm and I am not going to be saying anything about the unbelievable KZG driver you built for me).
I said in my first article that I would give a lesson in each article and hopefully everyone has mastered the first lesson as I said there would be no more lessons unless the first was learned perfectly. If you didn't read the first article here is lesson #1 - Have Fun! That's it, I won't go into detail, dig up the old September issue if you need more.
I guess logically lesson # 2 would be if you can't master #1 do something about it. So I'm stuck right now because I'm lost it in regards to lesson #1. My reasons don't come from actually playing the game but from something that I read about it. There are a few groups of people that have organized themselves such that they are able to have competitions at regular intervals throughout the year. Some are extremely organized and some are not. To say one is better than another would be absurd, they all fill their own niche.
I have a very serious problem with The Vision Golf Society and I am addressing it now in this article, as I believe time is of the essence because people's livelihoods depend upon it. I will also speak directly with any and all involved to rectify it. I was reading the Vision Society's results in "The Hua Hin Today" and they were showing their format and fees, when it came to caddy fees they stated 200 baht, the typical rate at most courses, but then they printed in parentheses that expected gratuities were 150 baht for the caddies. What? Who? When? And How Dare You!
I have been in Hua Hin for almost 3 years, and from day one the normal tip for a caddy has been 200 baht. READ THIS IN CAPITAL LETTERS, AND ENGLISH, NORMAL TIPS ARE 200 (TWO HUNDRED) BAHT. A tip of 150 baht means the caddy was almost trying to do a poor job. I'm a pro with a back that isn't the greatest and I look for any and all reasons to be able to give my caddies a tip higher than 200 and I seldom can find reasons to not do it. Generally the caddies take my clubs from my boot (I've lost weeks and months doing it myself along with big bills at the massage table to rectify my back getting that bag of kilos out by myself. I pulled my trolley for my caddy for less than 100 yards and it was laborious these folks will fill your divots and mark your ball on the green and take the dimpled sphere out of the cup for you and then run ahead and make sure that when you reach the next tee they'll be there. Let's not look at the fact that most of them weigh less than 55 kilos. Most average golfers don't understand the value of any caddy let alone an excellent one and all of sudden they are here in the land where they can afford and enjoy one and I don't want them to look ignorant and unaware of what is the norm. 20 to 40 baht above the 200 shows you appreciated the job anything less means that you are almost kind to not report them to the caddy master for their performance. Just remember one thing; these caddies are working for you with tip for about 8 Euros. Tell me what you pay for 2 Titleist Pro V1 X golf balls. 18 holes walking the hills of Royal or the eternity between tees at Majestic and we are writing about 4 Euro tips. Be real.
Believe me I have talked to the Thai folks and they are saying that for 5 years it's been 200 baht; these are the Thai who some have the misconception that they don't tip (it's true if you order a street side curry, but that's a different world to the ways of the country club life of golf in the Third World). What's incredible is that the line printed before they recommended the 150 baht tip, they state that green fees at Lake View were discounted by 900 baht for their Society! You can seldom say that anybody has a story of me being angry at a golf course but I say some people need to beg, borrow or buy a book on the rules of golf and look up the title to Section I.
I'm very upset and I need to calm down. I knew little or nothing of this game when I started as a tweleveteen year old in the dense fog that had shots disappearing into it at the windswept salt stunted "links" course in Palo Alto, California, but the people that I played with and the groups in front and behind started to educate me in regards to Section I of the rules of golf. Consult a pro if you don't have an idea of what I am talking about but it is essential if you dare to give a caddy a mere 150 baht. I'm Scottish only as far as my pocket book is concerned yet when I read a putt to break 4 inches for a birdie and my caddy told me it was about 8. I trusted in her because of the grain and the cut of the green and with no more questions a birdie and 380 baht later, it was in the bottom of the cup. I was only more than glad to give her the normal 200 baht tip, and the 380 I had in my other pocket. She really was sweet and happy when I pulled it out and gave it to her and told her it was all hers because #16 was her birdie not mine (that's a once a year occurrence for me, the birdie I'm talking about).
Maybe this article was necessary, no maybes, it was definitely necessary. I have heard of other foreigners failing to give ANY tip to the caddies and was asked what I could do about it a few months ago. It made me sick that the people probably just didn't know. So if you don't have your strong glasses on right now it's 200 BAHT FOR A MINIMUM TIP FOR CADDIES IN HUA HIN. Typically is has always been proper golf etiquette to tip a caddy and usually it is never an issue, unfortunately it has become a huge issue as things in Hua Hin have become extremely, and I mean extremely more expensive over the last few years. The clams I used to buy for 30 baht are now 90 and I saw in my condo complex what used to rent for 7000 a month now they ask for 14,000 for 2 weeks. So think about it when you pull that couple of hundred out for a tip at the end of the round when your clubs are put back into your bus or car and wonder if an extra Euro might make someone's day who has been trying, working and wishing that you are going to have a great round of golf. If they have been anything less than that then only 8 Euros, tip included is still almost a gift. Enjoy the gift of golf that Thailand and their hard working caddies offer to you and if you want to throw a smile at your caddy I'm sure you are going to get one right back at ya', as we all say Choke Dee.
Well this was supposed to be fun but I feel like I've had to try to rip about six 3 irons out of the tall rough (I told you Mick I wouldn't talk about that new driver but that cavity backed forged 3 iron that you built for me after almost 20 years with my Hogan Apex has proven a much more consistent performer, ah technology and someone to apply it for the ignorant and unable).
I'm burnt out, The Hua Hin Vision (which is a much larger and more involved entity than their Golf Society) has done, as is still doing, many many great things for the Hua Hin area but I hope they made a misprint, but with 14 minutes (it was 6 hours when I started) before deadline I cannot allow this article to not get into print as we are in the high season and thousands of jobs and families depend on people being up to date with what is the proper etiquette on the golf course. Again I say, consult all our local pros if you have any questions in regards to what you may feel you need help with, it may not be if you need 4 degrees loft on your lob wedge or 12 degrees, maybe it's the first page of "The Rules Of Golf".
How 'bout some fun stuff, then next time we can maybe get to lesson three. As I was lucky enough to predict this was Prom Meesawat's year to break out and he was able to put his name with, above, among and next to the professional greats of Hua Hin, Simon Yates, Thammanoon Sirichat and Prayad Marksaeng. As I said before, Prom was a world junior champion, and he has made the transition to compete as a pro, but much more importantly, he has competed extremely consistently on the Asian professional circuit. Let's hope he gets a day or two to be able and come out and let the other hard working pros see his game on our local Saga Tailor Professional Tour.
Fun it should be, so I leave you with this, from Johnny Walker. When I told him I played a Saga with pro Blair Wilson from Australia (22 years old and a former pro Aussie footballer) and I had to hit 3 iron to a green and Blair's smooth easy 25 foot high rocket drive left him a lob wedge, he said, "Oh he bagged you"??? Hmm, yeah 3 iron to lob wedge, yeah that's a bagful less the lumber. We also have a professional caddy in town vacationing and offering a huge contribution to Bernie's Annual Christmas Charity and we traded a name of a therapist in St Annes, no details, just a few names Andy, Seve, Lee and me. I won't even go to Hong Kong and a Monty titbit because he's a man of class, style (if you see Rod Stewart in town, that's Andy) and a huge plethora of wealth in the stories he could pass on. I was talking about the way I enjoyed the Hua Hin weather and the Mombasa African weather and he said it reminded him of a golfer on tour (fortunately I can't see too well and my hearing has been worse since I was a child) and I didn't get his name, but they call him "Tenerife", "Never in the 60's seldom in the 70's and mostly in the 80's". Fortunately he didn't know my last name or he could have been talking about me. Ignorance is sometimes bliss, but not with your caddies, please remember they are your strongest fans and your only partner. Respect is the word that you should always have for them and it will be reciprocated. Choke Dee!
(How's that Charlie and Brian not one word of the loop or the Road Hole though Johnny Withers ripped it up at Kaeng Krachan with a 70 to take the Saga tourney, a great score, and a big win with almost 30 guys travelling 50 miles to battle the elements, vipers and wild animals. What is the procedure if you have an elephant foot print in your line on the green?
Features
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