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Chiang Mai Social Golfers inaugural tournament
Adam Head
The peace and tranquility of Maejo Golf Course provided
the perfect setting for the first golf tournament organized by Chiang Mai
Social Golfers.
An impressive assembly of some 36 expats turned out at
the unearthly hour of 8 a.m. to tee off on the new golf course, which is
fast gaining a reputation as one of the finest in the area.
 Chiang
Mai’s intrepid social golfers beat the heat and congratulate each other on
the 18th green. Now, where’s the 19th?
The main competition was a team event based on the
Stableford format. However, there were also prizes for the highest
individual points tally, the best net and gross scores, nearest the pin, and
the longest drive.
Considering the weather, which always seems to be hotter
at Maejo than anywhere else, maybe the players should have won a prize just
for completing the course. Has anyone else completed several miles under the
noonday sun recently? Mad dogs and all that.
Watching the intrepid golfers march around the lush
fairways with their umbrellas overhead made me feel like I was back in
England, except that in this case, the sky was blue.
The winning team in the main Stableford event was: Bob
Jess, Archie Lee, Noel Dwyer, and David McCunnell. Congratulations! The
gallant runners-up were Les Harvey, Kim Gillies, Jim Catterson, and Jeff
Birrell.
Individual prizes went to Jack Cooper for an inspiring
best gross score of eleven over par, whilst Ron Tyre picked up two awards:
the best net score (level par 72), and the highest individual Stableford
score. A fine performance sir, well done!
 Double
trophy winner Ron Tyre sporting his awards, complete with suntan, at the
Bear’s Den Pub.
The evening saw the players treated to a splendid meal at
the Bear’s Den Pub, the second idyllic location of the day, this time
beside the Mae Ping River. Prizes were presented and many stories were
swapped about long putts that were sunk, and the three iron that was thrown
into the lagoon.
Thanks to Garry Walker for organizing the event, and
thanks also to the kind sponsors, The Bear’s Den, No. 1 Bar, Sea Bijn
Spas, Willie’s Wine Bar, Happy Bar, and the Foxy Lady (or was that the
caddy?).
Chiang Mai Social Golfers is based out of the Bear’s Den Pub and plays
twice weekly. If you would like to join, drop in to the Bear’s Den on
Jarern Rasd Road (next to Rimping Condominium) by the river, serving a nice
pint and some excellent food.
Badminton Open 2005 attracts 2,000 players
Preeyanoot Jittawong and Jaruwan Punyoyai
(Student Trainee CMU)
Chiang Mai hosted the opening ceremony for the
Kason-Chiang Mai-Bangkok Open 2005 at the 700 Year Anniversary Stadium on
October 18, in which contestants will vie for the King’s Cup, the Princess
Cup, and scholarships worth more than 900,000 baht.
 Korn
Thapparansi (right) receives a souvenir from Wang Ping Tong, president of
Kason International Limited (left).
Chiang Mai province jointly organized the event with
Chiang Mai Sports Association (Badminton Department), Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration, Bangkok Sports Association and the Badminton Association of
Thailand, with sponsorship from Pargolf Sporting House.
Those taking part have points awarded under the player
ranking program operated by the Badminton Association of Thailand. The
competitor categories are ranked from under nine years to over 55 years. More
than 2,000 players have entered.
Chiang
Mai Dramatic Art College students perform Fon Leb, Northern-style dance at
the opening ceremony.
Korn Thapparansi, president of the Badminton Association
of Thailand and former president of the International Badminton Federation,
was master of ceremonies. “Many national badminton players joining in the
Olympic competition are from this regional match. This game should be
upgraded to become a national competition,” said Korn.
Chiang Mai Dramatic Art College students presented Fon Leb, Fon Pang
Pra-teep, and Fon Jintara Northern-style dances followed by Chaimongkol and
Sabadchai drum performances.
Chiang Mai Bowling League gets underway
Adam Head
Last Wednesday heralded the much anticipated launch of the
Chiang Mai Bowling League. Open to all comers, but comprising of a
predominant expat element at present, this friendly event takes place every
Wednesday at 4 p.m. (meet 3.30 p.m.) at Chiang Mai Bowl, located on the North
West corner of the moat. The sport is “Ten Pin Bowling”, and play takes
place in teams of two, with opponents rotating each week.
 Eric
let’s another one fly, and remembers to let go!
If you don’t feel too competitive, you can just turn up
and play a social game. Shoes are only 20 baht, and the two hours play will
only set you back 120 baht. What a bargain!
This week I teamed up with two Americans and a Canadian,
as we attempted to knock over as many skittles as possible, while at the same
down knocking down as many beers as was politely appropriate.
Earl, an expat from the States, kindly gave us a few
pointers and we soon learnt how to release the ball down the alley without
falling head-first down the lane. After half an hour or so we managed to hit
a couple of pins, and before the end we were all hitting a few strikes (a
strike is when you knock all 10 pins down in one go).
Earl gave us a master-class in bowling, hitting strikes
consistently, and rarely missing for his spares. Mind you, he did have his
own ball, not to mention his own glove, and wisely stuck to water as his
preferred beverage. What a dedicated sportsman! The rest of us were reduced
to looking on in envy and munching popcorn (thanks Eric).
Meanwhile, across the lanes, the serious competitors
rolled down ball after ball, frequently clearing all the pins in impressive
style. You have been warned!
Even more scary is the close of play when the balls are
polished and packed up in specially designed bowling ball bags. I had to make
do with my plastic carrier from 7-Eleven.
Feel free to pop along on Wednesdays, 3.30 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Chiang Mai Pool League:
Drama as pool league heats up
Pat Black
Three weeks before the halfway stage of this season’s
Chiang Mai Pool League, matches are being fiercely contended and, last time
out, four of the seven went down to the wire.
Excitement reached fever pitch at Half Moon Pub as the
home side desperately clung onto their 2 point advantage at the top of the
table in a 5-4 win against The Wall. At 4-4, The Wall’s Chris faced a
winning black to the right middle pocket, but the ball rattled tantalizingly
in the jaws, somehow squirted out and trickled tragically across the table
and down the wrong bag.
 Joi
(left) and Fern of No.1 Bar.
In another high-flying encounter, Chiangers and Bangers
edged The Local 5-4, when Chiangers took the eighth game after several
failed attempts on the black.
These results kept the first three positions in the
league unchanged, but La Villa jumped over The Wall into 4th place after
their comfortable 6-3 win at home to Rock Hard Bistro.
Out Back were the first team ever to be beaten 9-0 in
open play, but they hit back last week by becoming the third team to achieve
the feat. As deserved winners of the match, they can count themselves
fortunate to clean sweep, with December Bar gifting several games. However,
Out Back is now the only team in the league to have both won and lost 9-0 in
open play.
Elsewhere, Blue Sky Garden fought back from 1-3 down to
win the next 4 games and run out winners 5-4 at Enjoy Place. Whereas, No.1
Bar’s fighting spirit against Friend’s Corner came to no avail. At 0-3
down, No.1 rallied to go 4-3 up - only to see the last two games slip away
from them.
In a top versus bottom clash at Blue Sky Bar, Happy Bar
put up their usual resistance by going into the break 3-3. But the home side
showed why they are currently in second spot by taking all the doubles.
Did you know that the first woman pool player in the
world was thought to be the notorious Frances Anderson, who hustled a living
in the USA during the early 1900s? But it turned out that Frances was really
Orie - a bloke.
For the genuine article one should look no further than
the lovely “Duchess of Doom”, Allison Fisher, who just this month took
the Women’s US Open Championship. In her 8 years since becoming a pool pro
she has won more tournaments than all her current competitors put together,
and that includes 36 tour titles and 4 World Championships.
Allison has had more tournament wins than any other
player in history - male or female - and was voted Player of the Year for 5
consecutive years.
Another all-time great is the “Cue Queen”, Jean
Balukas, who won her first US Open title aged 12 in 1983. Since then she
collected 6 more US Open titles, 6 World Open Championships, and has been
inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame.
So, I’m starting a Chiang Mai Pool League Ladies Hall of Fame, and our
first two girls going in are Joi and Fern of No.1 Bar.
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