HILLY

I reckon there will be plenty of guys around by this time and we will be there. I will even inite a real caddy to show the others what the game is all about and here she is. It's OK Doggie she can stay at our place that night.

Hey Doggie. You already have my email addy. We will be there.

What a pairing that would be. Unfortunatelly A.M. always partners Ben as they tend to still get a half by wearing down the opposition. Take some care here Deuce as having recently played with Big Kev he has not only improved enormously but the new fitter and slimmer Kev can make it around the full 18 holes without breaking into a sweat. I also hear that Doggie is going to produce a celeb golfer who goes by the name of Village. LOL.

If it does come down to a rigged contest then my money is on Deuce.

Well done Hub and look forward to seeing you. This year looks promising. For us. LOL.

I am delighted to hear that and will look forward to seeing the brighter, fresher and cleaner FLB in 4 weks time. Well hopefully not too clean unless they painted the staff as well.

Hmm I can think of somewhere that needs some work done on it.

We golf all year round and although it can get hot there is plenty of shade to be had and of course buggies and many watering holes help as well. Best weather is Nov to Feb when it is cooler. August to October is still the rainey season so ensure you have a brolley and be prepared to sweat a bit. Drink plenty of water along the way and spray with bug repelents as well as putting on sun lotions as even though the skys might be cloudy you can still burn badly as I often seem to as I never follow my own advice. LOL

Easy. The Asia Hotel (everyone knows it) has a 9 hole par 3 course that is very good. A round will cost you a few hundred Baht and everything you need is for hire at the entrance. Even though it is a par three some of the holes are very challenging with up to 170 yards. Any time of the day is OK but try for mornings or late afternoons when the weather is cooler as it does not get much wind and is pretty sheltered. Let us know how you get on.

Talking about courtesy. In the mid eighties three of us got stuck behind and eight ball at Siam Country Club. After taking an hour to play two holes and no sign of any courtesy being suggested one of our guys who was an ex-pat wandered up to them and asked politely if we could go through. The Thai he was asking(they were all Thais) went over to his bag and unzipped a pocket. He pulled out a pistol and unloaded several shots into the ground around the expats feet. Descretion being the better part of valour we all retreated to the club house and found the secretary to report the event. The secretary shrugged his shoulders and said there was nothing he could do. Then we left. This was a one off for me and never had anything like it since but I am always cautious about asking Thais to go through nowadays. Normally if you are being held up then try to get past on the next watering hole that they stop at but usually the Thais are polite and play the game. Last game we were let through once and called to tee off at a par 3 by two sets of Thais. Japanese are exceptionally polite and so are most golfers. The problem with Thais is that they are often very slow and deliberate in their play and maybe this is just another example of not wanting to loose face. Some high handy cappers are painfully slow and have never learnt the ettiquette.

During the week it is between 600 and 1200 Baht +buggy 500 baht +caddy 250 Baht average + caddy tip 200 to 300. Very cheap at this time ofthe year. Weekends far more expensive though.

Too funny and off we go with the Rydeher Cup pre hype. I will be playing a round with Doggie at Green Valley in a couple of hours so weill try and secure some free samples. This, I may add, will be my last round for 5 weeks as off to the UK on Thursday night. Just to show our tolerance to our boys across the water we played several days with Big Kev last week and and I have to say that he is now a force to be reckoned with for November. He has also slimmed down and I can't see him retiring on the 13th this year, so Deuce mon capitan, maybe we need to ensure that he has more opposition than Ben and A.M. this year to ensure a half at least. LOL. Result of skins at Phoenix on Friday should not be seen as an indication of his new found game. Scoobie 10, Doggie 4, Me 4 and Big Kev 0. Sorry Kev but after getting 0 myself a few days earlier I could not resist it.LOL. Nice seeing you Kev and look forward to November mate.

Get yourself WIN AVI. It converts to DVD from most formats and does a great job. You can get a free download on the net.

I suspect they will be from various bars and maybe some from FLB.

Chang Mai is about 2/3K baht and takes an hour or so. The bus will maybe take you about 12 hours. See you there and I could even get an extra round of golf or several rounds of the other in whilst you guys are on the road. Five flights a day and here is their schedule and prices. Forget the dates as not showing for Nov yet. Economy THB 1,008.41 Nok Plus THB 1,508.41 Flight DD8300 Saturday, 15 Oct 2005 Departure Arrival 06:00 07:10 Economy THB 1,008.41 Nok Plus THB 1,508.41 Flight DD8306 Saturday, 15 Oct 2005 Departure Arrival 09:05 10:15 Flight DD8314 Saturday, 15 Oct 2005 Departure Arrival 13:20 14:30 Flight DD8318 Saturday, 15 Oct 2005 Departure Arrival 15:20 16:30 Flight DD8326 Saturday, 15 Oct 2005 Departure Arrival 19:40 20:50

Sorry steveo and taxi. I had corrected the mistake in mid April but then copied and pasted the wrong one from the origional Rideher cup post. Whoops. Anyway blame doggie for starting a new thread. Promise I will do better in the future and have given myself a pennance. She is one of the most demanding sleepless nights I have ever had so please spare a thought for me. LOL. Doggie when do you get in? We are heading out to the UK for 5 weeks on 21st July so hoping for a game or two. It is now bloody wet here so bring the brolley and the mossie spray. Sunburn should not be a problem as it has hibernated for several days now. TTFN.

Callum now keeping the tally as I get my flags wrong. lol.

No Emil Pete meant what he wrote.

No food is good for me also. I have already booked Ji and if I go missing for 4 minutes around the 11th then don't worry as that is all it takes her. I dont even have to buy a cellphone. LOL. I take it Callum you will not be requiring a bus then??? No worry and have a bus load of Koreans that want a trip to anywhere.

Off to Kong Khien today. Driver drops us at the airport and drives there so we have the car. 1 Hour by plane and 6+ on the road. Nok air less than 3K for their business class. I would do the same for this trip as the drive is too long and boring IMHO.

We should be around for most of that doggie but as usual will probably make our own arrangements and meet you wherever. Chang Mai for sure this year as want to see it.

Ok Dungie and error is corrected. LOL. Nice and sweltering round today at Phoenix with the course in much better condition after a bit of rain. Familiar faces like Deuce, Callum and Pieman are back in town. Oh fuck my liver is suffering already. Europe bertie707 (UK) doghouse (UK/ Scot) deuce (UK) Mrs Hilly(UK) HILLY(UK) softrabbit (Finland) Big Brian (UK but a Scot who wants to be a Cornishman) Eneukman ( UK/Scot and will join us if we are desperate. lol) Pieman (UK) carlsberg (UK) USA Mescalito (USA) BigKev (USA) Fornicator (USA) Hub (USA but not a for certain applicant yet) Shilo (USA but not certain yet) kalbo II (USA but of questionable heritage) bkkbob40(USA) Other Nations Sammy (Canada) Dungheap (Australia and Japan) Steveo (Australia) Taxi (Australia)

As doggie has his work cut out with the big show and trying to get his arse over here I thought it would be nice to help him out and get the players name list going. We also have an air conditioned (working) coach arranged and a driver who has driven one before. LOL. As the edit facility has been confiscated after an hour I will add it newly each time I see another player joining us. Europe bertie707 (UK) doghouse (UK/ Scot) deuce (UK) Mrs Hilly(UK) HILLY(UK) softrabbit (Finland) Big Brian (UK but a Scot who wants to be a Cornishman) Eneukman ( UK/Scot and will join us if we are desperate. lol) Pieman (UK) carlsberg (UK) USA Steveo (USA) Mescalito (USA) BigKev (USA) Fornicator (USA) Taxi (USA) Hub (USA but not a for certain applicant yet) Shilo (USA but not certain yet) PenName (USA) Other Nations Sammy (Canada) Dungheap (Australia and Japan)

Thats a date then. Deuce. Good see you are going to be over partner. The new clubs are starting to work mate and if the Srixon 3 wood arrives then I might even be able to hold my end up. Definitely one of the best days of the year so start booking guys.

We all stayed at Blue Canyon on the same trip and played the Lakes course. What a bloody shambles. The 5 star hotel is not and neither is the standard of service on or off the course. That was the first and very last time I will go near the place. No buggies allowed on The Canyon course so we took a raincheck and that was the reason we ended up playing at Mission Hills the second day. Did they do us a big favour by being such a scabby dump. Just in case I have not made myself clear. I did not like the place. LOL.