doghaus

Hi Taxi The programme is pretty much fixed as follows: 4th November - Kittens Open 6th November - RideHer Cup registration evening 7th November - RideHer Cup 8th to 12th November - some more golf and a lawn bowls tournament 13th November - depart for Chiang Mai. Coach to Bangkok and scheduled flight to CM. I will probably send the baggage by truck. If there is any live baggage that doesn't warrant the investment in an air ticket, this can be sent by road as well! 14th to 16th November - Golf in Chiang Mai. We will probably play Green Valley, Royal Chiang Mai and Lamphung. 17th November - return to Bangkok. Some of the guys will be staying in Bangkok or transferring to their flights home. I can organise transport back to Pattaya for those that need it. Glad you will be joining us and best of luck with the rake inspection! Cheers Doggie

Hi Pen Name. You are very welcome to join the programme and I look forward to meeting up with you in October. If you can pm me with your email address, I will be starting to distribute more information in July. Looks like we will be flying to CM as this is the choice of the majority. However, if there are 4 or more that want to do the stop over option, I might also run a mini bus departing on the Saturday and returning to Pattaya the following Friday. Let's see how the numbers develop. Kind regards Doggie

Brian Let me know if you need any help with flight or hotel bookings. If you let me know your departure airport and dates, I will take a look at what we can do for you. Cheers Doggie

Brian That´s the programme. I am delighted that you will be joining us this year! Doggie

Hilly I will talk with you about the bus when I am in Pattaya next month. We have found a good bus and driver but you might be getting a better deal. Let's decide when we have looked at both suppliers. Dungheap I will make sure we select a good caddy for you. Cheers Doggie

Methinks that our mutual friend The Hub is playing with fire. Now I am really looking forward to November! I didn't know about El Spoofmeister's past but I have never seen him go for anything with 4 legs. Now where have I seen that red leather strapping before? I am sure Miss Whiplash didn't leave it on a camel. Last time I saw it was when she inadvertently left her bag at reception when we checked out the hotel. How the fuck has it made it all the way to Saudi and on to a camel's back? Now, what is your jockey using for a whip and is that some candlewax I can see on the camel's arse? As always Pie, thanks for sharing and I am so pleased you decided to give me a false identity! Doggie

Deuce Brilliant photos! I can still taste that shit that the Pieman made me drink after losing at spoof! Looking forward to this year's event. I really hope you decide to join the Chiang Mai road trip. Cheers. Doggie

We have booked the tee times for the RideHer Cup. The venue is Phoenix and the first tee time will be 11.12 am. I decided on a nice civilised start time in order to favour the European team. The USA has benefitted from far too many early starts! In truth, Phoenix gets busy early morning so that's the best we could do. This means we should be able to depart Pattaya at no later than 10am - it is only 40 minutes to Phoenix unless we use the same bus and driver that Ben booked last year. No chance! I have also found a good bus with air conditioning that actually works! The timings should mean that the last group will finish no later than 5pm so I will plan to have the bus leave at 6 returning to Pattaya around 6.45. Plenty of time for shower, shit and shave and then we will have the food delivered to the bar around 8.30 if that's OK with Ben. All in favour????? I will be meeting the manager of the course next month to organise things. Do you want any food at the course or will you all be happy to get back after the golf and wait for grub at FLB? My vote is to get off our mark when the last group has finished. Please let me know. I will also need to know any favourite caddy numbers nearer the time so that I can book them up. Hands off my one! Doggie

Hub There is a nice little postscript to last year's journey. When I got back to Pattaya in February, I arranged for the same company (which will remain nameless) to collect us from Bangkok. You will never guess which vehicle arrived? Got it in one. And, it only made it as far as half way down the highway before the effing thing conked out. Needless to say that particular agent is right off my list now! We have a new guy based in Pattaya who has been spot on so far. Deuce and a number of the guys know Ken and he has never let us down. I have also learnt that it is a good idea to keep "China" well clear of bridges! Hope you can make it. Doggie

Dungheap We will go for the commercial flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Baggage allowance is 15Kg so if you can keep within that you are welcome to take all your baggage on the flight. That should cover your normal kit - a set of clubs and a packet of 3. It might not be enough to cover the weight of all the baht you will need to pay for the losses on the golf course. Seriously, if some of the guys have a lot of baggage, the van option will be cheaper than paying excess baggage. Also, if some of the guys are connecting home from Bangkok, we can "pool" the baggage allowances so that their luggage can be carried on the return flight to Bangkok while the luggage for the Pattaya returnees can go by van. Also, if we have a van, any last minute "mobile entertainment centres" that have been collected by some of you on the Saturday night can be shipped by road to Chiang Mai! I remember last year where we had some aditional baggage in the bus! Doggie

The voting on travel to Chiang Mai seems to be split. It only makes sense to take a bus if everyone wants to travel that way. I propose that we go for the flight option and that we send the golf clubs and baggage by road. We would travel by mini-bus to Bangkok Airport and then fly to Chiang Mai. If we get a lunchtime flight, this will get us to Chiang Mai in plenty of time to celebrate Big Brian's 50th! All in favour? Doggie

Hub If you are able to make it out to Thailand for the Golf Fest, I will make sure you are off in the last group for the Kittens Open. Cheers Doggie

Hub I really hope you can make it for the Pattaya leg at the very least. I know that some of the others have some time constraints. I heard a rumour that the Pieman might try to go for both legs this time but that he may have to settle for just one. On the other hand...... Hope to hear from you when your plans are firmed up. Doggie

Big Kev I am pleased to hear that you and Greg are in for the trip. Here are answers to a couple of your questions: I hadn't planned golf on Sunday 13th. I suggest a late morning departure from Pattaya with the aim of getting to Nakhon Sawan in the late afternoon. I would propose a fun evening followed by golf on the Monday en route to Chiang Mai. Departure from Chiang Mai on the morning of 17th is feasible. I really need to know your flight times if you are departing BKK that day. There is the option that you guys could fly down to BKK and the rest of us would play some golf and then take the bus to BKK and Pattaya. It is a long trip so we would not get into BKK until the wee sma' hoors. Just let me know nearer the time. Dungheap I am glad you are joining the first week but a pity you wont make the Chiang Mai trip. Cheers Doggie

Hi FF29 I am really sorry that you and the cash cow will not be able to play this year. However, I hope I will be able to renew acquaintances sometime during your December to January long stay programme. Nice to see the numbers growing. It would be great if we could get up to 36 players this year. I am hoping that Ben can get in touch with the non-board members that played last year. They did say that they would be returning for the event. There is a possibility that I will have one golf professional playing for each team. I have verbal acceptances from one US pro and one UK pro so that would make an intereresting match-up. I have started a new thread with some proposals for a 2 week programme built around the RideHer Cup. Last year's road trip to Kanchanaburi was a big success so we have something more ambitious planned for 2005. Please keep the entries coming in. I am back in the UK now so I have less distractions to prevent me from monitoring the board! Cheers. Doggie

I have been exchanging ideas with some of you about a golf programme in November 2005. Last year, we had a successful trip to Kanchanaburi which has been well documented on the board. Indeed, some of you might like to consider re-posting some of the pictures from the Kanchanaburi trip to whet the appetitites for this year's programme! There are 2 events that are firmly fixed in the golf calendar - the CATZ Open on Friday 4th November and the legendary RideHer Cup on 7th November. I have been suggesting that we have a road trip to Chiang Mai this year and this idea seems to have sparked some interest from the golfing board members. I have been asked by a few guys from the USA to try to fit both the Pattaya tournaments and the Chiang Mai trip into a 2 week programme. Our friends from across the pond find it difficult to get off work for more than 2 weeks. However, there is a general view that we should be in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong because this is a big event in Chiang Mai. Loi Krathong will take place in Chiang Mai between 14th and 16th November so it makes sense to have our road trip to co-incide with Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai. We will need to book up early! I am also happy to arrange some extra golf days and activities in Pattaya if people are interested. The lawn bowling went down well last year and I have a few more suggestions like a golf clinic with one of the teaching professionals. All things considered, here is a very draft programme that I would like to propose for your comments: Wednesday 2nd November - A piss up to welcome everyone to the mongers golf festival. Venue tba and this will be followed by a prowl around town. Thursday 3rd November - Golf clinic and practice round at Phoenix. Late morning start with an afternoon round (could be limited to 9 holes). Friday 4th November - CATZ Open. Stableford individual competition over 18 holes. Venue tba. Package will include transport, green fees, caddy fees, prizes, polo shirts, food and a party at the new CATZ a GoGo. Saturday 5th November - Recovery day. I have already booked my room at Pattaya International Hospital Sunday 6th November - RideHer Cup launch and registration party at FLB. Commencing at 8pm, the sole purpose of this is to make sure all the USA players get to bed by 10pm and the European Team get thoroughly pissed. Nothing new here! Monday 7th November - The 2005 RideHer Cup. Lots of information about this annual event on another thread. We are hoping to hold the competition at Phoenix CC. The package will include transport, green fees, caddy fees, prizes, polo shirts and the best party of the year at FLB. Tuesday 8th November - Back into hospital for another recovery day! Perhaps a leisurely afternoon of lawn green bowling at the Pattaya Bowling Green. If there are enough takers, they can organise a barbecue. Wednesday 9th November to Saturday 12th November - I will be pleased to organise a couple more golf days and a clinic. I would recommend we play the new Pattana Country Club and Burapha if you guys want some more golf. Sunday 13th November - Depart for Chiang Mai. There are 3 alternative transport proposals: 1. We bus/mini van it to Bangkok and catch a direct flight to Chiang Mai from Bangkok. 2. If there is a lot of interest, we might be able to charter a plane to fly from Utapao (Pattaya airport) to Chiang Mai. I have been quoted a (very) rough estimate of 100,000 baht for a 12 seater. 3. We travel by bus to Chiang Mai but we take in a golfing and entertainment stop en route. There is a great stopover at Nakhon Sawan with accommodation, massage parlour and a nightclub. It would take about 5 hours to get there from Pattaya. We could then play a round of golf on the Monday en route to Chiang Mai. If we go for the bus option, I would arrange for a load of beer and some movies to be loaded together with a couple of service wenches! Chiang Mai programme: I have found a good hotel with decent prices that is located in the centre of town: Amora Resort I will get us a group rate as soon as I have the numbers. My suggestion would be to stay in Chiang Mai from either Sunday or Monday (dependant upon choice of transport) until Thursday 17th. This will let us see all the Loi Krathong Festivities which will climax on the evening of Wednesday 16th November. I would like to suggest that we play 3 rounds of golf in Chiang Mai: Royal Chiang Mai Golf Club Chiang Mai Lamphung Country Club Chiang Mai Green Valley The programme will depend upon the selected mode of transport. If we go by coach, we would play in Chiang Mai Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with the coach departing immediately after the golf. If we fly, we would play Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then you would have the option of either flying back to BKK on Thursday morning or staying a few extra days. The programme can include a golf clinic at one of the courses and some tips from the pro during the rounds. I can also arrange some "evening programmes" dependant upon the composition of the group. Right now, I need to have "expressions of interest" so that I can have some rough numbers for transport and accomodation. Can you please post your responses on this thread letting me know: - If you are interested and whether you want to bring your girlfriend on the Chiang Mai trip - Your comments and counter-suggestions about the proposed programme - If you want to go to Chiang Mai, which transport option you would prefer? - How suitable are the dates? To give you some price comparisons, I would expect the return trip by plane from Bangkok to be maximum 6000 baht including taxes. Given the baggage restrictions, I would send the baggage by truck to Chiang Mai. Transport to and from the airports will cost about 1500 baht all in. I don't know how much the coach would cost but it will be quite a bit less per head and will have the advantage of saving us transport costs to and from the golf courses. The down side is that it is a long trip! Let's get the debate going and I hope we can get lots of takers for what should be a great couple of weeks. Get posting. Doggie

Hi Mister C. Please send me an IM with your email and I will give you the price list for all the courses including transport and caddy fees. We have a golf guide based in Pattaya who will take care of all the logistics and hopefully he will fit you in with some other players. Cheers Doggie

Stoace This fits with what we were told last year. I was offered the option of paying $70 per golfer for golf club carriage. We declined the offer and our customers are informed that this charge maybe applied at check in. In reality, the airline is flexible and they may waive the charge unless the flight is very busy. Seems that nothing has changed so I wont bother to call them. Doghaus

Sorry to be late in responding to this post but I just got back from Thailand. I usually negotiate an arrangement when we have a group travelling with golf clubs so I am not sure what rule they will apply for an individual golfer. I will give them a call either today or tomorrow and get this clarified. Most of our golf groups travel with Eva. Although Eva have the same baggage allowance, they are usually pretty flexible unless they have a full cargo load on the Combi. I will post the Thai response as soon as I have it. Doghaus

Alan Big Kev was not joking about his golf. I was sitting in my buggy to the side and behind his ball. He still managed to hit me in the back! I don't know how the hell he managed that shot but I have the scars to prove it! Lokk slike being a great turnout this year. It is one of the best 2 weeks in Pattaya when all the crew for the RideHer are in town. Don't miss it! Doggie

Alan and Shilo We will be pleased to have you both play in the event. Don't worry about how well you play - nobody can be worse than Ben! Hope you can confirm nearer the date. Doggie

Softrabbit I will let Pieman post a response to your enquiry about Kittens. I very much hope so and it would be nice to have the Kittens Open later in the week after the RideHer Cup. I will be in Pattaya from 25th April so I am planning to discuss this with the guys at Kittens. I am also considering organising a trip up to Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong. We would leave Pattaya around 12th November and stay till 17th November. Some of the guys have already expressed interest in this. If there are enough people, I will take a seat allocation from one of the airlines and a block hotel booking. I will put up a new post when I have a full prgramme to propose. Cheers Doggie

Good to hear from Taxi, Dungheap and Brian. Keep the entries coming in - I need to have a rough idea of numbers for the tee time bookings. Thanks for the photo of my attempts to hit the ball out of the top of a bush Dungheap. I do recall that it ended up just short of the green! Cheers Doggie

I saw the shot replayed and that confused me as well. I thought you had to play as near to the point of entry to the hazard but no nearer the pin. My opinion was that you could only replay the shot from the original position if the ball was lost in the hazard. So I have checked the USGA Rules. They state: If a ball is in or is lost in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke: a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole. The ball may be lifted and cleaned when proceeding under this Rule. So, I stand corrected - Tiger was right! Doggie

Got my money down on Levet at 200/1 and Appleby at 125/1. Odds probably reflect their chances! Retief is looking like a player that can win it this year so I might have an investment on him before the serious stuff starts at the weekend. Doggie