After a
week of rain in the Pattaya area, Friday
August 2nd started with
cloudy skies as 126 golfers made their
way to the Burapha Golf & Resort for the
15th Anniversary Jackalope
Open. Registration opened at 10:00 and
after checking in, collecting their
anniversary shirt and goodie bags, most
of the players headed for their favorite
spots – the Caesar table for the
Canadian breakfast
speciality, the 50-50 ticket sellers for
the much wanted raffle tickets and a new
addition this year – the Jackalope
Cookie table provided by Mamo Kerr with
the proceeds being added to the charity
fund. By 11:30 everyone headed
out to the golf course ready for the
shotgun start, much anticipation hung in
the air as individuals prepared their
minds towards a good round; of course
some of the golfers were thinking when
they would see the first “refreshment”
cart.
At 12:00
the shotgun was fired and the golfers
were off, a true test of golf on the
slightly damp fairways. The field moved
around C & D courses. With no rain, cool
temperatures and not too many hold ups
encountered, the first groups arrived
back at the club house in less than five
hours. The golfers were treated to a
splendid buffet provided by the Burapha
staff while they waited for their
scorecard to be checked and tabulated by
John Emmerson and his team.
Mark
Gorda – wearing his now world famous
Jackalope Jacket and Canadian tie (see
photo for this year) kicked off with the
technical prizes.
Near pins
winners on C5 – Tai Kanchana, Mike
Chitwood, George Richman, Matt Millar,
Dave Campbell & John Cunningham
Near pins
winners on C8 – Beng Durant, George
Richman, Larry Deverdenne, Captain
Damrong & Thomas Rechsteiner
Near pins
winners on D2 – Nual Russell, Kim
Fletcher, Rich Wibrow & Mike Dabanovich
Near pins
winners on D8 – Mike Lovell, Bob
Skelton, Dale Drader, Stephan Hoge &
Murray Kerr
There
were no near pin winners on holes C8 –
Rabbits, D2 – Ladies, D2 – Seniors and
D8 – Ladies divisions.
Long
drives winners were Noi – D4, George
Konopik – D4, Andy Evans – D4, Robert
Fogelman – C3, Ronnie Ramsay – D6
Ty Kerr – C1.
Nearest
the Keg winner on D7 – Dale Drader
The
Ladies division runner up was Nual
Russell with 34 points. First place in
the Ladies division was won by Ning with
47 points.
In the
Rabbits division runner up was Brian
Reed and winning the Rabbits division
was Mike Chitwood. Some unbelievable
points scored in the Rabbits division
again this year.
In the
new revised Seniors division first place
went to Robert Skelton. With a fair
amount of players showing interest in
this division, it may remain in future
tournaments.
Division
3 third place was won by Matt Earnshaw
with 35 points, second place was won by
Dan Dorothy with 35 points and first
place went to Benny Hansen with 36
points.
Division
2 third place was won by Keith Bowles
with 33, second place went to Seamus
with 34 points and first place went to
Peter Marsh with 34 points.
Division
1 third place went to John Stanton with
34 points, second place went to Helmut
Hebstreit with 36 points and first place
went to Tom Thompson with 36 points.
Low gross
of 79 for the day was won by Ty Kerr.
The 2013
15th Anniversay Canadian
Jackalope Champion is Jim Brackett with
37 points.
Mark
Gorda in his never ending quest to
generate funds for the tournament, had
pledged to donate 1,000 Baht for every
birdie and 5,000 Baht for every eagle
scored on the day. This year’s
tournament recorded 13 birdies and 0
eagles.
During a
break in the prize giving, Woody
Underwood gave a brief account of the
Jesters and Jackalope partnership
outlining how we raised over 3,470,000
Baht over the past 5 years and how we
cover the 24/7 care-giving, physical
therapy and anti-retroviral medication (ARV)
for two children Tewid and Fey living
with HIV and severe disabilities.
Finally
the much anticipated 50-50 draw prizes
were picked with the winner, Gavin’s
Group of Six receiving half of the
record setting total of 312,500.00 Baht
collected on the day thanks to the
aggressive ticket selling by Murray, Ty
& Jason Kerr, Woody Underwood and others
who sold in excess of 6,500 raffle
tickets. Gavin’s Group of Six generously
donated a sizeable amount back into the
charity.
Thanks go
to all the staff at Burapha Golf &
Resort for their excellent service
provided on the day. We would also like
to thank the following businesses and
individuals who either donated their
time and staff or helped to raise an
outstanding amount in excess of 400,000
for the 2013 charity fund – Ann & Dale
Drader, Baltex Industries, Big Mango
Properties, Bill Freeman, Bobby Taylor,
Clayton Taylor, Jacob Taylor, Café
Kronberg, Derek Reaper, Doug Thomas,
Gavin’s Group of Six, Gordon Duncan, JD
Texas, Jeff Palladeau, Jesters M.C.,
Joe Ernst, Just Burgers, Ken Cooke,
Kennedy Consulting Thailand Ltd., Kevin
Worl, Little Britain Merchants, Malcolm
Clair, Mark Gorda, Matt Millar, Michael
O’Halloran, Mike Peeters, Moe Deverdenne,
Neil Sandilands, Nova Group & Jameson’s
The Irish Pub, Pattaya Mail, Pattaya
Sports Club, Paul Ovens, Ray Lepard,
Rich Man Poor Man Guest House, Rich
Wibrow, Ryan Woods, Stacey O’Toole,
Stephan Hoge, Tahitian Queen, The Beaver
Bar, The Golf Club – Brad Sproxton, The
Haven – Steven Beard, The Kerr Family
(Jason, Mamo, Muffy & Ty), The Links –
Russell Exley, Todd Sherbaniuk, Wayne
Ogonoski.
We would
also like to thank all the individuals
who helped out at the registration and
scoring, Eddie’s staff for the sandwich
snacks, the Caesar table “All Star
Mixers”, the 50-50 ticket sellers, Just
Burgers and all the cart drivers who
kept the golfers well stocked with their
favorite “refreshments”.
Special
thanks also go to:
The staff
of Rich Man Poor Man who on their own
raised in excess of 78,000.00 Baht over
the past year at the guest house and an
additional 34,000.00 Baht on the day of
the tournament.
Just
Burgers and Rich Man Poor Man for the
par 3 hole competitions.
Mamo Kerr
for providing all the players with her
tasty Jackalope Cookies.
The Jackalope is not
just about golf, it is also about giving
back to the local community. On this 15th
year of The Canadian Jackalope Open we
will again be joining with the Jesters
CARE FOR KIDS to help provide much
needed assistance to the poor or
disadvantaged children in the area.
TEXT BY
"Wayne
Ogonoski". |