the resort was showing the ef-fects of having changed hands twice during the year and is cur-

rently lacking a little TLC.

Jeannie started as she finished by leading her team of Peter Quinn, Lewis Mosse and Chris

Hegarty to victory.

But from then on the sun shone bright and warm all week. Anne Fern’s 35 was good enough to take the lead in Round One and she had Alan Orritt and John Mac

close behind.

In Round Two she again led the field with 34 but this time she was joined by Jeannie and Alan. So at halfway she and Alan were four clear of John Mac and John

Shearan.

But as so often happens on “moving day” the whole picture changed. Paul Kaye’s 37 moved him right up the leader board into 3rd place and although Lewis’ 36 was good he was too far behind to influence proceedings. But Jeannie’s 36 moved her right into contention from where she was able to launch her assault on the

title.

In that final round Len Peifer celebrated his birthday with an excellent 35 and Reuben Fielding had 34. But the week belonged to Jeannie and although we were a little disappointed with the condition of Vila Sol, the course certainly provided a test of golf to

produce a very worthy champion.

We have decided that it is time for a change of scene next year, and because we will no longer be paying for the winner’s flights, we will be able to put more of the budget into hotel and green fees. Whilst we were in Portugal we looked at several venues—our preferred choice would be Quinta do Lago and Laranjal. But you

will have to wait and see.

Jeannie O’Keeffe, whose sobri-quet is Golfing Mum must now change it to Golfing Granny with the arrival of Liam, her first grandchild. Starting the final round two points off the lead, she birdied the first and played a flawless front 9 to take a 5

point lead at the turn.

Anne Fern who had led from Round One had finally been overhauled on the very tight Vila Sol course. As Jeannie’s near-est challengers were 7 point behind her, all she needed was

a quiet back nine.

But suddenly things began to unravel. Dropping shots at the 10th and 11th she then scram-bled through the next three holes before a disastrous finish with just 2 points in the last 4

holes.

Meanwhile Neil Ratcliffe, last year’s winner handed in a 36 from the group ahead and sud-denly things became very cloudy. Both John Mac and Paul Kaye playing alongside the girls in the final group had also rallied on the back nine and things had become very tense. Poor Annie has found herself in

this position 3 times now and has failed to convert. She was very disappointed with her 23 points but should take heart that if she keeps getting into this

position she will surely win soon.

But when the cards were all handed in no one could work out who had won. It was very clear that it was close but who was it

going to be.

When the printer finally splut-tered into life only 2 points sepa-rated the top 5. Jeannie was the winner, and Neil Ratcliffe was runner up with his fabulous final round. He beat both John Mac (3rd) and Paul Kaye (4th) on

count back.

Sitting out on the golf club ter-race, bathed in warm autumnal sunshine, it was a time to reflect on a great year with a fabulous

finale.

But the week had started with a rather damp and chilly day for the Am Am. It was immediately clear that the Vila Sol courses were not in such good shape as last year. The greens were slow and a little uneven and the tees were a little scruffy. Generally

Neil Ratcliffe, Jeannie O’Keeffe and Paul Kay share a joke in Vila Sol

GRANDSTAND FINISH BY GOLFING GRANNY

C o n t e n t s

Grand Finals

Vila Sol (cont)

2

El Rompido 3

Arizona 4

Agent Orange in

North Vietnam

6

Final Tour Points 8

Grand Finals on

the Move

9

Putting Slow Play

on the Clock

9

Taking us for a

Ryder

10

Merry Christmas

& Turkey Date

10

G r e e n c a r d G o l f

H o l i d a y s

4 H i l l c r o f t , A n c h o r

R o a d , C a l n e S N 1 1 8 H R

T e l : 0 1 2 4 9 8 2 1 5 0 7

F a x : 0 1 2 4 9 8 2 1 4 5 8

W e b : w w w . g r e e n c a r d g o l f

. c o . u k Golfer N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 V o l u m e 2 , I s s u e 4

I n T h i s

I s s u e

Vila Sol Grand

Finals

Arizona

El Rompido

Slow Play

Researching

North Vietnam

John Newark

The Ryder Cup

Finals Venue

The The The The

P a g e 2

As always at the Grand Finals we hold

a separate competition for those that

want to be there at the finish. It al-

ways attracts a good field and this

year was no exception. Although over-

all numbers were down, this was

more a reflection on the venue I think

than the state of the economy or the

popularity of the event. We hope to

reverse that next year.

Chris Clarkson used to be a regular

competitor on Tour but an illness a

few years back meant he had to lay

off golf for a couple of years. At last

year’s finals he made his reappear-

ance and he showed that he had lost

none of his skills. This year he went

one better and won the Masters title

by a convincing 7 shots.

After round one his 32 led John

O’Keeffe, Tony Brook and Kevin

Shearan by 1 shot.

In Round Two it was Margaret Brook

with 35 who headed the field but

John O’Keeffe, Kiki Bach and Chris

were just a point behind. That put

Chris and John 5 points clear of the

field and his 33 in the third round was

enough to take him 6 points clear of

John who was himself 5 points ahead

of Kevin Shearan and the chasing

pack.

So in the final round it was more a

question of who would be 2nd. James

Fielding and Kevin joined John and

Chris in the final group but the race for

the places was by no means confined

to them.

In the event Lodewijk Schlingemann,

whose latest Russian girlfriend wowed

the crowd, won the day with 33,

matched by Richard Phillips and Kevin

Shearan. Tony Wells and Gerry Gentle

finally showed some form and Kiki

sealed her leading lady spot with 31.

But even though Chris stumbled with

28 he was still 6 points ahead of Kevin

who was delighted with his perform-

ance. Richard Phillips was third and

Gerry Gentle fourth. Kiki was the lead-

ing lady in 8th place.

The great thing about the Masters is

the camaraderie. No Tour Points to be

won, no qualifying, just a good old

fashioned golf tournament. If you

win—Great. If you don’t get back to

Oscars and do some Karaoke.

CHRIS CLARKSON’S MASTER CLASS

1 CLARKSON CHRIS 32 34 33 28 127

2 SHEARAN KEVIN 31 29 28 33 121

3 PHILLIPS RICHARD 30 30 26 33 119

4 GENTLE GERRY 28 28 30 32 118

5 O'KEEFFE JOHN 31 34 28 25 118

6 KERR ROBERT 28 26 32 31 117

7 CROSSLAND PHIL 29 31 27 30 117

8 BACH KIKI 22 34 27 31 114

9 BROOK TONY 31 28 25 30 114

10 BROOK MARGARET 24 35 27 28 114

11 FIELDING JAMES 28 28 31 27 114

12 SCHLINGEMANN L 25 28 26 33 112

13 BROWN NEIL 26 26 33 26 111

14 WELLS TONY 21 30 22 32 105

15 FELL SHARON 23 28 23 29 103

16 FERN MELVYN 19 31 25 28 103

17 CARTER JACKIE 25 22 25 27 99

18 MARTIN MARIAN 23 27 27 17 94

19 HEGARTY GAIL 24 23 27 18 92

20 LASCELLES ROGER 15 22 22 28 87

Vila Sol MastersVila Sol MastersVila Sol MastersVila Sol Masters————Final ResultsFinal ResultsFinal ResultsFinal Results

1 O'KEEFFE JEANNIE 29 34 36 27 126

2 RATCLIFFE NEIL 27 33 29 36 125

3 MAC JOHN 33 31 29 32 125

4 KAYE PAUL 29 28 37 31 125

5 FERN ANNE 35 34 32 23 124

6 BAXTER ALAN 23 33 32 32 120

7 FIELDING REUBEN 28 31 26 34 119

8 HARRIS IAN 27 29 29 33 118

9 PEIFER LEN 30 24 28 35 117

10 HUNT ROGER 28 30 27 32 117

11 ROBINSON COLIN 25 32 30 30 117

12 TRAFFORD ANTHONY 25 32 32 28 117

13 ORRITT ALAN 34 34 23 26 117

14 SHEARAN JOHN 31 33 23 29 116

15 HAYNES BRIAN 29 33 26 27 115

16 ROBINSON IAN 29 27 32 26 114

17 MUNROE RICHARD 27 29 32 25 113

18 QUINN PETER 31 28 25 28 112

19 HARRIS JULIE 27 25 34 26 112

20 MOSSE LEWIS 21 30 36 23 110

Vila Sol TourVila Sol TourVila Sol TourVila Sol Tour————Grand Finals ResultsGrand Finals ResultsGrand Finals ResultsGrand Finals Results

Kevin, Kiki, Chris and RichardKevin, Kiki, Chris and RichardKevin, Kiki, Chris and RichardKevin, Kiki, Chris and Richard

THE LAST OF THE EUROBUSTERS solid 36 points. Geoff's 32 was enough to move him into the lead by one point as Peter had, by his standards, a poor day at

the office finishing with 26.

We returned to the South course for the final round. Although strange events had occurred on many a last day of events it was likely to be a straight shoot out be-tween Geoff and Peter as the chasing pack started the day 10 points behind second place. By the half way stage Geoff was looking very good whilst Peter was trying to hold onto his coat tails. The defining moment occurred on the dogleg 10th hole where Peter could only make one point and Geoff birdied for 4 points. The momentum continued with Geoff as he carded a fantastic 42 points to take the victory by 10 points from Peter who

finished the last round with 33.

Neil Gillam came third which was enough to secure his qualification to the finals week, whilst Jackie Bleakley claimed the

leading lady.

This was Greencard's first visit to the El Rompido golf resort in Spain. Lo-cated just an hour from Faro. The hotel is perched on the Huelva coast-line, wedged between the ever-popular hot spots of the Algarve and the Costa

Del Sol.

We were to play three rounds on the El Rompido South course and one round

at the Islantilla Golf Resort.

The opening round was played on the South course. The first nine holes here require real precision and cau-tion, while the back nine offer a little more space allowing for risk and re-ward shots to come into play. Geoff Hill with 36 and Peter Sumner with 35

El Rompido ResultsEl Rompido ResultsEl Rompido ResultsEl Rompido Results————StablefordStablefordStablefordStableford

points certainly took advantage of the course layout and took an early lead from

the pack.

Peter's form continued into the second round where a tremendous 39 points se-cured top spot at the half way stage with a combined total of 74. Geoff having fin-ished the day with 32 was 6 shots behind. Neil Gillam was in third position and needed to finish in the top 6 places to

gain his place at the finals in Vila Sol.

We moved to Islantilla for the third round, another tight course as it winds its way through tree lined fairways and offers only small greens as targets. It was going to be a tough challenge but one which Neil Gil-lam was equal to as he finished with a

Neil Gillam, Geoff Hill, Jackie Bleakley and Peter Sumner at a sparsely populated El RompidoNeil Gillam, Geoff Hill, Jackie Bleakley and Peter Sumner at a sparsely populated El RompidoNeil Gillam, Geoff Hill, Jackie Bleakley and Peter Sumner at a sparsely populated El RompidoNeil Gillam, Geoff Hill, Jackie Bleakley and Peter Sumner at a sparsely populated El Rompido

P a g e 3

Over the years at Greencard I have seen literally hundreds of slow

players. But strangely I have never met one. Whenever I confront

a group that has dropped a couple of holes, they always point the

finger at someone else. In truth we are all guilty to some extent.

But if we manage the 10 points below then things would start to

improve.

1 Whilst waiting for a green to clear, work out your shot and se-

lect your club before having a chat.

2 Mark your scorecard whilst the others are putting out or

when they are driving off, not after they have putted out or

when it is your honour on the tee.

3 Don't be afraid to play out of turn if you are ready, or if you

cannot reach the green, or if your partners are raking bun

kers etc. Play ready golf.

4. Always watch your partners' shots so that you can help them

look if needs be.

5. If you are shortest off the tee or furthest from the flag it is

your duty to get to your ball first.

6 Always play a provisional ball from the tee if you are in

doubt as to where your ball finished. It helps get an idea

of the length you should be looking, and it saves returning

to the tee.

7. Never leave your cart or trolley in front of the green. Al

ways think about where you will exit the green.

8. Remember that it is THE game not just YOUR game that

you should be thinking about.

9 If a gap opens up ahead it is your duty to close it. Saying

that you were never pushed is not the answer. The

group behind won’t feel a need to move faster if they

have you in sight.

10 Never be afraid to remind your partners that you are not

keeping up with the field.

A simple rule of thumb is this. If you arrive at a Par 3 and you

don’t have to wait for the green to clear then you are not keep-

ing up with the pace of play. Let’s make 2011 the year we

started to roll back the clock. See page 9

TEN TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR SPEED OF PLAY

1 Geoff Hill 36 32 33 42 143

2 Peter Sumner 35 39 26 33 133

3 Richard Munroe 30 38 29 28 125

4 Neil Gillam 23 31 36 34 124

5 Jackie Bleakley 25 23 35 30 113

6 Phil Crossland 26 28 25 30 109

7 Richard Bleakley 22 31 26 27 106

8 Maggie Stevenson 25 27 25 28 105

9 Linda Crossland 20 18 25 21 84

P a g e 4

“….the

posse kept

up a

spirited

chase but

the outlaw

was away

in the hills.”

Gary Coleman, Gary Coleman, Gary Coleman, Gary Coleman,

Martyn Cole, Martyn Cole, Martyn Cole, Martyn Cole,

Dee Shotton, Dee Shotton, Dee Shotton, Dee Shotton,

Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie

O’Keeffe and O’Keeffe and O’Keeffe and O’Keeffe and

Russell Smit at Russell Smit at Russell Smit at Russell Smit at

Grayhawk, Grayhawk, Grayhawk, Grayhawk,

ArizonaArizonaArizonaArizona

DEE’S THE SHARPEST SHOOTER

IN THE WEST

We all assembled at Talking Stick for the practice round, under a blazing sun, in the Arizona desert. The club takes its name from the Indian prac-tice of only allowing the man holding the Talking Stick to speak. Some-thing maybe the BBC should consider for Question Time or interviews with

Jeremy Paxman.

The club wanted to do a shotgun start but when we arrived, instead of 1 group per tee they bunched us all onto 8 tees. The inevitable 5hr 30 min round ensued. Happily it all fin-ished in daylight and in time for the welcome cocktail in the clubhouse. Russell Smit led his team of Sue Hen-ney, Tom Bolger and Dee Shotton to a 5 shot victory. But I suspect the real winners on the day were the mosquitoes. A panic purchase of

mozzie spray was required but it seems they only live down at Talking

Stick.

After a relaxing day round the pool we took the highway north to Anthem Golf Club for round one. Two courses right out in the desert. Straight hit-ting required as the fairways were narrow and our new girl Dee Shotton woke everyone up with a startling 42. Sally Ward was next with 38 and Martyn Cole, Jeannie O’Keeffe and Chris Hegarty all shot 35. Already people were mumbling that the La-

dies always win in the States.

We then had a shopping day before Round Two at TPC Champions course. Not quite as well known as the Phoenix Open Stadium course but nonetheless a true test that also hosts USPGA events. This time Dee

really shot them down with 48 points and they were nu-merous calls for the Sherrif. But in truth she had simply had the round of her life making 10 single putts in the round. A benefit of having had to lay off golf for two years which she spent practising her short game. This score took the spot-light off Sally who shot another 38 along with Tom Bol-ger and Gary Cole-

man.

The forecast had been saying rain for the Wednesday for weeks and sure enough the day dawned grey and overcast. Just before 9am there was a downpour on the Karsten course followed by a huge rainbow settling on the mountain. And that was it for the day. We played an-other Am Am on the course where Phil Mickelson honed his skills. Although they had finished over-seeding and the course was in great condition, with the greens a little slow, they still insisted on Cart Path Only. This was the 3rd course out of 4 and was hugely frustrating. With the best will in the world 5hr rounds are inevitable. Geoff Bickerton’s team of Jane Le Maistre, Gary Cole-man and Melanie Barton won on count back from husband Jim Bar-ton’s team of Pauline Kirkman, Dee

Shotton and Brian Haynes.

But the rains hadn’t yet left and a disappointing free day that should have been spent round the pool was transferred to the shopping malls of Scottsdale of which there are plenty. Shopping is undoubtedly the Ameri-can sport par excellence. It seems incredible that so many shops can all be supported by the residents. Every few hundred yards there is

another Walmart or similar.

So with just two rounds to go Dee was 14 shots ahead of Sally who was herself 4 clear of Martyn Cole. Tom Bolger, Chris Hegarty and Gary Coleman in the posse kept up a spirited chase but the outlaw was away in the hills. But at Boulders for Round Three they picked up a track as Dee fell away with a surprising 26 points. Gail Fee plotted her way around the spectacular rocky out-crops to shoot 39 and Russell, Gary and Anthony Trafford all shot 38. Brian Haynes, Simon Klimcke, Jim Barton, Clare Bolger and John Jag-ger all scored 37. So on moving day

there was plenty of movement.

Although Dee and Sally were still on top the gap had closed to 7 points and Gary and Martyn both felt they might have a chance of catching her if she stumbled again. Unfortu-nately Sally had to leave a day early to see her family in Florida which again gave Dee a comfortable 10 shot cushion but strange things can happen in the final round of Green-

card events.

To finish we went to the best course of the week at Grayhawk. The Rap-

My step-

daughter

Emmanuelle

briefly re-

turned to her

old job start-

ing us on the

tee.

two bins full of bottles of beer, wine, gin and vodka and we served large measures of alcohol for $2 a shot for 90 mins each eve-ning. In fact it turned out to be the best thing. Nobody can resist a $2 bar and so

every night was a party.

On reflection I think that when we return to Arizona we would make it a 2 centre trip with a few nights up in the beautiful mountain scenery of Sedona as well. Scottsdale in peak season—Jan to March—is very expen-sive. When we were there this year in Octo-ber late bookers were able to get on all the course at a fraction of what we were paying for advanced bookings. It seems a little unfair that if you bring a large group you

have to pay twice as much.

The over seeding season is a great time to go for a small group who just want play as they go along. Make a booking for the fol-lowing day and green fees of $80 are stan-dard at even the very top courses. Book in advance and you pay top dollar - anything from $120—$250. Also if you go in the sum-

mer golf is great and cheap—and very hot!

The jet lag is a nuisance—8hrs time differ-ence takes more than a couple of days to get over. But if you asked me to choose be-tween Scottsdale and Dubai I would take Scottsdale every time. Literally hundreds of courses, thousands of restaurants to suit every budget, beautiful uncrowded roads and shopping to die for. The golf maybe

expensive but it is no more so than Dubai.

Dubai is great for a short break but anything much more than a week and I would head

for Arizona.

But desert golf is different and fun. And when we all recover from the flight home I am sure that people will remember the par-ties and the cacti more than the lack of a

hob!

tor was a fitting finale. But although Dee stumbled a little on the back nine her superb birdie on the last in front of the crowds gave her a well deserved victory by 4 points from Gary. Geoff Bickerton shot a gross 75 round a very tricky course and Russell Smit scored 35, Geoff Henney, Anne Marie Coleman and Jeannie all scored 34. It was a course

for the low men and ladies.

This gave Russell and Jeannie their place in the Finals. Martyn who had been the most consistent all week was third and

Traff was 5th.

In all it was an excellent competition. US courses do seem to give the girls a big advantage but not quite so much in Ari-zona. The biggest disappointment of the week was the cart path only rule at 5 out of 6 courses. It was very frustrating and

Arizona ResultsArizona ResultsArizona ResultsArizona Results————StablefordStablefordStablefordStableford

had we known we would never have booked to come at this time of year. They say that November is nice but we have seen how cold it can be when the weather turns. I suspect that March is the best

season.

Flying West always gives the worst jet lag and it takes a while for people to settle down. The time difference makes people irritated and from an organiser’s point of view it’s hard. Although our rooms at the Sheraton Desert Suites were extremely well equipped they were very dark requir-ing lights all day. Not great if the weather is poor. But in fairness the resort was ex-actly as billed apart from one important detail. The bar shuts at 5pm and no amount of persuasion could get them to open it longer. But we managed to get them to allow us to open our own bar. So every night the two Richard’s manhandled

Grayhawk’s Raptor—This is why we went!

1 SHOTTON DEE 42 48 26 30 146

2 COLEMAN GARY 30 38 38 36 142

3 COLE MARTYN 35 37 34 33 139

4 SMIT RUSSELL 30 34 38 35 137

5 TRAFFORD ANTHONY 27 37 38 32 134

6 HEGARTY CHRIS 35 34 34 30 133

7 O'KEEFFE JEANNIE 35 31 32 34 132

8 BOLGER TOM 32 38 34 28 132

9 BICKERTON GEOFF 31 33 30 37 131

10 COLEMAN ANNE M 32 32 33 34 131

11 BARTON JIM 32 32 37 30 131

12 FEE GAIL 28 37 39 27 131

13 KLIMCKE SANDIE 32 34 33 30 129

14 HENNEY GEOFF 32 29 33 34 128

15 BOLGER CLARE 33 31 37 27 128

16 ARCHER ANNE 29 32 34 31 126

17 ATTWELL BILL 31 33 32 30 126

18 HAYNES BRIAN 32 29 37 28 126

19 BUCKHOLT ROBERT 29 33 32 30 124

20 FRY JIM 32 30 36 26 124

Fighting the light at Boulders

AGENT ORANGE GOES NORTH OF THE DMZ

After two successful tours to Saigon and

South Vietnam we decided that we should

also have a look at the North. Hanoi is

surrounded by some excellent golf

courses but up until now there was no-

where else to go to play golf. Two sensa-

tional developments near Da Nang have

dramatically changed that. Colin Mont-

gomerie and Greg Norman have designed

two courses, side by side, between Da

Nang and the picturesque fishing village

of Hoi An. Right on China Beach, made

famous by the Americans during the war

as their main R & R, they are contrasting

and complementing styles. Norman has

designed a tough links style course and

Monty has gone for more of an American

style course in the desert, reminiscent of

the courses in Dubai.

The other problem with the North is that

the weather isn't so consistent. Hanoi in

January and February can be cold, but

October and November can be very wet in

Central Vietnam, and these are the two

main long haul holiday periods from the

UK. So I thought the best way to test it

would be to go in October. On arrival in

Hanoi the weather was beautiful. The

drive from the airport was easy, crossing

the Red River, to the city between rivers

(which is what Ha Noi means). Thousands

of beeping motorbikes surrounded us like

an escort into the tree lined avenues of

the Old City. The French influence is un-

mistakeable, no more so than in the 100

year old Metropole Hotel. Situated right in

the middle of the Old Quarter and near the

Hoan Kiem Lake it is a step back to a by-

gone era. Similar in fact to the Sofitel in

Da Lat. Outside stand two old Citroens

and inside are large wooden floored

rooms. The leisure area around the pool

is a haven from the bustling city and the

restaurants cater for every taste. But we

weren't here for lounging about and so I

steeped straight out to get a feel for the

city.

The first thing to realise is that you will

never cross the road by waiting for the

traffic to stop. Red lights only apply to

cars and so the streams of motorbikes

hurtle towards you, beeping away. But

the rule is quite simple. Walk across

slowly always looking in the direction of

the traffic. Don't stop and don't run and

they all weave their way around you. It

sure takes some getting used to but it

works. So I crossed over to the lake and

took a stroll down to shops in the Old

Quarter. On the way preparations were

well advanced for the forthcoming 1000

year anniversary of Hanoi. Spectacular

light and laser shows were being pre-

pared. At the far end of the Lake I came

to Shoe Street where dozens of cobblers

have set up shop. Turn left and you find

opticians street, right again and you are

in toy street, left and you are in Silk

Street. Remarkable really and slightly

unnerving as they all sell the same prod-

uct for the same price (high compared to

Saigon).

Eating out is not a problem. Restaurants

range from upmarket Asian Fusion to

simple Pho cafes with set menus ranging

from $10 to $35 per head. But it was

time to see some golf courses and I had

selected 4 that I wished to look at. Van

Tri is the nearest to town, just 25 mins

from the Hotel. It is a beautifully mani-

cured and presented course in the

American style. Built mostly for the

Party bosses and financed by Korean

money it is Asian golf at its best. Many

of the courses are Korean owned and I

got a distinct impression that a Euro-

pean Tour Operator wasn't very wel-

come. King Island claimed they had a

tournament and the club was closed

and Phoenix said that they wouldn't

welcome large European groups. But

Tam Dao welcomed us with open arms

and it was well worth the 75 minute

drive out to the Tam Dao national park

to see this majestic course. On the

way back we also visited Dai Lai Star

which is still not complete but will also

be an excellent course when it opens

in January, but apart from being down

a very bumpy road it was also very

tough. But as we will only be looking

for a couple of courses near Hanoi

Tam Dao and Van Tri are better than

anything Saigon can offer.

Hanoi has a lot more to see than a few

shops and golf courses, such as Ho

Chi Minh's Mausoleum, and a couple

of hours in a Cyclo taxi will both fasci-

nate and terrify you. It is one of the

nicest Asian cities I have visited but as

usual Agent Orange had to move on.

No visit to the North is complete with-

out a trip to Halong Bay. If you thought

Phang Nga Bay near Phuket, famous

for James Bond Island was worth see-

ing then you ain't seen nothing

yet. Although it was a long 3 hour

drive down to the coast it wasn't

wasted time. Rice paddies, buffalo,

conical hats and strange narrow 3

storey houses with windows only at the

front were excellent talking

points. Some towns seemed to have

no civic pride and others looked to be

competing for Best Kept Village com-

petitions. Why? But as we ap-

proached Halong the reason for the

journey became apparent with the

Karst mountains springing up out of

the fields.

We decided to try out Emeraude, a 34

cabin replica paddle steamer; a top of

the range cruiser. There are many

more traditional Junk style boats to

choose from but most of the best are

only 20 cabins. We need to be sure

that we can take over one boat and as

our groups to Vietnam are normally

between 40 and 50 people we would-

n't want to be split up.

Picturesque Hoi An

Registration was swift and as we were a

couple of minutes late the boat had al-

ready left, but we were whisked out on a

speed boat and taken up to the sun deck

for our welcome drink. Our cases were

taken to our cabins and we went straight

to the restaurant for the lunch buffet, and

very good it was. After lunch and back on

deck the scenery was breathtaking. Huge

limestone mountains rose up from the

sea, covered with vegetation and sur-

rounded by fishing boats and coracles

from another era. Soon we pulled up in

front of one particularly tall rock and we

were invited to inspect the "Secret

Grotto". We secret it certainly wasn't as

veryboat on the bay was also there, but

the disembarkation was orderly and the

arrival was simple. First we climbed a

couple of hundred steps and looked down

on the busy scene and then we plunged

into the grotto. It had been wonderfully

laid out with easy paths and steps and

was it worth the climb. Wookey Hole eat

your heart out. This was a cavern of sta-

lacmites and stalactites and extraordinary

ceilings and weird formations that just

went on and one. Cleverly lit and beauti-

fully clean it was one of the highlights of

my trip. If I was ever doubting the wisdom

of coming down here this dispelled it.

Back on board and more cruising through

the magical scenery until we arrived at a

floating fisherman's village. The little

houses were built on floats and they all

had generators and TVs. There was a

school and a temple and a general store

and the kids jumped from boat to house

and back again with an agility that was

quite remarkable. But this kind of voyeur-

ism isn't really for me. I worry that the

people only exist like this because of the

tourists coming to buy their painted shells

and donating money to the school and

that if it wasn't for us they wouldn't be

there. A bit of a chicken and egg situation

like the Hill Tribes of Chiang Mai, but nev-

ertheless it is an interesting way of life.

We then moved around to another bay

where we were able to go for a swim or do

a bit of kayaking. The water was incredi-

bly salty but refreshing and a good bit of

exercise at the end of the day. After cock-

tails and a spring roll cooking class, dinner

was served. Another delicious buffet in the

convivial atmosphere of the restaurant enli-

vened by a group of French from Marseilles

on a kind of group holiday from the depart-

ment store where the wives all worked.

They were right out of Are You Being Served

crossed with Allo Allo!

After dinner they showed the movie Indo-

chine with Catherine Deneuve on the sun

deck. Much of it was filmed around Halong

Bay and its broad canvas of French colonial

life in the 30's and 40's was a perfect

movie for the location.

In the morning we rose early as the boat

slowly made its way back towards the town

of Halong. After a good breakfast we sat on

deck and read our books and took pho-

tos. Should it be included in the tour? Un-

doubtedly. The area is unique and worthy

of its World Heritage Site status. Slowly we

are crossing them off - Ancient Egypt, the

Great Wall & Terracotta Warriors, Angkor

Wat and now Halong Bay. Stick with it,

there aren't too many more!

Of course the drawback of the 3 hour drive

down is the 3 hour drive back but we broke

it with a visit to a huge Arts and Crafts fac-

tory with products made of marbles, silk,

laquer and stones all made by the dis-

abled. Normally I wouldn't dream of stop-

ping at a place like this, so obviously de-

signed for tourists, but in this case I would

make an exception. There really was

something for everyone, even a hardened

old cynic like me.

In any case we also stopped at a golf

course halfway back, Chi Linh Star, which

was undoubtedly one of the VN's top

courses but I think trying to play a game

on the way back and then taking a late

flight down to Da Nang would be too much

in a day. So the shopping stop and an

early flight seems sensible.

Hanoi's airport is small and easy and we

boarded our flights to Da Nang in no

time. The flight is less than an hour and

there we were driving through monsoon

rains down past China Beach and Monkey

Mountain and old US Airforce hangars on

the road to Hoi An. Although Da Nang will

soon have it's Hyatts and Meridiens it is

not really a Greencard place and so we

opted for the Victoria Hotel right on the

beautiful beach about 5 kms outside the

Heritage town of Hoi An. It's a small 4.5

Star hotel by our standard but just the

kind of place we like for a long stay at the

beach. The standard rooms are large but

if you want beachfront suites and deluxe

rooms they are lovely. The hotel has great

restuarants and facilities and is a perfect

complement to the neighbouring village of

Hoi An.

Just 10 mins by hotel mini van and you are

transported to a world of chinese lanterns

and little shops, mostly silk tailors or vary-

ing degrees of skill, but also many wonder-

ful restaurants and bars. Touristy it most

certainly is. Polperro in Asia. But the rea-

son the tourists come here is because it is

so beautiful. So you won't see many Viet-

namese in the restaurants but you will be

in a magical place. Whether we would

make this a long stay would depend on

the golf courses. The next day and the

monsoon was still in full swing and luckily

the rains just let up as we drove up to the

Montgomerie Links. One immediately

Halong Bay at Sunset

The MontyThe MontyThe MontyThe Monty

Lewis Mosse 12 27 Teignmouth

John Shearan 6 26 Co Louth

Bill Coupe 7 22 Lancaster

Peter Sumner 7 22 South Herts GC

Richard Burke 12 17 Santa Maria

Julie Harris 14 17 Domaine Imperial

Ian Robinson 6 17 Rufford Park

Leonard Peifer 8 16 Santa Maria

Russell Smit 4 16 Woburn

Anthony Trafford 15 16 Weston Park

Colin Robinson 10 14 Malton & Norton

Neil Gillam 9 13 Wentworth

Christopher Hegarty 9 13 Chorlton-cu-Hardy

John Mac 8 13 Peter Quinn 18 13 Greenore

Roger Hunt 10 12 Wrag Barn

Jeannie O'Keeffe 5 12 Hankley Common

Alan Baxter 6 11 Mere

Martin Fell 6 10 Copt Heath

Elizabeth Fern 10 10 Willesley Park

Reuben Fielding 12 10 Tytherington

Ian Harris 8 10 Domaine Imperial

Brian Haynes 11 10 Sundridge Park

Geoff Hill 10 10 Hollinwell

Paul Holyhead 14 10 Nelson

Paul Kaye 6 10 Brough

Sandie Klimcke 12 10 Clandon Regis

Alan Orritt 10 10 Penwortham

Neil Ratcliffe 7 10 Derby

Julie Rotchell 12 10 Monmouthshire

Dee Shotton 20 10 Woburn

Sally Ward 26 10 Shaw Hill

Malcolm Buchanan 11 9 Preston

Gary Coleman 18 9 Elsham

Glenn Harris 13 9 Wellingborough

Geoffrey Henney 4 9 Woodbridge

Neil Bamber 6 8 Preston

Janette Brown 16 8 Nelson

Martyn Cole 8 8 Bowood

Gary Corbett 8 8 Mere

Sue Mawhinney 19 8 Woodcote Park

Seamus McConalogue 8 8 Ballyliffin

Jackie Bleakley 16 7 Anne Bridges 5 7 Birchwood

Anne Laming 15 7 Neil McGarva 6 7 Kilmacolm

Geoffrey McKeown 9 7 Channels

Frank Ryan 21 7 Royal Dublin

Dave Simpson 16 7 Sundridge Park

John Ward 14 7 Shaw Hill

Kathleen Birdsall 23 6 Woburn

Richard Bleakley 14 6 North Wales

Neil Dangerfield 27 6 La Moye

Keith Dawkins 17 6 Tim Elliott 15 6 Hankley Common

Tony Marshall 13 6 Wildwood

David Newmarch 16 6 Abridge

John O'Keeffe 12 6 The Wisley

Joe Warren 13 6 Co Louth

Jackie Carter 13 5 Rufford Park

Philip Crossland 14 5 Southport O Links

Neil Dalton 13 5 Meon Valley

Sharon Fell 30 5 Redditch

Gordon Geddes 12 5 Wrag Barn

Wallace Grace 18 5 Ham Manor

Val Smyth 3 5 Co Louth

Peter Turton 17 5 Stella Brewin 16 4 Torksey

Russell Garrington 10 4 Burton-On-Trent

Chris Lord 14 4 Moortown

Marian Martin 18 4 Santa Maria

Simon Ormerod 13 4 Shaw Hill

Inge Steinle 19 4 Santa Maria

Maggie Stevenson 17 4 Thomas Bolger 11 3 Ham Manor

Rosie Chisholm Hill 9 3 Ifield

Linda Crossland 15 3 Southport O Links

Melvyn Fern 13 3 Willesley Park

Gwynneth Fielding 19 3 Davenport

Laurence Graham 5 3 Royal Guernsey

Godfrey Horsford 12 3 St Ives

Robert Kerr 6 3 Troon Welbeck

Simon Klimcke 17 3 Clandon Regis

Rosemary Milton 17 3 Royal Mid Surrey

Julia Allen 26 2 Langley Park

Anne Archer 10 2 Ipswich

Geoff Bickerton 3 2 Golf del Sur

Barry Birdsall 14 2 Woburn

Paul C Speakman 9 2 Workington

Jenny Staines 21 2 Bishop Stortford

Su Worthington 6 2 Bristol & Clifton

Malcolm Baker 9 1 East Devon

Elspeth Baxter 23 1 Mere

Ann-Marie Coleman 5 1 Elsham

Oliver Egan 15 1 Gail Hegarty 14 1 Chorlton-c-Hardy

Brian Henderson 4 1 St Andrews

Diana Hudson 8 1 Royal Guernsey

Roger Lascelles 14 1 Lodewijk Schlingemann 18 1 Moscow CC

FINAL TOUR POINTS TABLE

knew that this was going to be just per-

fect for Greencard. I would have been

happy just to play the Driving Range! But

wide fir tree fringed fairways with white

sand bunkers and large undulating

greens were testimony to the fact that

Monty is getting better at this art of

course designing. Literally right next door

is the Greg Norman Da Nang Golf

Club. Although not quite finished, all 18

holes are open for play if you know the

right people. Although I knew Howie Rob-

erts, the Golf Director, from his time in

Egypt I didn't play as the rains were pour-

ing down again. But this was a top class

links course. In complete contrast to the

Monty, Greg has narrowed the fairways

and used the natural contours of the

dunes to make positioning off the tee a

premium. Well protected and smaller

greens will make this a real challenge but

one that can be conquered.

Both these courses are exactly what I

hoped for and more. Two rounds on each

will be a great way to end our tournament

in North Vietnam and if beach isn't your

thing you can always play again or visit Mai

Son temples or spend a day or two brows-

ing through the boutiques of Hoi An. Take

a river trip or a boat trip out to the islands.

Finally to really cap off a tour to North Viet-

nam you should try and visit Hue. The 3

hour drive from Da Nang over the moun-

tains, or through the tunnel if there is low

cloud, is beautiful. Hue is the ancient capi-

tal of Royal Vietnam and the citadel and

Forbidden City, although very badly damaged

in the various wars, is still well worth a

visit. The hotel La Residence overlooks the

Perfumed River that divides the town and is

a marvellous Art Deco palace that was once

the French governor's home.

From Hue and Da Nang you can fly easily

back to Hanoi or Saigon to catch your flight

home. We will be including North Vietnam in

our 2012 programme, arriving on 29th Janu-

ary. Expect it to be a little cooler than Thai-

land or Saigon with temperatures as low as

16C but they can also be in the mid 20's

and down in Da Nang in the high 20's. This

is perfect golfing weather, with very little

rain, but it might not be all day, every day

sunbathing weather.

“…..whereas

the £18,000

budget used

to buy

€27,000 it

now only buys

€20,000 .”

THE GRAND FINALS MUST

MOVE WITH THE TIMES

event if half the qualifiers failed

to attend.

In any case nearly all our qualifi-ers already spend a considerable sum of money upgrading to the hotel accommodation and single rooms. Far better for them to pay for their flights and then have a genuine Free holiday with some

added frills.

So in reality we are locked into Spain or Portugal where flights are affordable to all. People want better courses and a vari-

ety.

So I spent most of the week in Portugal in meetings with hotels and course owners to see if we can draw up an agreement for a long term deal that enables us to play on the best courses and stay in top class accommodation. All within our budget that will of course be improved by injecting

the average flight cost.

Whilst Spain does have some excellent courses the affordable ones tend to be in areas with precious little nightlife and res-taurants. I am thinking the Soto-grande, Almenara, San Roque area. To return to La Manga would be a step backwards. Whereas Portugal has the 3 Quinta do Lago courses all close to great accommodation and a short drive to some superb res-taurants and the nightlife around Vilamoura. In addition to these there are the Oceanica courses—Faldo, O’Connor, Victoria and of course the Old Course at Vilam-oura. Oceanica also owns sub-stantial amounts of accommoda-

tion, hotels and apartments.

So we have entered into serious negotiations to see if we can find a partner for the coming years who really wishes to be associ-ated with our event. Not just because times are hard now but because they genuinely want to see some great golf played by a large group at a quiet time of

year every year.

We will keep you informed of progress. We most certainly haven’t ruled out other destina-tions but in terms of affordable flights and the time of year it really seems that Malaga and Faro are the only realistic alterna-

tives.

Watch this space.

Almost since the day I started run-

ning golf tournaments the question

of Slow Play has been a burning

issue. No amount of exhortations

and threats have made an ounce of

difference as the time taken to

complete a Greencard tournament

round has moved inexorably to-

wards the 5 hours.

It would now be unusual for the last

groups to finish in under 5 hours. It

is painful in the extreme and I be-

lieve it can have a serious effect on

our business. There is only so

many 5 hour rounds that one man

can take.

So what to do? How do you make

people change their habits? Be-

cause in the end we are all guilty of

little quirks and habits that slow us

up. Most of us are aware of the

problem and concentrate on one

aspect whilst ignoring another and

we are too polite to complain when

we see others dallying..

I believe that the time for cajoling

and begging is over. I remember

that way back in the early 90’s

Theydon Bois GC in Essex decided

to put a Clocking On machine on

the 1st tee and a Clocking Off ma-

chine by the 18th green. Any group

that took more than 4 hrs were

suspended for a month. The effect

was breathtaking.

Suddenly people discovered that

they were in fact able to play

quicker without ruining their games.

Now I don’t believe that you can

change people from tortoises to

hares overnight but I do believe

that we can start by targeting 4hrs

45 mins as a tournament maxi-

mum. So the first group of the day

that fails to complete their round

within that time frame will auto-

matically get a yellow card. Two

yellow cards and it is a 2 shot pen-

alty. Obviously this doesn’t apply to

the people following them.

Something has to be done and only

by having an unarguable standard

can we hope to achieve an improve-

ment. You can expect to be on the

clock next year. Who knows maybe

the year after we can try 4hr 40!!

For many years now we have been aware that all is not well with the Grand Finals. La Manga Club, the home for 25 years was a superb venue at a time when people con-sidered a golfing week in Spain to be the highlight of the year’s golf-

ing calendar.

But that is no longer the case. Our clients qualify for the Finals at superb venues all over the world. Five star accommodation and Championship courses. It is thus unworthy to hold the finals at a venue that fails to match these

standards.

The constraints however are many. On average there will be two win-ners per event. If we increase the cost of the Free Holiday then that cost must be loaded onto the cost of the events throughout the year. We feel that cost is high enough. As one not so competitive client told me he wouldn’t be coming back because he didn’t see why he should pay for others to have a free trip. He has a point but only if

that cost becomes excessive.

Also whereas the £18,000 budget used to buy €27,000 it now only buys €20,000 and it is for this reason that we found ourselves at

Vila Sol instead of Monte Rei.

In 2005 we tried taking the Tour Finals to Abu Dhabi. Many people remember it as one of the best Greencard events ever. But the problem was that having struck the deal, the hotel spent the rest of the year trying to extricate itself. When we negotiated the deal Abu Dhabi was a quiet backwater near Dubai. Within a year it had taken off. Hotel rates were soaring and the Rotana Beach Towers were desperately unhappy to be tied in to our deal. They used every trick in the book to bend the rules and in the end the trip cost us way over

the budget.

We have also rejected the idea of giving people a £500 or £600 voucher that can only be used on the Finals, and then taking the venue to somewhere expensive. It is vital that no one who wins a place should be excluded. So we have decided to exclude the flights from the trip and increase the amount spent on hotel and green fees. We must never lose sight of the fact that not everyone who qualifies is a millionaire. It would be defeating the purpose of the

PUTTING THE

CLOCK ON

SLOW PLAY

TURKEY DATE

CHANGE—7TH

TO 14TH MAY

TAKING US FOR A RYDER I am not sure whether the world’s

most renowned seed merchant, Sam

Ryder, realised what he was starting

when he announced the eponymous

competition.

Back then in 1927 golf was a game

with few superstars. The British

team that came to Worcester, Massa-

chusetts only to be thrashed 9 1/2—2

1/2 was made up of virtual unknowns

to the other side of the Pond apart

from Ted Ray. The Americans on the

other hand were captained by Walter

Hagen with Gene Sarazen as his

sidekick.

In fact had it not been for the fact that

a relative unknown, George Duncan,

the GB captain, thrashed the great

Walter Hagen at Moortown by 10 & 8

in 1929 it is possible that the matches

might have died a death.

But by the time of the 1937 matches

both teams had assembled star casts

including Percy Alliss, Henry Cotton & Dai

Rees for GB and Walter Hagen, Gene

Sarazen, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson

for the USA.

But the results were depressingly familiar.

It didn’t matter which side of the Pond it

was played GB was thrashed. By 1981 at

Walton Heath, the first matches that I

attended, such was the politics in the

PGA that GB & Europe felt that they

could dispense with Seve for playing

somewhere they didn’t approve. Ranged

against a US team that included Jack

Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Ray

Floyd, Johnny Miller & Hale Irwin we

fielded such heavyweights as Howard

Clark and Mark James. It was embar-

rassing and we lost 18 1/2—9 1/2.

It was not long after this that the Euro-

pean Tour decided that if Europe was

going to use players honed on their Tour

then their Tour should have more say

about the event. One of the most signifi-

cant decisions was that the European

Tour would get to choose the venue

every 8 years. The PGA would choose

it on the other European years.

Let’s look at where the European Tour

has chosen: Valderrama, K Club and

Gleneagles. Compare and contrast that

with the PGA’s choice of The Belfry,

The Belfry, The Belfry and Celtic Manor.

The drama on that fabulous Monday at

Celtic Manor had absolutely nothing to

do with the course and everything to do

with the history of the event. Oh that it

could have been played on a course

worthy of such drama instead of a piece

of sheep grazing hilly Welsh motorway

verge.

The Ryder Cup does not need to sell

itself to the highest bidder. It is time that

the PGA recognised that the event has

outgrown them and they should hand it

over to the real Pros, lock, stock and

Grahame McDowell’s smoking putter.

The combination of British Airways and

ThomsonFly pulling out of the Antalya

route left us stranded with precious few

flight options for our Turkey trip to the

Gloria in May. And then Cyprus Turkish

Airlines went bust!

For 10 years Sunday to Sunday has been

the best option for Antalya but not any-

more. With effectively only Easyjet and

Thomas Cook on the route and rumours

that Monarch might come in and take up

the slack it seems that Saturday to Satur-

day is now favourite.

So we have moved the dates one day ear-

lier. Tee times were a bit of an issue as

we wanted two Old and two New course

rounds, so on the Thursday—Round

Three—the start time is at 12.00. But

apart from this there is no difference.

There is a Monarch flight on 6th May from

Manchester returning late 13th which

would enable you to leave after prize giv-

ing.

If you have any difficulty simply contact the

office for assistance as we can access all

flights. Apologies for the change but BA

and others are withdrawing in the face of

the recession.

It has been quite a momentous year at

Greencard. It began with us feeling dis-

tinctly sea sick from the effects of an un-

dermanned cruise on Sea Cloud. Then

just as the seas were becoming calmer

the air above was filled with volcanic ash.

Huge thanks should go to Richard Munroe

and our long time Portuguese agent

Domitilia for rescheduling dozens of holi-

days and ensuring refunds.

But as the year went on the sun came out.

Gordon was banished and the Pound

stopped falling. The coalition looks to

have found its feet and the UK will begin

the long and winding road back to eco-

nomic stability. It will take some time but

the I do believe the worst is now behind

us. Real rates of return can be obtained

from some very safe Blue Chip companies

and the housing market seems to be in an

orderly retreat, which is a pre-condition for

real recovery.

So both of the Richards (or the two Dicks

if you prefer) would like to join in wishing

you all a wonderful Christmas and a birdie

filled New Year. Preferably on a Green-

card Golf Holiday.

From now until 30th November Qatar From now until 30th November Qatar From now until 30th November Qatar From now until 30th November Qatar

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It was with great sadness that I learned

of the passing of John Newark. He died

in October in his sleep having attended

an Irish wedding. Most of us would con-

sider this the Club Class exit, to be sur-

passed only by expiring from the exulta-

tion of holing a bunker shot on the 18th

to beat the Club Champion.

But my heart goes out to Margaret, his

widow. John was much more to me than

just a Greencard client. He and Margaret

have taken a great interest in the ongoing

saga of the Vine family. They even on

one occasion allowed us to stay in their

apartment when I feared that our lives

were in danger at home.

On another occasion John wrote that he

had attended his last event because

Greencard had become too competitive.

I replied that without him dinner times

would be a more arid place as he was

one of the few who could pass an eve-

ning without mentioning golf. He re-

turned, many times, and I shall miss him.

JOHN NEWARK

QATAR AIRWAYS

SEAT SALE A VERY MERRY

CHRISTMAS AND A

HAPPY NEW YEAR