Phoenix

It was the last round of golf today, and I started in the leawith a 7 stroke lead to protect. We played at the Phoenix course today, again very scenic, but the greens were no where near the level of Laem Chabang on Wednesday. That was definitely the best of the 3 courses. There are some great views of the coats and also of a large Buddha image (80m) carved into a cliff face.

The day started with a small drama when it seemed I'd left my cap behind. I went back and checked the bus without finding it. Hence I was the last to arrive at the pre-game meeting to sort out caddies and carts. It turned out that Jim had kindly bought it after I'd left it on the bus but I didn't know. I was in the first group this morning and there were cheers as I hooked my first drive out of bounds. I wiped that hole and the 3rd when my ball was lost, (when I thought it should have been easily found in the light rough between the fairways.) After that things got better with a run of 4 pars on the first nine and several more pars and a birdie on the back 9, to finish just 1 over my handicap. That was more than enough to keep the lead and win the trophy - another thing to fit in my bag going home.

After getting back to the hotel and stowing our golf gear, four of us went to the Outlet mall again. We were all surprised to have passed on the main road on the way to golf that morning, essentially after taking 2 turns on reasonably main roads to get there. The taxis of the previous day must have been having a laugh, taking us on a convoluted path through the back streets. This time I bought myself somew new golf shoes.

We wandered the shops near the hotel (again) after we got back from the mall since I was looking for DVDs for the boys, without success. I picked up the caps for the hockey team on the way back and am quite impressed with the job they have done. Thank goodness my bag was not full coming over.

A different group of 5 went to dinner nearby and I wandered a bit more, still without success, looking for DVDs. I joined the others at the bar and before the night was over had bought a dozen or so from people stopping there with bags full of them. I could have saved my time and energy earlier.