Thailand Golf Holiday, Phuket Golf Packages, Hua Hin Golf Vacations

Thailand Golf Holiday and Travel Budgets (Part 1)

For anyone considering a golf holiday in Thailand, it is important to know the potential costs of your whole package in order to help you budget accordingly.

In order to help you with this, I have detailed below some information including the choice and costs of hotels, golf & transport, and additional expenses you will likely incur during your visit.

When selecting your holiday the most important aspect for most people is their accommodation. If they are traveling a long distance from home, they wish to ensure that the accommodation is the best possibly suited based on their budget. After all, you are on holiday, and it is important you relax and enjoy things as much as possible.

My Take On Golf Carts At Thailand Golf Courses

While most of my Thailand golf is played walking, there are times when a golf cart (buggy) is also useful.

For example, for corporate days and golf tournaments carts are more versatile, suit a wider variety of players, and help keep the golf speed of play moving along at a reasonable pace for all.

Then there are the Thailand golf courses with extreme elevation changes that are better left for walking by mountain goats as opposed to golfers in Thailand. These include the incredibly hilly Santiburi Samui Country Club and Red Mountain Golf Club in Phuket. The compulsory golf carts at these two Thailand golf courses are truly a needed to prevent golfers from passing out before they finish their rounds.

Top Non Golf Thailand Attractions

Want to plan a Thailand golf vacation but also need to make sure your non-golfing travel partners are happy?  No problem.  Below are some of the more popular non-golf activities to include on your golf holiday itinerary.

All Over Thailand
Massage:  Thai massage, Swedish massage, jet lag massage, sports  or golf massage, foot massage, neck & shoulder massage, fish massage, aroma therapy, hot stone therapy and more. You are never far from a spa in Thailand. Most good hotels have them and you will find many more all over the country.

Bangkok
1. Best of Bangkok Tour:  Includes the Grand Palace, the city’s most famous temples and a long tail boat ride on the Chao Phraya river.

2. Thai Cooking School:  Fun hands-on experience as you cook (and eat) a multi-course Thai meal.

3. Siam Niramit:  Dinner and Thai culture show.  World class stage production is one of the best of its kind.

Chipping From Thick Grass Around The Greens In Thailand

The other day at Thai Country Club in Bangkok I found myself in the thick rough next to the green four times during my round. I used my normal chip shot to get out, only to find to my horror that two times the ball just got stick and two times the ball sailed clear over the other side of the green. Needless to say I could not saved par and was lucky to made bogey each time.

When Tiger Woods played at Blue Canyon in Phuket in 1998 and then again at Alpine Golf Club in Bangkok, both Johnnie Walker Classic events; he could get up and down from practically any lie near the green. Through countless hours of practice, he's mastered shot making from any lie. But none of us are Tiger Woods. Therefore I decided to ask a few golf professionals in Thailand what to do when in thick grass or have a buried lie around the green when golfing in Thailand. Here is what I found out.

I used my 60 degree wedges for everything around the green. That works only if you're proficient with a high lofted club. But I’m not, so using other clubs to chip with near the green is a better option. In fact, it can make a big difference. The tall grass chip with a pitching wedge or nine/eight iron shows how chipping with other clubs works.

Riverdale Golf Club, Bangkok Thailand

Designed by Jonathan Morrow and Al Tikkanen and like Red Mountain, their other high-profile Phuket golf course, Riverdale Golf Club is destined to become one of the most celebrated Bangkok golf courses. Riverdale may not at first glance look the most menacing test of golf you've seen. However, the golfer is in for a surprise.

The landscape includes several large lakes which were dredged to create the hills that surround the golf course and frame most of the holes. Beyond the perimeter though there's not much to look as it is predominantly comprised of factories and small villages. But once you've fired your opening tee-shot at the gently sloping downhill opener, the challenges and considerable charm of these immaculately groomed links will quickly assert themselves.

Aside from its excellent conditioning and undoubted challenges, the real joy of Riverdale Golf Club lies in its wonderful interplay of gently rolling fairways, many small reed-lined lakes, raised greens, excellent bunkering, and large hills that break-up some of the layout's innate openness.

Golf In Australia vs. Golf In Thailand

Recently I spent some time in Melbourne Australia golfing with my good friend Mark Penfold from Thailand Golf Tours in Sydney.  Mark and I got talking about why golf in Thailand is so popular with Australian golfers and what are the biggest differences between golfing in the 2 countries. Here are Mark’s views.

While the best golf courses are similar throughout the world in shot values, landscaping and maintenance, the unique points about golf in Thailand come down to 3 main factors.

1.  Experience and Service
Forget lugging your clubs from your car to the clubhouse. There are not many golf destinations  in the world where as soon arrive your clubs are taken from you and the next time you see them they are on a pull cart with a Thai girl smiling and giving you the courtesy “wai” (hello).

Then, there is something special about having someone give you yardages to the pin, telling you where the trouble lies, and advising which way the putts will turn.

Ever get thirsty when golfing or tired of waiting 1 hour or more for the beverage cart? Well not anymore. During your round there are refreshments stands ever 3 holes full of snacks and beverages to keep you going.

Now Play Links Golf In Bangkok

Today I had the pleasure of playing the new 9 holes at Bangsai Country Club in Ayutthaya with Kun Ope (aka Pirapon Namata owner of course construction company GolfEast) and what a joy it was.

Bangkok’s newest golf course is made up of the most interesting mix 9 holes in the area. Khun Ope, being giving a free hand in the design, came up with some very unorthodox (at least for Thailand golf) holes to say the least. From the moment you step onto the 1st tee you can see that this is no ordinary golf course. A large open fairway shared with the 9th hole gives you the clear indication that this is a links course. Open natural waste areas frame the holes and firm fairways, like many of the great British and Irish links courses, are a joy to hit onto.

The wonderful layout comprises many elevated tee-boxes and greens, good-width fairways and plenty of bunkering. Putting on the huge, sloping greens may be a humbling experience, but the excellence of the undulating layout, combined with the splendid setting will keep you enthralled all the way round.

Thailand’s Best Golf Tee Times

A common misconception is that scheduling Thailand golf tee times ‘as early as possible’ is best to both beat the heat and get back to your hotel early.  Actually this depends on where you golf in Thailand and what your priorities are.

When you golf in Phuket humidity plays a big factor on ‘how hot it feels’.  During night time warm moist air over the sea moves over Phuket Island driving up humidity, then during the day the sun comes out and burns off humidity.  If you golf in Phuket, humidity will typically be highest in the very early morning and lowest during late afternoon. The “coolest” part of the day is afternoon, not morning.

Another phenomena particularly in and around Pattaya is that there is very little air movement in early morning. Then, in the afternoon, pleasant sea breezes from the gulf of Thailand descend upon Pattaya golf courses by around 2-3PM each day.  The net effect is that the most uncomfortable time of day is 9AM to 1 PM.  If you schedule to golf in Pattaya 7AM the front nine will be pleasant. But, by the time you get to the back nine, the weather can be very hot with stagnant air as you come down the stretch.  I do not know about you, but this often wears me down. On the other hand if you plan to tee tee-off at around midday it will be hot when you start, but much more moderate with pleasant breezes after you make the turn. This makes golf in Pattaya much more enjoyable.

The Future Of Thailand Golf

The future is looking bright for Thailand golf with investment again seeing a surge with one new golf course estimated to be opened every 3 months or so for the next two years. Thailand’s visiting golfers are also on the rise and the ‘Tourism Authority of Thailand’ recognizes the positive effects of Thailand golfing tourism on the country’s economy which is why it heavily supported inbound golf tourism since its landmark success with the first ‘Visit Thailand’ campaign back in 1987. Today over 500,000 golfers visit Thailand each year and this number just keeps going up.

Many of Thailand’s courses have been designed by internationally recognized golf course builders & architects such as Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Pete Dye and Robert Trent Jones Jr. The landscape is indeed varied, offering courses carved out of the jungle, atop of mountain retreats and bordering onto some of the world’s whitest sand beaches. An apt case study is the picturesque Laguna Phuket Golf Club, which was awarded this year an IGOLF ‘Laureate Course Status’ by the International Golf and Life Foundation (IGOLF) for its commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Laguna is a shining example, having been rehabilitated from a barren tin mine. It now plays home to a variety of wildlife, including kingfisher birds, fishing eagles and white egrets.

8 Do’s & Don'ts When Golfing In Thailand

1. Given that you’ll be out on the course for at least four hours do make sure you put plenty of sunscreen on. It’s also advisable to wear a hat or cap. The Sun when golf in Phuket can be the strongest compared to all other Thailand golf destinations.

2. Although golfing in Thailand is relaxed, don’t expect to be allowed onto the course wearing inappropriate clothing. Do wear a collared shirt with slacks, Bermuda shorts, or a skirt (provided you are a lady). Mock collars (aka Tiger Woods) are also accepted at all Thailand golf courses.

3. Do listen to your caddie-and listen very carefully! Thailand boasts some of the best trained and most savvy caddies in Asia. Find a knowledgeable one and reserve her for perhaps a repeat round (though it may be a privilege only afforded to rounds booked by members of through golf tour operators).

4. Don’t be alarmed to see a flight in front of you turn into a parade of 20 bodies! ----Extra caddies are often required to carry the umbrella, chair or beer! ---and don’t forget the cart driver and ball diver at Royal Bangkok Sports Club.

Thailand Tee Off Experiment

Despite my driver being a new Cobra ZL equipped with modern technological advancements, I kept it in my bag for my last 3 rounds played at Thai Country (Bangkok), Black Mountain (Hua Hin), and Amata Spring (Bangkok). Instead I used my 3-wood off the tee even though my 3-wood is four inches shorter than my driver and has four degrees more loft.

What do you think the results were?

With a distance advantage of 30 yards with my driver you would think that my long game would have been pressured and my score would have suffered, well this was not the case. In fact, I was able to hit an average of 12 fairways a round with my 3-wood and avoided all penalties (lost, OB, water) with my 3-wood off the tee. In the scoring department, I cut an average of 2 shots off my score, lowering my handicap to a respectable 12.

Now I wonder what will happen if I keep up this up?

Once upon a time, I used to see many Thailand golfers automatically turn to the 3-wood on tight holes. Nowadays though, this is rarely the case, Thanks to modern technology and big egos Thailand golfers almost always use the driver off the tee. They go for maximum distance and forget the game is about control. Of course, the case favoring the driver over the 3-wood isn't foolish as the extra distance does help with the second shots into the green. For golfers in Thailand who want to shoot well on their holidays there is food for thought; driver versus 3-wood.

I know I will give it a second thought more often and not be shy to tee off in Thailand with my 3-wood, especially on golf holes that have trouble along side the fairway.