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

Suwan Golf and Country Club, Bangkok Thailand

Everyone that plays golf in Bangkok knows nearly all Bangkok golf courses are basically flat with lots of water due to Bangkok being a vast river plain.  Golf course construction budgets are not normally large enough to include large scale earth movement needed to create a hilly golf course. But please, don’t get me wrong. I am not complaining about the golf in Bangkok as there are many fabulous courses here and I have to say that it is by far and away the best area for golf that I have had the pleasure of living.

So, imagine my surprise when I recently played golf at the new Suwan Golf and Country Club. The golf course is only two years old and hard to find. The staff is ignorant of how to deal with foreigners, golf travelers, and agents, making the check in process long and painful. The starter has no idea of how to keep tee times as it seems to be first come first served! There are still many immature small trees and the greens, while in generally god condition, are very hard.  However, I am sure this can all be worked out in time.

Best 20 Shot Golf Drill To Score Well in Thailand

Sometimes, like me, I am sure your work, family, budget, or the weather prevents you from taking a Thailand golf vacation or just playing golf as often as you like. We either play infrequently, or worse, need to take long breaks from getting out to the golf course. Scores are generally not very good with the short game suffering the most during these layoffs.

This is further compounded because the short game is also relatively more important during the first round after coming back from a layoff. More short shots are taken around the green because of lack of being sharp from tee to green. In other words, a lot of greens will be missed and getting up-and-down from off the putting surface to save par, or at least get bogey, becomes critical to insuring a decent score.

When practicing chips and pitch shots--after a long layoff--I get a feel for the club and a rhythm to my stroke.  I will also reawaken a sense of how hard to hit my short shots once I am out on the course. A few minutes at practice green found at all Thailand golf courses will also be particularly beneficial on long approach putts.  If I don't stroke a few before you play, then I struggle to find the right feel on long putts.

Bangkok Expat Golf Pro's Top 12 Thailand Golf Course Picks

The other day in “the Big Mango”, I bumped into Steve Kirk, the first expat golf professional  to work in Thailand many years ago, following service with the Royal Calcutta and Shek O, Hong Kong golf clubs. Steve is the author of "The Thailand Golf Map", one of the most comprehensive guides to Thailand golf courses, albeit now slightly outdated and quite difficult to find on sale. Over a glass or two of the amber nectar, we got around to discussing our favorite courses. I have shared my top Thailand courses in prior posts. Here are Steve’s top twelve, which may surprise even those of you who have played a lot of golf in Thailand:

1. Plutaluang Royal Thai Navy Golf Course, Sattahip
2. Bhumipol Dam Golf Course, Tak
3. Royal Hua Hin Golf Club, Hua Hin
4. Blue Canyon Country Club, Phuket
5. Siam Country Club, Pattaya
6. Laem Chabang International Country Club, Chonburi
7. Bangsai Country Club, Ayutthaya
8. Lanna Golf Club, Chiang Mai
9. Navatanee Golf Club, Bangkok
10. Soi Dao Highlands Golf Club, Chanthanaburi
11. Waterford Valley Golf Club, Chiang Rai
12. Mission Hills Country Club, Khao Yai

I would welcome any views you may have on Steve’s favorite Thai golf courses. Please feel free to post a comment here or if you prefer drop me and email at my Thailand golf vacation company with your top Thailand golf courses and I will take care of the posting duties.

Happier Family Life and Better Golf In and Out of Thailand

One of my pet dislikes is when money is spent on so-called research by scientists, only for them to come up with what was already blindingly obvious, or if in Thailand the not so obvious.

You may have come across a recent example of this. Sports psychology researchers at Exeter University in the UK have pronounced that a happy home life can make you better at golf. They found that the emotional support a golfer receives off the course is directly linked to the quality of his performance on it. They measured the level of support that 117 amateur male golfers received in their personal lives (I wonder how?) against the quality of their game.

Those with more emotional backup performed up to 24 per cent better;  how many strokes is that? “We often speak of the ‘moral support’ sportsmen get from their friends and families, which helps their performances,” said Dr. Tim Rees of the University’s School of Sports and Health Sciences. “Perhaps, then, it is not surprising that golfers benefit from good social networks off the course. What was surprising to us was the extent to which this affected their performance”.

Eagle Par Birdie Welcome From Thailand

To start the week off on a high note I thought I would let you know about the great golf site which I came across the other day. Eagle Par Birdie is a multi-media blog site devoted to amateur golfers. It’s written by Chris Henry, a veteran Canadian broadcast journalist and golf writer with more than 30 years experience covering international news and sports.

Eagle Par Birdie touches all the bases for the amateur player: equipment news, instruction advice, tour news, course reviews, golf travel destinations  and golf interviews. In the future you may even see some posts on Thailand golf! The audio interviews can be listened to right at your computer by simply clicking the hot link indicated in the body of the text.

In keeping with the openness of this Thailand golf golf blog,the Eagle Par Birdie blog also welcomes feedback, so you can post your comments at will.

Phuket, Hua Hin, and Chiang Mai Golf Societies

Here is the continuation of my posts about Thailand golf societies, which can be an excellent choice for frequent Thailand golf travelers.

Golf societies also thrive in Phuket and Hua Hin. The Phuket Expat Golf Society (PEGS) was established some 12 years ago and has grown to a membership of over 500 golf enthusiasts from many parts of the world and different walks of life.  There is a  program of regular tournaments on golf courses on and around Phuket whilst periodic challenges with other societies take place in various parts of Thailand, notably the Pattaya Sports Club and the Hua Hin Golf Society. Golf tourists are not allowed to join , but Phuket golf visitors are invited to participate in all of the PEGS competitions – go to the Island Lager Bar, Soi Lion, Patong Beach and make enquiries.

The Mulligan Golf Society was founded in Phuket in 1999. It is the brain child of two of the most colourful characters on the island, Bepy Graziani di Ceneda, owner of Toto's bar and Restaurant & Peter Tkac, whose calling cards describe him as a “Free Lance Human Being”. After four years playing a weekly 9-hole competition at The Laguna Golf Club, the Mulligan Golf Society now hosts an 18-hole competition every Tuesday at the Blue Canyon Lakes Course. No membership is required, just walk into the pro shop, and they will take care of you. After golf, a party and prize-giving is normally held at one of three establishments at the entrance to the Laguna Resort (Toto’s Italian Restaurant & Piano Bar, Toto’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar, or JJ'S Irish Pub). You can't help liking the Mulligan Golf Society’s events in Phuket with its cheerful adaptation to the island's relaxed lifestyle.

Bangkok Golf Societies

For those of you who are frequent golf travelers to Thailand, you might want to consider joining one of the local golf societies. Not only is it a good way to meet and socialize with like minded gofers in Thailand, it also can be a significant savings on green fees. Most Thai golf clubs are non-profit organizations and receive substantial group green fee discounts from the Thailand golf courses here.

As might be expected, Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, boasts the highest number of golfing societies of the country’s main golfing locations. There is even a Societies Golf League, founded in 1995. Participating clubs and societies have included Thunderbirds (now O'Reillys), the British Club, the Bangkok Wanderers, The Golfers Cocktail Lounge, The Japanese Society, the Lighthouse Golf Group, the British Embassy Golfing Society (now The Londoners), the American Embassy Golfing Society, Delaneys, Dynasty, Larry's Dive, Soi Dogs, Bourbon Street Gators, R.S. Scandinavians, Gee Gee's, Doug's Hoodlums, Dunlop Duffers, the Bangkok Irish and an additional club from the British Club, the BC Lords.

Thai Golf Societies

As with many other places in the world, Thailand has its fair share of golf societies (clubs). There are many regular golf groups in the main Thailand golf destinations for travelers, especially Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, and Hua Hin. Apart from the natural tendency for golfers to play with the people they socialize with, there is one other very good reason for this. Thailand golf club memberships can be very expensive, even though memberships can be traded or sold.

In any case, most golfers want to have the opportunity to play a variety of golf courses. If you are not a member of a golf club, it is difficult for you to maintain an official handicap. A number of the golf societies in Thailand are registered as USGA member clubs, thus enabling them to issue official handicaps. Some have their own society handicapping system. Many of the clubs and societies are named after Thailand's more respectable drinking establishments. The Crown Royal Pub has a golf group which plays every week-end, either Saturday or Sunday. The group is a registered USGA club which results in their “clubhouse” being listed in the USGA Handbook as The Crown Royal Pub, Soi Patpong II, Bangkok! I can just imagine the first time golf traveller wandering around Patpong mystified as to why he cannot find a golf course!

Phuket Golf Road Show

Are you planning a Phuket golf holiday and do you live in one of the following countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, Hong Kong, UK, Sweden, Russia or India? If so, read on!

Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit announced recently that to promote Phuket to foreign tourist markets the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will be going on a 14-country road show. If you can attend this, you will have every opportunity to find out all about accommodation in Phuket, things to do and see, and of course, golfing on Phuket’s six fine golf courses, Blue Canyon Country Club, Phuket Country Club, Loch Palm Golf Club, Laguna Phuket Golf Club, Thai Muang Beach Golf and Marina, and Mission Hills Country Club. It is possible that representatives from these clubs will be on hand to provide any information you need.

Thailand Guest House, Is It Suitable For A Thailand Golf Vacation

Some of you planning a golf trip to Thailand may wonder about staying in a guest house to save costs during your Thailand golf holiday. Unless you specify a particular location, I usually suggest that you would be better staying in a recommended and, if possible, internationally branded hotel. Let me explain.

In Europe and the USA you are likely to find a wide selection of bed and breakfasts, which are most always clean and comfortable at a reasonable cost. This is not the case in Thailand. In the first place, hotel rooms, even at 5 star properties, are already much less expensive than in Europe and the USA. In addition, most of the lower cost Thailand guest houses have some combination of unsanitary conditions or bug infestations and almost always located in the least desirable parts of town, thus making them unfit for western golf tourists. This is because, unlike in the more developed countries where the lodging industry is heavily regulated, including periodic inspections, there are few such safeguards in Thailand.