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

A Bangkok Golf Tournament Story

In a recent posting I referred to the perennial Thailand Golf Society, the Mainly Unquenchable Golf Society (MUGS). Today I want to go into more detail by recalling a story told to me by Niftee, one of their members who occasionally join its Wednesday afternoon outings. First some background.

The MUGS “clubhouse” (actually a pub in the Silom area) is like the statuesque member’s only area in a long-established golf club: with leather seats, golfing prints, tournament trophies, and past champion boards on the walls. The club staff have nearly all been there for as long as I can remember, well over twenty years. A recent innovation was the installation of a TV, now set to watch the many golf tournaments televised on satellite in Bangkok.

Fairway Bunker Shots At Thailand Golf Courses

More times than I like to admit I find myself smack in the middle of the fairway bunkers found on many Thailand golf courses around 220 yards from the white tees.  Whether it is at Thai Country Club or the Chiang Mai Highlands, I have much practice from hitting these shots so I thought it would be good to share a few of my tips on the best way to play out of these fairway hazards.

PGA professionals hit long irons out of these bunkers. But you're probably not a PGA professional, and as you know neither am I. Hitting a long iron off grass is hard enough, never mind trying to hit one out of a soft Thailand sand bunker. Most Thailand golf travelers can do better hitting a 5-wood, but I have to make some minor adjustments to do it effectively.

Navatanee Golf Club, Bangkok Thailand

Navatanee Golf Club, a Bangkok Thailand Robert Trent Jones Jr. design, is located just inside the outer ring road making it one of the closest golf courses to the Bangkok city center, and my home! The course made headlines in 1975 when it hosted the Golf World Cup and put Thailand on the global golf map.

Navatanee has it’s supporters as well as those who criticize this members only course. On the positive side Navatanee is, in my opinion, the best example of a Bermuda grass golf course in all Thailand, if not the whole world. The fairways are near perfect and carpet-like. The mature Bermuda greens roll as fast or faster than some of the newer exotic grass greens found at most of the better Thailand golf courses such as Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin or Red Mountain Golf Club in Phuket.  The rough, as with all Bermuda grass courses, is thick and stringy, making well placed tee-off and approach shots a must to score well.

Rachakram Golf Club, Bangkok Thailand

Here is another golf course review by soon to be golf professional Greg Haney, now in the USA, but in the process of taking up residence in Thailand. 

Ratchakram Golf Club, opened December 2006 is in the Bangsai area of Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok. Designed by the same Thai golfer who designed Phuket Country Club, I found the course to be a great layout offering a tremendous variety of memorable holes. I never did find out the types of grasses used, but nevertheless the fairways provided excellent lies and greens superb putting surfaces. It reminds one of a links style course with the undulations and openness and the ability to run shots up to the greens on a number of the holes.

The par 72 course measures 6827 yards from the blue tees. Under construction are a championship set of tees which will definitely challenge even the best golfers. Expecting flat and somewhat municipal design, I was amazed to find the course in excellent condition from tee through green, with many undulations, not only throughout the fairways and rough but on the greens as well. The greens are outstanding, with the as mentioned significant undulations. They are firm and fast, but still receptive to holding approach shots, even with long irons and/or woods. To date, they are some of the best greens I have experienced in Thailand. In addition, the bunker sand is of a nice firm texture (not soft and fluffy), providing the ability to put good spin on bunker shots.

A Phuket Golf Lesson

A golf pal of mine living in Phuket told me recently that, for the first time for many years, he needed a golf lesson. He plays off a steady handicap of fourteen but for some six or nine months now, usually when the pressure is on and he has a good score going, or when there is a tight finish to a match, he finds himself slicing badly. He then tries to correct the fault by bringing the club back inside, but ends up duck hooking.

So, last week he called me to arrange a golf lesson with Steve Hamilton, the Asian PGA certified Teaching Professional at Golfasian. Fortunately, Steve was in Phuket at Phuket Country Club and Loch Palm Golf Club teaching two Singapore golfers on a 5 day golf instruction and holiday package.

Steve asked my friend to hit a few balls whilst he watched his swing from various angles. The problem, only a minor fault, was immediately apparent to Steve. My friend was dropping his shoulder on his downswing. This, coupled with swinging too fast (something we all suffer from) resulted in slices and pull hooks.

Steve’s advice was equally simple: just keep the shoulders square and pointed at the target through the swing, and make sure that the body and arms move as one piece throughout the swing.

Happy Thai Mothers Day From Pattaya Thailand

Happy Birthday to Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand! August 12th is the birthday of H.M Queen Sirikit and a Thai public holiday. Lucky for golfers, since August 12th falls on a Sunday this year, the holiday is celebrated on Monday the 13th, this giving those who golf in Thailand a chance to get in an extra round of golf as the courses are less busy than normal due to the Thais visiting their families.

This day is also known in Thailand as "Mothers Day" as Queen Sirikit is regarded as the mother of Thailand. Children young and old will also take time this day to pay respect to their mothers, usually presenting them with flowers.

Two Pattaya golf courses, St. Andrews 2000 and Rayong Green Valley,  even have Mother’s Day specials whereby mothers get free green fees on this day.

The Hua Hin Golf Festival is also coincidently held during this time of year. Special green fees are available at all Hua Hin golf courses. The Jack Nicklaus designed Springfield Golf Club can be played for only 1000 baht per round. Even the new Black Mountain Golf Club, while not specifically participating in the Hua Hin golf festival, is offering reduced green fees.

Dragon Hills Golf, River Kwai Thailand

Dragon Hills Golf and Country Club is, in a nutshell, a true hidden gem.  The golf club is located in a remote part of Ratchaburi, Thailand, at the periphery of the Bangkok - Kanchanaburi - Hua Hin triangle, 1 ½ hours from Bangkok. The approach to the course is via secondary roads winding through remote, yet lush farmland and pineapple plantations.

The golf course has been designed to make the most of the fabulous setting as the undulating fairways wind through and around 2,400 acres of sun-filled valleys and blue lakes, against a backdrop of low, green hills.

The 18-hole, par 72 golf course is 6,800 yards and quite a challenge to reach the long par 4’s and 5’s in regulation. The greens are quick, sloped, and guarded by well-positioned bunkers. Many locals and Thai golfers consider Dragon Hills as the best layout in the country and certainly the signature holes (10, 11, and 12) are beautiful and challenging.

Golf Phuket vs. Golf France

Yesterday at Phuket Country Club I golfed with a group of French golfers from Paris on a Phuket golf holiday. During the round, I asked them how golf in France compared with golf in Thailand.

The first difference they mentioned was the locations and settings of golf courses. The courses in France tend to all be in beautiful surroundings. For example, there are no Thailand golf courses in the grounds of a 14th century chateau, although there are some with Buddhist shrines dotted around notably Royal Hua Hin Golf Club or Royal Ratchaburi in Kanchanaburi province.

Then they talked about food; obviously very important for French people. As with most golf clubhouses in Thailand, they found the cuisine excellent and a good value and the facilities diversified and well kept. They said French golf courses rarely have restaurants and if they do the French golfers would not dare to eat at them. Also, they told me most club houses in France have only basic toilet facilities, a far cry from the fully equipped locker rooms, spas, massage and relaxation areas, smoking lounges, swimming pools etc. They just golfed at Blue Canyon Country Club the day before, and could not believe that facilities with high standards are free for golfers! Only a hotel in France would have of such quality and then again the use of the aforementioned items would be changed extra

Unique Thailand Golf Balls

In the past I described how you can save money by buying used golf balls at Thailand golf courses. So it got me thinking last week after loosing a few balls in the water at Thai Country Club if the new golf balls that I was using were really helping my game?

Then, a friend drew my attention to four unique Thailand golf balls- well, five really if you include the one from Ted Hoz from the USA. Ted says that he has everything from a ball with the Lord’s Prayer written on it, to a ball advertising a brothel. Now there is a new Thai marketing idea for places like Annies, Emanuele or Poseidon, and probably best left for the subject of another post all together.

The four other unique Thailand golf balls are:

1. The Nike Juice ball which is frozen - resulting, it is claimed, in up to an extra 10 yards on to your drives. You ship the balls to Nike USA, Thailand is too hot for this procedure, where they go into a freezer at minus 300° Celsius. The balls stay in the freezer for 72 hours before being brought back to room temperature. Nike says that this process changes the molecular structure of the ball, making it stronger and more durable. I want to try one on my next round at Alpine Golf Club.