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

Extra Distance When Driving in Thailand

No this is not about road driving; it is about getting the most from your driver when playing golf in Thailand.

If you find yourself hitting it short off the tee you could either buy a new oversized high tech driver at one of the many golf proshops in Thailand or before you do this follow this tip to find the sweet spot on your current driver; you will be amazed at the improvement!

On a good drive, contact is made with the middle of the clubface about an inch off the ground.  But when you set up at address, the ball should be off the toe since the club head moves closer to you when you swing.  In other words, playing it off the toe insures you are the right distance from the ball to make center-face contact.

Presidential Golf In Bangkok

Since the US elections are just around the corner, or one would think given all the campaigning, I thought it appropriate timing to post this review of the President Golf Club in Bangkok.

A Robert Trent Jones designed layout opened in 1993 and located on Suwintawongse Road (route 304) in Lumitoiting Nongjok consists of 36 holes with  water coming into play on three holes on the west and eight of nine holes on the east course. Although a bit far away from central Bangkok (48 km) this is one of the best priced courses around. At the end of January, we found the course to be in generally good condition but the fairways (west and east nines) were a little bit thin, a bit dry and bumpy but not to the point of really affecting play that much and in fact drives experienced good fairway roll, unlike a course such as Lakewood with its soft fairways. Additionally, the fairways are generous so hitting your share should be no problem.

Montgomerie Golf Invades Asia

While not exactly about golf in Thailand, I thought you would want to know about this new Vietnam golf course. Today, The Montgomerie Links Vietnam broke ground on the clubhouse near the storied sands of China Beach. This destination is already part of our Vietnam Golf Trail tour, so once opened, it is sure to add a great day of golf to the already action packed trip.

The Montgomerie Links Vietnam is the only Colin Montgomerie-designed and branded course in Vietnam or Thailand. Located just off famed China Beach and minutes from Da Nang’s international airport, The Montgomerie Links Vietnam has been routed to capitalize on its close proximity to both the warm, tranquil South China Sea and striking Marble Mountains — which are clearly visible from various points on the course. The golf course plays over a striking landscape of wispy casuarina pines and sand dunes and includes an exciting mixture of wooded and links style holes which will cater to players of all abilities.

Judging Distances In Thailand

My friend’s scoring on the golf courses in Thailand has been improving as of late, however his big concern nowadays is distance. To be honest he just doesn’t get it, he can spend days at the driving range in Bangkok, hitting buckets (actually trays) of balls and yet when he hits the golf course he loses it, coming up short or long of every green.

Here is what I figured out. Previously he was using the yardage signs at the driving range to gauge how far he can hit the ball with each of his clubs. But there are reasons not to trust those distances. First of all, those signs are probably measured to the tee area immediately in front of them, so if you are not directly in front of them, the distance is probably longer than you think. Second, the tees at grass driving ranges, like that at Thai Country Club, are moved forward or backward every day to allow the divots to repair, so that also affects the distance.

Another factor are the range balls themselves, which are probably inferior to the golf balls most people use, so the distance with a range ball is not the same as with “real” golf balls. By the way, if the range balls were as good as other balls, people would buy a bucket and take it home rather than waste them on the range, right? (Actually, I have thought of this long ago!)

Useful Thailand Golf Expressions

Do you want to be admired and respected by golf club staff, caddies and other local Thais on your Thailand golf vacation? Here’s a tip: learn a few words of Thai golf vocabulary!

Aside from hello and goodbye (sawadee), are you well? (sabai dee mai), and what is your name? (khun chue arai), good luck (chok dee) is a nice thing to say when you are leaving someone, or when having a drink and raising your glass to someone (like “Cheers!”).

Remember, though, to be polite by ending with krap if you are male (even if this grates on western ears), or kaa if you are female.

Thailand golfing terms include: golf course (sanam golf), go to play golf (bai len golf), wood (maai), iron (lek), left (sai), right (gwaa), straight (trong), uphill (tee lum), downhill (tee soong), and small or little (nid noi).

Wedge Sets When Golfing In Thailand

Wedges are called the scoring clubs in Thailand for a reason. With a shorter shaft, more loft and shorter shot distances, golfers should be able to get the ball closer to the hole. In addition, wedges have more versatility than all other clubs as they can be used from tight lies, sand bunkers, and fluffy lies as well as for a variety of shots from full length pitch shots, to mid length and short chip shots, bump and run, soft sand bunker shots and hard sand shots.

In order to maximize ones scoring efforts, golfers should pay careful attention to the number of wedges they carry,  their lofts, and also to the degrees of bounce (angle at which the trailing edge of the club sits lower than the leading edge).

While golfing in Thailand this is important as golfers will encounter varied grasses (Bermuda, Zoysia, Paspalum, and Tifdwarf) as well as both dry and wet conditions depending on the season. With some courses like Blue Canyon, one should use higher loft wedges as the fairways are soft, sand fluffy and rough very severe. At Thai Country Club where fairways are harder and the rough easier to get through, one might want to consider lower loft wedges.

Does Bangkok Really Have Royal Gems?

Yes! Bangkok's Royal Gems Golf and Sports Club was designed by Gary Roger Baird based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, a former protégé of Robert Trent Jones and offers a nice variety of holes surrounded by mature trees. The course is generally closed for non-member play, but some agents like my golf travel company can secure a limited number of tee times for visiting golfers in Bangkok.

Last week I found the golf course in  excellent condition. Fairways were of good quality grass and cut appropriately to provide respectable roll on tee shots, quite rare in Thailand. The very large greens have a variety of moderate undulations and were running 9.2 on the stimpmeter, a very good speed for true rolling putts. I did find that like the sister course down the road, Suwan Golf Club, chip shots would roll well past the pin if no back spin was imparted on the shot so golfers should keep this in mind on approach shots. Despite this, the greens held full shots pretty well.