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

Japanese Golf Course Designers In Thailand (Part 2)

Continuing with a look at the Japanese designers who have contributed to the development of golf in Thailand, other well-known architects include:

Isao Izumi: Siam Country Club (1971), Pattaya, Yoshihara Aihara: Pinehurst Golf & Country Club (1990), Bangkok, and Isao Katsumata: Sawang Resort Golf Club (1993), Hua Hin.

Siam Country Club is one of the more famous Thailand golf courses, being built more than 27 years ago and completely renovated in 2006.. Over the years the golf course has hosted several international golf tournaments including the 2007 LPGA Honda Classic.

It is set in the low hills just a few kilometers from Pattaya and has been wonderfully landscaped to contain more than its fair share of mature trees, shrubs and plants.

Japanese Golf Course Designers In Thailand

Much has been said about the role famous American and British golf course designers such as Nicklaus, Faldo, Dye, and Trent Jones in Thailand, but how about the Japanese?

Well, in the next 2 articles I will focus on Japanese designers who have contributed to the development of golf here in the Kingdom and I bet you will be surprised to learn about these great golf course designers in their own right!

With golfing in Thailand being so popular with the Japanese, it was inevitable that some of Japan’s best designers would build courses here. World-renowned Yoshikazu Kato, is the designer of arguably Thailand’s No. 1 golf club, Blue Canyon Country Club. Located in the northwest of Phuket Island, the layout is cradled in a secluded, verdant valley, against a backdrop of the majestic Phang Nga mountains and Andaman Sea. Blue Canyon offers two award-winning 18-hole championship golf courses: the Canyon Course built in 1991 and the Lakes Course in 1999.

Junior Golf Tournament, Phuket Thailand

If you are enjoying a family golfing holiday in Phuket at the end of this month, it is still not too late for your children to enter the The KTO Junior Golf Challenge which will take place at Laguna Phuket Golf Club on May 29 and 30.

There are 10 categories in this international 36-hole junior tournament. It is open to boys and girls aged from six to 17 years old who hold a current recognized handicap card, or certificate of competence for children aged eight years old and under.

The format will be stroke play and tee markers will be adjusted to make the Max Wexler-designed course age and gender appropriate according to USGA guidelines. Junior players from Thailand will be competing against their peers from countries including Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Many families are expected to include the junior golf tournament as part of their family holidays.

The entrance fee is US$220 per golfer. Partners for the event include Laguna Phuket Golf Club and Tourism Authority of Thailand, with media partnerships coming from Asian Golf Monthly and the Phuket Gazette. For more information contact Kids Tee Off.

Hole In One Thailand

At my Thailand golf vacation company, we are always happy when one of our golfers achieves a hole in one – if only because we can celebrate with them!

Last week, there was a double cause for celebration: one of our guests at Blue Canyon Country Club, Phuket, a 28-handicapper from the US tee’d off with a 3-wood and aced the 221-yards, par 3 17th hole on the Canyon course, described by Fred Couples as "one of the best par 3's anywhere in the world".

The next day, another of our clients, a 10-handicapper from Germany, hitting a 5-iron, holed out on the 167-yards 14th hole of the A-B course at Laem Chabang International Country Club in Pattaya.

What a week hey!

This set me wondering about the odds of holes-in-one. In a recent issue of Golf Digest I discovered many great nuggets of information about the subject, even breaking the odds down by quality of play:

The Best Way To Bring Your Golf Clubs To Thailand

Often, I get questions from clients of my golf travel company firstly as to whether to bring their golf clubs with them or to hire when they are here; and secondly, if they bring their clubs with them, what sort of golf travel or carry bag should they use? I have dealt in a previous posting with the question of rent or bring your own clubs.

Actually, I too wrestle with the second question. When I pack to leave on a golf trip, the main conundrum is always which travel bag should I use for my clubs? Should I take the hard case, the one that looks like a portable coffin, the soft sided case which runs the risk of club damage from the gorillas that seem to work in airport baggage handling, or the soft-sided hybrid?  The problem with these options is that they each require that I pack my clubs into a travel bag that I will have to later remove and store after reaching my destination.