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

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.