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

LPGA Shines In Thailand

Thailand knows how to put on a show, and the top LPGA players will be at the Honda LPGA Thailand this month.

With the worlds 59 best lady golfers in attendance, the Siam Country Club in Pattaya will be the perfect backdrop to kick off the LPGA tour season in style.
This popular tournament was launched in 2006 when a certain Miss Hee-Won Han from South Korea won the inaugural event. Since then the likes of Suzann Petersen from Norway, Lorena Ochoa from Mexico , Ai Miyazato from Japan, Yanni Tseng from Taiwan have all held the coveted trophy.

Add star names such as Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer and crowd favourite Michelle Wie, and you can understand why the sponsors are prepared to offer a massive US$1.8million in prize money.

Held at the Siam Country Club’s famous Old Course, a par 72 playing 6,477 yards for the girls, the players all commented on how perfect the fairways and greens were playing.

With most sports suffering during the recent economy down, the golf industry has turned to Asia for its future.  The exposure that the event brings to Thailand is truly global. Meanwhile perhaps the biggest winner will once again be one of Thailand’s number one courses, Siam Country Club in Pattaya.

If you want to follow in the stars footsteps, why not plan to attend the event and then play the Pattaya golf club’s two championship courses? The Old Course and Plantation courses are the 2 best Pattaya golf courses, and by a wide margin.

PGA Golf Tournament In Khao Yai Solidifies Panorama’s Reputation

Khao Yai’s Panorama Golf and Country Club, managed by Quality Golf, hosted its first ever professional event in the Thailand golf course’s 18 year history.

Played over 3 days in April the Thailand Senior Professional Golfers Association tournament was won by local Thai favorite Jamnian Chitprasong. Quality Golf managed to keep the usually tricky greens at a speed of 9.5 feet during the tournament. However, keeping the ball below the hole still proved to be sound advice for the top finishers. The conversation around the even was that the extreme green challenge, perfect course conditions, well trained local caddie force, and  facilities of the newly renovated clubhouse led to the successful inaugural Panorama golf tournament.

Panorama Golf and Country Club is a scenic golf course set in the Khao Yai Mountains. It was formerly known as Voyage Panorama. Quality Golf, the Khao Yai golf club’s new manager took over 2 years ago and they draw on their prior golf in Asia experience. Previously Quality Golf was involved at Thai Country Club, Alpine, Blue Canyon, and Santiburi Samui.

It’s not that often you can easily and cost effectively golf where golf professionals do.  Therefore, I suggest anyone interested in playing this Khao Yai golf course under tournament conditions either include it a complete Khao Yai golf package or just contact the course directly and make a day trek from Bangkok out to Khao Yai.  Either way, I am sure you will be very glad you did!

Lady Golf Stars Shine In Thailand Once Again

Thailand knows how to put on a show, and the top LPGA players were all on display at the Honda LPGA Thailand this weekend. With virtually all the star names in contention, the Siam Country Club in Pattaya provided the perfect backdrop to kick off the 2011 LPGA tour season in style.

This popular tournament was launched in 2006 when a certain Miss Hee-Won Han from South Korea won the inaugural event. Since then the likes of Suzann Petersen from Norway, Lorena Ochoa from Mexico and Ai Miyazato from Japan have all held the coveted trophy.

Add star names such as Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer and crowd favourite Michelle Wie, and you can understand why the sponsors offered a massive US$1.8million in prize money. Held at the Siam Country Club Old Course, a par 72 playing 6,477 yards for the girls, the players all commented on how perfect the fairways and greens were playing.

With most sports suffering during the recent economy down, the golf industry has turned to the East for its future.  Mike Whan, the LPGA Commissioner said, ‘The LPGA has gained several events in Asia this year, and seems to be headed in the right direction. With the support we get in Thailand, we really can bring over the big stars. The coverage the event gets for Thailand golf is truly global.’

Thailand featured nine players in the tournament and in fact 15-year-old Thai amateur Ariya Jutanugarn turned in the best round of the final day with a 4-under-par 67.

Perhaps the biggest winner will once again be all of golf in Thailand and especially, Thailand's Golf In A Kingdom.

Bangkok Dining

Many on a Thailand golf package spend at least a few days in Thailand’s capital during their golf holiday as it offers convenient flight connections to around the world in addition to great golf, high standard accommodation, shopping, dining and entertainment. I am often asked for restaurant suggestions and while I do not claim to be a foodie, I know what I like. Here is a brief list of some of my favorites:


ITALIAN
There are many good Italian restaurants all over Bangkok in various price ranges. The ones at the Sheraton on Sukhumvit and the Dusit Thani hotels are both very good at the higher end. Others I like a lot that are more moderately priced include La Gritta on Sukhumvit Soi 19, Basilico on Sukhumvit Soi 33, Via Vai on Sukhumvit Soi 8 and Limoncello on Sukhumvit Soi 11.  All offer a great pizza and nice wines as well as an assortment of homemade pastas and more.

THAI
This one is almost impossible because great Thai food is served up in so many places. Even the street food can be good though I don’t particularly enjoy sitting in plastic chairs on the sidewalk and dining a few feet from diesel belching busses while dodging the motorcycle taxi boys flying past our table.  For cheap and good, I like the outdoor corner restaurant just a few meters down Sukhumvit Soi 14 from the Asok Skytrain. At the higher end, the better hotels almost all have good Thai restaurants. It’s hard to go wrong with Thai food in Thailand and often the difference in price is more related to the atmosphere than the food itself.

Top Non Golf Thailand Attractions

Want to plan an Asian golf vacation but also need to make sure your non-golfing travel partners are happy?  No problem.  Below are some of the more popular non-golf activities to include on your Thailand golf holiday itinerary.

All Over Thailand
Massage:  Thai massage, Swedish massage, sports massage, foot massage, neck & shoulder massage, fish massage, aroma therapy, hot stone therapy and more.  You are never far from a spa in Thailand.  Most good hotels have them and you will find many more on the streets.

Bangkok
Best of Bangkok:  Tour includes the Grand Palace, the city’s most famous temples and a long tail boat ride on the Chao Phraya River.

Thai Cooking School:  Fun hands-on experience as you cook (and eat) a multi-course Thai meal.

Siam Niramit:  Dinner and Thai culture show.  World class stage production is one of the best of its kind.

Phuket
The Beach:  Besides golf, Phuket has some of Southeast Asia’s best beaches.

Phi Phi Island:  Numerous beautiful and exotic limestone islands popping up out of the sea along with opportunities for swimming and snorkeling as well as lunch on a deserted island (aka James Bond).

Phuket Island Highlights: Sightseeing including Kata lookout (Phuket’s southernmost point), Wat Chalong Temple and Phuket Town.

Phuket Fantasea:  Dinner and Thai culture show with elephants, magic, song, dance, acrobats and much more.

Top Non Golf Thailand Attractions

Want to plan a Thailand golf vacation but also need to make sure your non-golfing travel partners are happy?  No problem.  Below are some of the more popular non-golf activities to include on your golf holiday itinerary.

All Over Thailand
Massage:  Thai massage, Swedish massage, jet lag massage, sports  or golf massage, foot massage, neck & shoulder massage, fish massage, aroma therapy, hot stone therapy and more. You are never far from a spa in Thailand. Most good hotels have them and you will find many more all over the country.

Bangkok
1. Best of Bangkok Tour:  Includes the Grand Palace, the city’s most famous temples and a long tail boat ride on the Chao Phraya river.

2. Thai Cooking School:  Fun hands-on experience as you cook (and eat) a multi-course Thai meal.

3. Siam Niramit:  Dinner and Thai culture show.  World class stage production is one of the best of its kind.

Best Place For A Relaxed Thailand Golf Retreat

Chiang Rai is away from the crowds and still offers a great golf holiday.  Thailand’s northern most city of significance, Chiang Rai may not have a quantity of golf courses but with Santiburi Chiang Rai Country Club it certainly has quality.  And with conditions at Waterford Valley Golf Club having improved in recent years there are now two courses well worth checking out.  A variety of cultural attractions in the area also add appeal with the Golden Triangle, the Queen Mother’s Botanical Gardens, a mountain-top Chinatown, opium museum, and long tail boat upriver excursions.

The Chiang Rai Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed Santiburi Country Club is laid out over vast fields with excellent placement of holes and an abundance of water hazards and bunkers. The golf course is widely regarded as one of the best conceived and maintained golf courses in Asia. Golfers living in Thailand will tell you that Santiburi in Chiang Mai is one of their favorite golf courses in Thailand, and this is no small compliment! Santiburi Country Club was the first Chiang Rai golf course.

Best Place For a Thailand Golf With Nightlife Holiday

Depends on what you are looking for.  For raw and wild “in your face’ action Pattaya is the place for many. Golf lovers can play the 2 excellent Siam Country Club courses in between visits to the infamous Walking Street.  Be prepared though, for some the action is just too much and it spoils the otherwise wide selection of reasonably priced Pattaya golf courses

For those Thailand golfers who can do without the bar scene but a Jazz Festival sounds appealing?... Hua Hin is it. Many consider golf in Hua Hin to be the best value in Thailand at the moment with championship courses like Black Mountain Golf Club and Banyan Golf Club leading the pack. In fact, this year Banyan Golf Club was voted the best new course in all Asia. Hua Hin town itself, while much more subdued than other Thailand seaside resorts, still has its share of nightlife. Most hotels have in house live bands and I can think of no other better way to unwind after golf than listening to live Jazz under the stars during the Hua Hin Jazz Festival.

If a street with a zillion beer bars does the trick than Phuket might be your choice (Bangla Road in Patong).  Many also visit Phuket to enjoy its white sandy beaches and golfers will find plenty of both beach and nightlife for sure. Add to that top courses such as Blue Canyon Country Club where Tiger Woods claimed one of the best come from behind PGA victory’s in 1998 and Red Mountain Golf Club, arguably the most spectacular course in the island, and you have a recipe for the best golf and nightlife holiday destination in Thailand.

Honda LPGA Thailand Ladies Golf Event Comes Back To Pattaya

The Honda LPGA golf tournament will return to Pattaya on February 26. After a 1 year absence, the event will be held once again at Siam Country Club. However, this time the golf tournament will be held on the more challenging Siam Country Club, Plantation Course instead of the 2007 tournament site, the Siam Country Club Old Course. The new venue should make for some great golf, even if the scores are on the high side.

Two young pro golfers from Thailand, Thidapa Suwannapura, and 13 year old Moreeya Jutanukarn have been invited to play among sixty of the world’s top women players over the four-day, 72-hole stroke play with no cut in the field.

Some of the best players gracing the tournament are recent winner of the Women’s Australian Open Golf championship, Laura Davies; golf babe Natalie Gulbis; and Asian golfing stars Mika Miyazato and Shiho Oyama.

The very prestigious golf event, scheduled from 26 February to 1 March 2009, is also expected to make headlines as Rolex Rankings’ world number one Lorena Ochoa of Mexico and world number three Paula Creamer from the USA, two superstars in women’s golf are participating.

The tournament offers a prize purse of US$1.45 million, which makes it the wealthiest professional golf event in Thailand in 2009.

If you are interested in visiting Pattaya on a golf holiday and/or attending the event, please drop me a line at my Thailand Golf Vacation company and I will put something together for you. We have some great deals at other area top courses like Laem Chabang and St. Andrews Hill as well as a golf special at the Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa.

Asian PGA Tour a Frequent Visitor to Thailand in 2009 (part 1 of 2)

 Asian PGA Tour players would do well to brush up on their Thai language skills, as the tour will be making several golf stops in Thailand during 2009 with the season beginning and ending in the Kingdom and more events along the way.

Great Thai golf courses and weather, combined with world class accommodations and famous Thai hospitality have apparently charmed the Tour into coming back again and again, much as it has for growing numbers of international holiday golfers and travelers.  Perhaps the tour bosses have also developed a taste for jasmine rice, tum yum gung, pad thai and som tam?

The Asian Tour Qualifying School kicked it all off January 06 – 09, with 1st Stage events at Bangkok’s Lam Luk Ka Country Club plus two Pattaya area clubs: Rayong Green Valley and St. Andrews 2000.  The latter two courses also held the Q School’s Final Stage a week later.