Author Archives: Thailand Golf Tour

Golfer Testimonials
Thailand Golf
Posted by - November 22, 2016

Thailand Golf, Off the Beaten Track – A Golf Group’s

Gary with Golfasian MD Mark Siegel Hi, my name is Gary. I am an Australian, originally from New South Wales, but now very comfortably domiciled in Perth, Western Australia with a wife of 35 years marriage and two grown up kids! I have played golf since my father stuck a golf club in my hands when I was about 10 years old. At 61 years old now, I guess you could say I have been a long-term golfer. I have been a member of private golf clubs since a junior, and a member of my current golf club, Melv...

Interesting Thailand Golf Snippits
Posted by - October 24, 2016

Good Caddy, Not so Good…Some Answers Why

Thailand’s caddies are one of its unique selling points generally because they work with an easy smile and just like the rest of Thailand’s renowned service industry just want you to enjoy yourself. But we golfers are far more demanding than just requiring a smile, we want Steve Williams on the bag. Therefore, that can’t be where the story ends. If you have golfed here for many years you will have played with good, less good and somewhat mediocre caddies, generally described as “bag carriers”. T...

Golfer Testimonials
Hua Hin Golf
Posted by - October 24, 2016

Amazing Asia Golf Double-Header: Vietnam & Thailand Combined

Hi, my name is Willy Ma.   I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada to finish high school.  I then attended college in the US and made Los Angeles my permanent residence.   I am a member at Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank, Los Angeles, California founded in 1924: Bing Crosby was club champion 5 times. I am also a member at Village Country Club at Lompoc, California in Santa Barbara County. My current SCGA Index is about 14. I started playing golf in the 1980s and take regular golf lessons from ...

Chiang Mai Golf
Golfer Testimonials
Posted by - October 3, 2016

Group’s Long Weekend Golf in Chiang Mai

My name is Tim Spriggs, an Englishman who lives and works in Singapore. For the past couple of years a group of friends and I have undertaken a short golf tour elsewhere in Asia, last year in Danang Vietnam and this year in Thailand. Whilst we play in Singapore, membership is prohibitively expensive so travelling works out cheaper and we enjoy exploring new places and their golf offer. We loved Danang, but having done quite a bit of research knew that Thailand would be great fun with superb food...

Chiang Mai Golf
Interesting Thailand Golf Snippits
Posted by - September 16, 2016

Fabulous Chiang Mai, a Great Golf Destination

Having moved to the area of Chiang Mai I am reminded how beautiful the place is, full of culture and fabulous to explore. Thailand’s most mountainous region (albeit “mini-mountains”) it supplies fabulous opportunities for great golf. Additionally, unlike Bangkok which tends to be hot all year round, Chiang Mai has a genuine “winter” period (end November until start April) when the temperatures can fall to the sublime mid twenties and prompt the actual wearing of a s...

Thailand Golf
Posted by - September 12, 2016

Living on a Golf Course in Thailand

Chiangmai Highlands Golf and Spa Resort. Courtesy of Richard Castka For some of us golfers it’s a dream, certainly for me. I’m sitting on the balcony of my rented condominium looking out over beautiful Chiang Mai Highlands Golf Resort in the north of Thailand, my new home. Am savouring the view but also having to pinch myself and acknowledge how lucky I am. It won’t be all plain sailing because the site is quite remote and my wife (also a golfer) and I have spent the last 9 yea...

Golfer Testimonials
Posted by - August 29, 2016

Our Best Hua Hin Golf Holiday

Hi, my name is Tony Spanjers. As you can see from the photo we were a group of sixteen, made up of “Captains and Presidents”, Captains being Orange and Presidents being blue. We played a two ball match play stableford format with Captains prevailing on this particular trip. We are all from Perth, Western Australia and are members of Araluen Golf Resort, which is situated in the hills South East of Perth. Those of us who are no longer working generally play every Saturday and Wednesday together. ...

Golfer Testimonials
Uncategorized
Posted by - July 28, 2016

A Big Fan of Golfasian

My name is Graham Cater, an Aussie who plays Southport Golf Club on the Gold Coast of Australia. It is there I hone my skills and test my mental strength to ready me for our annual Thailand Golf Tour. Playing golf in Thailand is not just about the game it is an exotic experience that has left me with the most wonderful memories from the Land of Smiles. Now I don’t always play well and I have been known to miss the odd easy putt but nothing can stop the enjoyment I get playing on some of the best...

Thailand Golf Courses and Playing Conditions
Posted by - July 25, 2016

Drought – A Golf Course’s Greatest Challenge

We are aware that Thailand’s tropical climate has a rainy season (Apr-Nov, see https://www.thailandgolfzone.com/thailands-rainy-season-how-does-it-affect-our-golf) and the remaining months enjoy hot and predominantly dry weather throughout, resulting in a tourist “high season” especially in respect of golfing visitors. The 4 main golf areas, Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai all have to manage their water in this period in order to sustain good playing conditions throughout the year. When ...

Paul Keefe
Golfer Testimonials
Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - May 19, 2016

Your Views…Hua Hin

Hi my name is Paul Keefe. My wife and I live in Montreal in Canada. I am 72 and have been a Member of a golf club for 50 years. My current club of 33 years is Royal Montreal. We have 45 holes and our claim to fame is we are the oldest golf club in North America. We have hosted the President’s Cup and many Canadian Opens. My lowest handicap was a 12. While I was working golf was limited to 20-30 games a year but since retirement 10 years ago, I have been playing a lot of golf. My handicap i...

Golfer Testimonials
Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - May 2, 2016

Your Views on Golf in Hua Hin

Hi, my name is Craig Philpott. I am from the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. I travelled to Hua Hin with 4 mates from Nudgee Golf Club in Brisbane.  I have played golf for approximately 30 years. My handicap is 4 at the moment. I am a member of Nudgee Golf Club in Brisbane. Nudgee is a members’ course but open to guests as well. This was my first time to Thailand. We selected Hua Hin so we could watch a member of our club, Scott Hend, play in the Thailand Classic, which he duly won so we now ...

Interesting Thailand Golf Snippits
Thailand Golf Courses and Playing Conditions
Posted by - April 11, 2016

What makes Nikanti Golf Club an unusual golf course?

It seems like the golf architect Pirapon Namatra (Ope) of Golf East listened quite a lot to Tina Turner’s famous song ‘Break every rule’ when he designed Nikanti Golf Club, Asia’s first 18 hole, par 72 golf course comprising three six-hole layouts each with two par-threes, two par-fours and two par-fives. Thailand’s 291st golf course was opened in May 2014. The Nikanti Golf Club is almost adjacent to Suwan Golf Club. When Pirapon Namatra (the designer of Banyan Club and part of the construction ...

Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - April 4, 2016

Amateur Weeks – Spice up your Golf Vacation

Golfasian, Thailand’s largest Inbound Golf Tour Operator, has been bringing clients to Thailand for amateur tournament golf since 2012. In the following year, for their Amateur Golf Weeks the venues were expanded to include Cambodia and Vietnam. Although the company has been providing Asia golf packages to clients throughout the world since the late 1990s, including transport, accommodation and golf, a gap in the market was recognised for a 5-star offer with an additional element…competition. Im...

Interesting Thailand Golf Snippits
Thailand Golf Courses and Playing Conditions
Posted by - March 29, 2016

What makes Asia’s 1st replica golf course unique?

The Gary Roger Baird-designed Royal Gems Golf City’s life and operations did not start smoothly (in the 1960s and early 1970s Baird worked as a senior architect with Robert Trent Jones). Right after the opening in 2011, it suffered significant flooding in December. However, they were able to reopen the golf club in 2012. Royal Gems Golf City is Asia’s first replica golf course and combines 9 of the best holes in the world (see list below) like TPC Sawgrass, St Andrews and Oakmont. The back 9 of ...

Golfer Testimonials
Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - March 22, 2016

Your Holidays in Focus

  Hi, my name is Joe. I started playing golf in 1992 as a club member at Amstel Golf Club, but am now playing off a 10 handicap at Drouin Golf and Country Club at Drouin Victoria in Australia. The Drouin course is predominately couch fairways set amongst a picnic day racecourse, quite picturesque. My lowest playing handicap has been 7. Before this trip, I had travelled to Thailand twice before, backpacking, and not staying in any one place for any length of time. A local Drouin member had t...

Golf Events
Golf Tournaments
Posted by - March 16, 2016

What is like an ultimate golf championship in Pattaya?

It seems like we are looking forward a very busy month in June. The next tournament, the Mercure Pattaya Ocean Resort 2-Ball Golf Championship ,will be held between June 19-25. Unlike the Centara World Masters Championship, the Pattaya event will be played in 2-ball format for each of 4 rounds, adding a new dimension to the concept. The championship will be held on 3 golf courses of the Siam Country Club and at the Laem Chabang International Country Club. Shall we use all of our annual holiday d...

Golf Events
Golf Tournaments
Posted by - March 10, 2016

7 reasons to play on the Centara World Masters Championship

How do you decide on which amateur golf championship is worth to participate? Based on the positive responses from golfers from 23 countries who played in the first Centara World Masters Golf Championship in 2015, I can strongly recommend to you to come and play this year. The Centara World Masters Golf Championship is Asia’s largest and richest amateur week of golf.The Centara World Masters Golf Championship will be hosted in the royal city of Hua Hin (Thailand), between 12-18 June 2016. Entr...

Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - February 10, 2016

Thailand Golf Trips – Not Just for Golfers

My name is Steve Hall.  I am originally from England but migrated to Australia just over 8 years ago.  We live on the beautiful South West Coast of Australia in a small place called Australind, approximately 2 hours South of Perth.   Here we are fortunate to be able to enjoy the outdoor life; lovely beaches, many BBQ’s, beach fishing, numerous wineries and of course golf. I started to play golf with my sons when we first came to Australia and later, when we made friends with others who enjoyed t...

Golfer Testimonials
Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - January 18, 2016

The perfect Father/Son golf trip – Hua Hin

My name is Aki Mustonen. My father, who accompanied me on this very special father/son trip is Timo. We come from Finland; Dad lives in Helsinki and I live and work in Beijing. My father started playing golf in Finland at the age of 35. Once my sister and I arrived he stopped playing but once I became old enough (aged 10) he got me a couple of modified clubs and I was able to practice with him occasionally. At that time I was more interested in football and ice-hockey so one day I informed him I...

Travel
Posted by - January 18, 2016

Worry-Free At The Golf Tee: Enriching A Well Protected Golf Lifes

The popularity of golf has skyrocketed across the world with several unexpected countries emerging as world-class golfing hubs. While the sport was previously confined to the shores of Europe and North America, the modern game has taken a turn towards the Orient with Asia emerging as a key travel scene for golf lovers. Paying tribute to the budding attractiveness of this sport in the region, unbeatable golf courses have rapidly sprung to life across Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singa...

Golf Events
Golf Tournaments
Posted by - January 8, 2016

Great Thailand Golf Tournaments to Participate in During Spring/S

There are a slew of great amateur Thailand golf tournaments to participate in during the spring/summer of 2016. Some of the best tournaments are those located in southeastern Asian countries like Thailand & Vietnam. If you don’t mind a little traveling, you can enjoy some of the best golf experiences often at a rather low cost. Amari Pattaya & Hua Hin Golf Weeks (March 6-12 & 13-19, Pattaya/Hua Hin, Thailand) Almost 100 club golfers from 10 countries are expected to participate...

Golfer Testimonials
Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - December 21, 2015

Thailand Golf Holiday Experiences

Hi, my name is Bob Wood. I am from the Sunshine Coast, just north of Brisbane in Australia. I have played golf for over 50 years but have become more serious in recent years after my retirement from Secondary School teaching. I play off a handicap of between 6 & 8, depending on the benevolence of the golfing Gods and am a member of Caloundra Golf Club a parkland course north of the town of Caloundra and just a few kilometres inland. I usually play competitions at my club 3 times a week. Rece...

Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Travel
Posted by - December 17, 2015

Surprising Chiang Mai

Having reviewed the superb Chiang Mai Highlands golf course recently, I just got back from another short trip to Chiang Mai, this time with visitors doing the tourist “bit”. Courtesy of blogs like this, for those of you who are novices to Thailand in respect of golf I’m guessing the destinations most familiar to you will be Pattaya, Phuket and Hua Hin (less so) for something that combines golf and other holiday-typical activities, in their case the beach. Chiangmai Highlands Go...

Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Travel
Posted by - December 15, 2015

Golfing on the Enchanting Island of Phuket

When you contemplate booking your next golf holiday, the superior courses of Thailand are beckoning to you to come experience some of the best golfing in Asia. Thailand, known as the Land of Smiles, features excellent golf courses dotting the kingdom, and none of them is more in demand than those of Phuket. Thailand’s largest island, Phuket is easy to get to and a proven destination point for tourists of all stripes. For golfers in particular, Phuket’s array of amenities makes trave...

Thai Culture and Thailand Country Information
Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - December 11, 2015

Top 3 Reasons to Golf in Thailand

For the true golf aficionado, distance means nothing unless it pertains to judging which club to grab from your golf bag to make that sweet shot on the back nine. As such, the world is your oyster when it comes to locating the next great golfing destination, and Thailand is the pearl you will find when you schedule your Thailand golf holiday. A fully inclusive Thailand golf package puts you directly on the green for some of the best golfing that the world has to offer. With more than two hundred...

Thailand Golf Courses and Playing Conditions
Posted by - November 3, 2015

Chiang Mai Highlands – Just got better

This month I was invited by the General Manager, Derek Schade, to review Chiang Mai Highlands’ new nine holes which opened to the public on November 1st. Derek had only taken up his post at Highlands recently after a successful period running Lotus Valley Golf Resort. There was a “return of the prodigal son” element as he had previously managed the Golf Club and enjoyed working closely with the inspirational owner Khun Vichai who persuaded him to re-join the Team.  As I hadn’t played in th...

Interesting Thailand Golf Snippits
Posted by - September 23, 2015

Golf Club membership in England versus Thailand

Last Sunday I turned up to play alone at Lam Lukka and was sensibly paired by the starter with 2 Thai gentlemen. After a few polite introductions we completed the first 3 holes and at the first drinks stop started a more involved conversation. This was about the differences between being a member of a club in Thailand versus England where I come from.  First of all I need to say that this is my experience and there are some generalisations, but in the main I believe the following are valid obser...

Golfer Testimonials
Thailand Golf Holidays and Vacations
Posted by - September 21, 2015

Your Views of Golf in Thailand

My name is Steve Madden and I live in Sydney, Australia. I have played golf since I was a young boy, however it’s only in the last 4-5 years that I have had time to play on a regular basis. My current GA handicap is 13 and I am a member of Pennant Hills Golf Club in Sydney. With its roots established over a hundred years ago Pennant Hills is considered a “Private” A Grade golf course, featuring tree-lined fairways and rolling terrain. Whilst not long by modern standards the par 71 course is stil...

Thailand Golf Playing Tips
Posted by - August 31, 2015

Which golf ball should I play in Thailand?

Of all the variables that determine a golf ball’s performance compression may be the most mysterious. You’ll know it as a number on the ball, usually 90 or 100. If you see slow motion videos of balls impacting the club face you’ll see it as the ball deforming or “mushing”. The ball launches as this compression releases. Generally, professional advice says the faster you swing the less compression you need but there are way more issues to consider namely spin speed g...

Interesting Thailand Golf Snippits
Posted by - August 13, 2015

Is Thailand Golf Good for the Blood Pressure?

Two things have happened to me in the past several days, neither of them very good and both I regret. First I became frustrated that a Golfasian client wasn’t appreciating Thailand golf for what it is, an overall experience rather than the ultimate golf environment, like say Myrtle Beach in the States. Then stupidly I fell into a very similar trap albeit subtly different, even after 15+ years of playing here and almost 8 living in the country. The ingredients for the client’s frustration were no...