Golf in Thailand ?

[Niall C]

A friend is trying to rope me into a golf trip to Thailand he's planning for next year. Can't say I had any urge to go and play golf in Thailand but after a bit of googling there are a surprising (to me) amount of courses in Thailand, some of which look quite interesting, which is to say they look nothing like I'm used to in Scotland.


My only trip to Thailand was as a backpacker 30 odd years ago and that was just a weeks layover in Bangkok before flying home so no real knowledge of the country. I'd therefore be interesting to hear views on the following;


- best time of year to go ?


- we are only looking to base ourselves in one area rather than chasing round the country. Where would be a good base for golf ?


- what are the best courses in that area ?




Niall

[Adam Lawrence]

I enjoyed the Laguna Phuket course, which was rebuilt by Paul Jansen a few years ago. See my piece on the project from 2015: https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/creating-a-sustainable-resort-course-in-a-tropical-paradise

[Niall C]

Thanks Adam, I have to say you looked well back in 2015 !


Is there more than one course on Phuket ? I suspect we'll be looking to play 5 or 6 rounds in a week and ideally we'd like to be playing different courses.


Niall

[Quinn Thompson]

Morning Niall ~


I'd give a shout to Mr. Micah Woods, the Turf Doctor, who's been based down there in Thailand for years. He's somewhere on this message board, or, he's got a website with a likely email address attached to. I imagine he could put a good list together for you and your buddy.

[Niall C]

Quinn


Many thanks for the heads up, I'll send Micah a message.


Niall

[Adam Lawrence]

Thanks Adam, I have to say you looked well back in 2015 !

Is there more than one course on Phuket ? I suspect we'll be looking to play 5 or 6 rounds in a week and ideally we'd like to be playing different courses.

Niall

I did, didn't I? According to a bit of online research there are nine courses on Phuket.

I second Quinn's recommendation to connect with Micah Woods.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Niall -


I played the Laguna Phuket course (I believe Adam referred to it) in 1997. Found it be a solid "6".
It was at the Banyan Tree Resort and we were staying down the beach a ways at the Chedi which I highly recommend...it is now called the Surin Phuket.


It was perhaps destroyed in the tsunami and maybe rebuilt.

Went over Xmas/New years and it was HOT!!
Young female caddies with cold jasmine towels.


Also, there is "The Lido" at Ballyshear that Gil Hanse built in 2018: https://brc.co.th/golf/golf.php


The Lido course: https://brc.co.th/golf/under-construction.php



That looks cool!

[Ben Voelker]

Niall,

Probably sounds a bit odd for an American living in Scotland but I have extended family in Thailand (my wife is half-Thai) and lived in Bangkok for a year and have been there a number of times.

Honestly, the golf in Thailand isn't great, but it's more about the experience in many ways as the approach to golf is very different and much more customer service focused than the UK.

The best "local" experience is to go to Hua Hin, which is about 3 hours southwest of Bangkok along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand.  There's quite a bit of golf there, including Royal Hua Hin Golf Course, which was built in the 1920's I think, and I believe was designed by a Scot!  There's a whole range of newer courses there; Banyan and Black Mountain are fine, and a bunch of others.  The best thing about Hua Hin is all is realtively close together and it's well setup to order golf packages that include transport, with most to be had for 2,000 baht.  Beyond that, you can get a day trip to Kui Buri National Park from Hua Hin and see wild Asian elephants!

The other golf suggestion I would offer is to try to find a member of Royal Bangkok Sports Club if you can.  It's right in the heart of Bangkok and plays around and over the horse racing track.  It's not a great course, but very quirky and short by Thai standards and is quite fun to play right in the middle of the city.

There is loads of golf around Bangkok but I've not played any of it, although I think most of the "best" courses are probably there.



In terms of time of year, it doesn't really matter if you are staying in the lowland.  It's slightly cooler November to February but not enough for it to matter.  More importantly, it is dryer over those months, so obviously a bit better for golf.


If you do decide to go, I'm happy to offer wider suggestions as I know the place reasonably well at this stage.

[John Kavanaugh]

Where can I find the documentary about this guy?


https://www.micahwoods.com/

[Tim Leahy]

I enjoyed the Laguna Phuket course, which was rebuilt by Paul Jansen a few years ago. See my piece on the project from 2015: https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/creating-a-sustainable-resort-course-in-a-tropical-paradise

Don't know if you realized it but every issue of Golf Course Architecture going back to 2016 is attached to this article. Interesting reading. Also a lady I worked with went to Thailand to visit family members with her husband who was a golfer and brought me back about 4 scorecards that had course layouts. I can't find them but one was a Nicklaus design with lots of water and all four looked interesting. I believe they were near Phuket but could have been Bangkok.
I found that Nicklaus designed 6 golf courses in Thailand on a website thailandgolfzone.com that has all the Thai golf info you might need. Sorry it's not a link, whenever I try that on this site it comes out in miniature.

[Niall C]

Ian/Ben


Thanks for the recommendations, I'll look into them.


Tim


I've already done a fair bit of googling and there appears to be an awful lot of choice. The difficulty is trying to narrow that choice down.


Niall

[Micah Woods]

GolfAsian is the largest tour operator and have a website that you may find useful in planning your trip: https://www.golfasian.com/golf-courses/thailand-golf-courses/

If I were coming to Thailand for golf and didn't want to travel too much, I'd spend a few days in Bangkok and a few days in Hua Hin.

In Bangkok one might play the new Ballyshear (Ban Rakat Club), the old Navathanee, the new Siam CC Bangkok, and then on the way to Hua Hin play a round at Nikanti. Then in Hua Hin I'd certainly play Royal Hua Hin and then Banyan and Black Mountain.

For season, I'd recommend December to March. It's drier, and the humidity is a bit lower.

And Hua Hin is just 3 hours drive from Bangkok. I think it would be worth going there in addition to Bangkok.

[David McIntosh]

Niall,

If you end up going to Phuket then would be worth checking out Blue Canyon Country Club. It’s very close to Phuket Airport and has a couple of courses - the Canyon and the Lakes. Canyon is the better of the two but they’re completely different in character (think if Ronseal did golf courses!).

Red Mountain GC is another course in Phuket that’s supposedly quite good but I haven’t played it so suggesting based on a recommendation from a friend who was a local at one point.

[Brian_Ewen]

At one time, I played a lot of golf in Thailand, 1990's 2000's when golf was taking off in the country, and loads of courses were being built.

It was great value back then, which I mentioned on here plenty, during those times.


Very rarely do I play there now.

Being Scottish, I never coped well with the heat, December January can be okay, but the majority of time the heat is just too much for me.

Being Scottish, I prefer no fuss golf, and its hard to find courses in Thailand nowadays, without mandatory carts and mandatory caddies (cart drivers) but as already stated, some see this as an experience.

Still love Bangphra in the Pattaya area, Royal Hua Hin, Soi Dao on the Cambodian border, and some of the other older courses.

[Charles Lund]

I'm doing a Thailand trip in January and early February. Golfasian did a package for me in 2015 to Hua Hin where I played Springfield Royal, Majestic Creek, Banyan × 3,  and Black Mountain x2.  They also did a package to Danang in 2016.


I had positive experiences on both trips, so I opted to have them arrange my trip, which will include Pattaya, Hua Hin, and Bangkok. I have rounds on three courses at Siam Country Club during my stay in Pattaya, rounds on Black Mountain and Banyan in Hua Hin, Nikanti on day of transfer to Bangkok, and Suwan Golf and Country Club while in Bangkok.
 
I set the duration of my trip based on the best fare on Singapore Air from Seattle to Bangkok, which required an overnight atay at Changi Airport in Singapore, going and returning.  Golfasian arranged lodging and tee times, shuttle from airport to lodging, shuttle from Pattaya to Hua Hin lodging, shuttle to Bangkok, shuttle to airport on last day, and shuttle to and fromall golf courses.


I liked previous trips to Thailand and see golf as a way to spend some time and not the basis for the trip, much like how I view most of travel in Asia.


Charles Lund