Mike,
On the condition of anonymity
, let me tell you a story about Max Wexler and how/why he became a GC designer.
Max was the contruction superintendant on a Fream course in Indonesia called Jagowari - or was is a Thomson, Wolveridge, Fream & Storm course - never mind. Max saw how Ron Fream would come to site and just spend the whole time taking photos, not doing any actual work. Max thought, what a lark, I can do this
, so next thing you know he is a course designer.
He timed it beautifully and landed plenty of jobs during the intial upsurge in courses in SE Asia.
Max has done a number of courses throughout Asia, most concentrated in Singapore (where they are being progressively rebuilt) and Malaysia. I guess Max would be the anti-hands on architect cause he did a course in Singapore (called SAFRA) which he visited twice during contruction (27 holes). The funny thing is he would have had to drive right past the course every time he went to go jump on a plane. I spoke with the client and they said they didnt want him to visit - and when he did he never changed anything or said anything much. They would say something about changing the grass on the greens and he would say "whatever, its your money".
The best thing you could say about Max's courses is that they drain - and they dont always do that. Greens are flat, bunkers are flat and fairways are flat so at least the local supers can mow everything pretty easy.
Max is a nice guy with a good taste in floral shirts!
Not sure if he is still alive, last I heard he had retired down at Jagowawi with health problems.
I would not expect anything much of either course - if you want some recommendations for some better courses in Thailand - and there are plenty of better ones, let me know.