Golf in the Kingdom
One of the biggest things I was looking forward to about this trip was knowing that I was going to get to play golf with my brother-in-law Tuansing. He had plans to take me all over the country to play different courses until he found out I was only going to be there two weeks. Still we manged to play five times on some very interesting and beautiful courses. There are links below to pictures and descriptions of the various courses, but first I'll give you a little over view of Golf in Thailand.
There were some variances in the different courses but there was also a lot in common. One was that all courses had caddy service and all the caddies are women. It was probably the single most thing that made me feel like I was doing something special (and a far cry from pulling my bag around the home goat track). While waiting to tee off, the caddy checked my clubs and got out the groove cleaner for those that needed it. When I sliced my tee shot in the woods (which I did more times than I can count) then she went on the search and recovery mission. On fairway shots, she would point out the hazards (including the ones that Mr. Nicklaus hid), and give distances needed to carry them, as well as distance to the flag. Some of my caddies spoke english better than others, but in the worst case scenario I had to read numbers traced with a finger in the palm of her hand. If I had to hit out a bunker she did the raking. Once I finally made it on the green, she would mark the ball, clean it, and line up the putt for me using the words on the ball as a direction indicator a la Tiger. The first couple of times I putted I doubted the amount of break she read, and then proceeded to run it a couple of yards under the hole. I learned to trust the caddy's judgement--these gals knew those greens.
One thing puzzled me on the very first green I played. There was a circle of chalk surrounding the cup which appeared to be about one meter in diameter. My first thought was that it was left over from some kind of contest. By the second hole I realized that it was in fact the "gimme zone." Any putt that stopped in that circle was picked up by the caddy unless you were REAL quick about it. One other course actually had the lines, but that circle was there on each course--visible or not. I'm assuming that the purpose of it was to speed play.
Another feature of all the courses was the rest stops along the way. Every three or four holes you would find a little covered pavillion that had a snack bar and restrooms (no wetting down an OB stake needed). You could also get an ice cold scented towel to wipe down with on some of the courses. On two of the courses we were met at the turn with complimentary cold drinks and cold towels by a very polite and well-dressed young woman.
The golf courses ranged from outstanding to very good. Three of them were damn hard with tight driving holes and plenty of hazards. I found myself with more uneven lies in one day than I'd had in a year of playing in Texas. With the very favorable exchange rate for the dollar, the prices were really cheap. The green fees at the most course were around $27.00 plut a couple of dollars for the caddy. The rest were in the $15 to $23 range. We didn't play the best courses in Thailand, but they were all beautiful and the experience was something I'd love to repeat again--real soon.
Here are some links to the individual courses we played:
Friendship Meadows Country Club
Krisida City Golf Hills Golf Course