Courses

Courses in south
Thailand.

Here are some of the courses that Mr Lob might bring you to.
Beware.

All of Thailand golf courses you will find at www.thaigolfer.com.
Of course Mr Lob has played a lot of them and will be happy to take you there, too.

Below you find Mr Lobs comments on the various courses in south of Thailand. If you want to know more I recommend www.thaigolfer.com.

Krabi

Pakasai, Krabi
Is something completely different. A good 18-hole layout with some demanding tee-shots. Some of the holes, especially on the first 9, are very tight. From 10 it all opens up, greens tend to be a littler bigger and the adrenaline gets running.
This course tests your strategic skills..

The caddies are by far the friendliest I met in Thailand so far. Tries to talk to you, laughs with you and even got decent control of your play. If you are lucky you can save some putts thanks to their reading.
Buggies available.
Course layout 4
Condition 4
Caddies 3
Hospitality 5

Hat Yai/Songkhla

Southern Hills, Hat Yai
Also outside Hat Yai and as close to a Thai Country Club as you can get, I guess. Nice welcome, nice people, nice starter. Nice, nice, nice. A very good restaurant and other facilities.

On the course. A little bit tight so you have to have control on the shots from tee. A good stretch with some real tough holes, especially on the front nine.
The greens were of very high standard, rolls almost as true as St Andrews links and with good speed (of course I liked them, holed everything within 15 feet, thanks to caddie).
My caddie saved me a lot of shots on this course, some on the greens and a couple on not overshooting the approaches.

Good caddies, buggies available.
Course layout 4
Condition 4
Caddies 4
Hospitality 4

Hat Yai Resort, Hat Yai
An almost links-like layout just outside the big city Hat Yai. The layout is very good, when I played it they were doing a main restoration of the course, but promised the course would be up to the best standard in a couple of months (should be in may 2006).

But. The buildings and facilities were all very worn and I do hope that they will take care of that after the course restoration is done. Because they do need to.

Caddies and buggies. OK performance by both (fastest buggy I have driven, so far).
Course layout 4
Condition 3
Caddies 3
Hospitality 4

Phuket

Blue Canyon, Phuket
Has two courses, Lake and Canyon I think they are called. I played the Championship layout (that is Canyon) which was pretty interesting. It all looks like a Californian Country Club with a lot of westerners there. Hardly any Thai people playing on the course.

However, this is a course well worth visiting. Demanding, high standard on fairways and greens. Out of the layout I particularly liked the stretch from hole 3 to 7 (maybe because I had some cheering on the short and beautiful par 3 5th?).

Nice caddies, no buggies.
Course layout 4
Condition 5
Caddies 4
Hospitality 4

Loch Palm, Phuket
One of the courses in Phuket Town. A good stretch with almost linkslike holes. And in the middle of everything, a lake driving range.

Has a little weak reputation due to not consistent standard on the greens. However, when I played here the greens were all in top condition and running true, all with equal speed. Need some good driving on a few holes, otherwise not too long, quite nice and possible to negotiate with.
But, as all golf courses, bites back when you relax too much.

Among the best caddies (made me some birdies) and club cars for hire.
Course layout 4
Condition 4
Caddies 5
Hospitality 4

Phuket Country Club, Phuket Town.
An old, classic golf club in Phuket Town. Friendly and golf-like welcome, only disturbance is that they try to sell you pictures of your swing (and I do not like to see mine...).

The course shows that it is some years old. The area seems to be too tight to build a course with the length like todays master course layouts. However they have made a very clever layout with good doglegs, demanding tee-sots and most of all very good variation. You will need to have the full bag with good clubs to score well here.
Very good condition overall, greens as well as fairways.

Very good caddies, no club cars.
Course layout 4
Condition 4
Caddies 4
Hospitality 4

Banyan Tree, Phuket
Another one of the Phuket courses. They are all well maintained and have high standard of caddies and service. In my taste maybe a little too much "farang".

The course is quite demanding, but not too long. Most of the approaches were done with pretty short clubs, mostly wedges. Tricky and a lot of water to look out for. However, a good day with the driver (straight more than long) will keep you happy for the whole day and evening.

Caddies excellent. I had #158 and she is the best I had of all caddies in Thailand, clubbed me to a lot of birdie opportunities. No buggies available.
Course layout 4
Condition 4
Caddies 5
Hospitality 3

Phangnga

Tublamu Army Golf Course, Khao Lak
Just south of Khao Lak is this seaside course. Well maintained in a military area. Played pretty long the day I was there, but very nice.

The ninth and the last two holes go just alongside the beach and do interesting things to your brain when you consider what big ocean winds can do to your ball-flight.
But, swing slow and you will be a happy man when you enter the nice clubhouse where they also have an excellent restaurant.

Caddies and buggies.
Course layout 4
Condition 3
Caddies 2 (a bit lazy)
Hospitality 4 (strict, of course)

Thai Muang
My God, there is a lot of water on this course. The setup is like a park course with a lot of doglegs and some good par threes. Also I have to mention the ninth which is an easily reachable par five. The day I played there was not much power in my drives but I still only had a six-iron to the flag for eagle putt (no, of course I missed it).

The in holes tend to be more seaside, now and then they feel really linkslike. Last two holes gave me true links golf. Wind was up this morning and I really had to hold on to the shots. Superb.

Course layout 4
Condition 4
Caddies 4
Hospitality 4
Club car 1 (only power for 16 holes)

Rayong/Pattaya

Coming soon