Back in HuaHin for a week to play golf, I took advantage of the Chaam Golf Festival (an animation to have greenfees at very interesting rates for all the golf courses around HuaHin) to play the Springfield Golf Course and the Lakeview Golf Course.
When I talk about interesting rates, it’s 1000 baths the greenfee, you obviously have to pay more for the caddy.
1000 THB = about 27€
These two golf courses are very interesting with quite different levels of difficulty depending on the course.
Springfield Golf Course
I had the pleasure of sharing the game with a very friendly couple. He is New Zealander, she is Australian. They told me their rather atypical story:
They have almost never traveled in their lives before retirement, for example have never been to Europe. They came for almost their first trip to discover Thailand, just at the time of Covid, they found themselves stuck in HuaHin by Covid. Impossible to go home and simply they settled down and stayed.
And now, they no longer feel the need to go elsewhere and visit other countries. They decided to spend their retirement here to enjoy the golf courses, and the pleasure they have playing as a couple and with the caddies. It must be said that indeed the caddies here are particularly joyful, they have a good sense of humor and it is a real pleasure to play golf so well accompanied, especially when they are good golf players, which happened to me in Lakeview.
The Springfield Golf Course has the particularity, in addition to being a magnificent resort with a splendid hotel and an extraordinary swimming pool, of having been partly designed by Jack Nicklaus. Partly since he only drew nine holes, which strangely seemed to me to be the least interesting to play and the least difficult. But golf is proud of this signature and we can find a huge photo of Jack Niklaus, at the entrance to the locker rooms as well as his name in different places.
Some photos and videos of the Golf
The Lake View
It is also a resort with a hotel and splendid villas. I had a lot of fun playing this course where I played rather well, thanks to the judicious advice of my caddy ranked 19.
She also invited me to come and play with her regularly by promising me that I would progress, which I have no doubt.
Lake View is an extremely hilly golf course, we play a lot on sloping lees, especially if we get a little lost.
Some photos and videos of the Golf
I took advantage of this month of local entertainment to register for my first golf competition in Thailand. It took place on the Springfield course a few days after I played this golf for the first time.
In terms of golf, my game was particularly catastrophic. I haven’t played so badly for several years. There are several explanations for this but no interest here.
On the other hand, it taught me or confirmed a lot of information about golf in Thailand and it doesn’t encourage me so much to register for competitions again. I’ll have to think about it. It’s a shame because golf competitions really motivate me.
First of all, one of the international rules that does not apply in Thailand is playing in fly with a maximum of four players. I knew that this could be the case in a partly friendly way, but I naively expected that in competition, this rule would be respected. This competition was in Shotgun : this means that flies start from the different holes of the course, exactly at the same time at a given signal, which generally allows shorter competitions than if everyone leaves in turn from the number one hole.
But there was no part of four. All the flies were five or six players. Suffice to say that the day is extremely long and the wait immense. When you like to play fast as is my case, it quickly becomes unbearable.
Second rule that is obviously not respected in Thailand, while it is one of the basic rules of golf : in bunkers, everyone does what they want : put down the club before the ball, try, etc. It’s disturbing to say the least. I obviously didn’t do that. I can’t do it.
Third surprising particularity in a strokeplay competition : on each green, there is a 50 cm circle drawn around the hole. And if the ball stops in this circle, it is considered that the putt is given. Here too, it changes the situation considerably, on the one hand because we know very well that these 50 cm putts are not so easy to succeed, and on the other hand because, as my caddy advised me, it is no longer a question of aiming at the hole, but of making sure that the ball stops in the circle.
Very destabilizing and very weird all this. On the other hand, magnificent dinner after the competition, followed by a prize presentation with nice prizes, including two membership cards for the club.
I come back to HuaHin again for a week on September 18 and take advantage of the Low Season promotion still in progress to discover a new golf course, The Palm Hills Golf Course
First of all, to take stock of my knowledge of the golf courses in the city and around: I have now played (last year) at Banyan and Golf Mountain, 2 “mountainous” golf courses a little inland, at the Royal Golf which is really in the middle of the city just behind the train station, at the Korea Golf, a little further south, in Sea Pines, a beach edge links located just at the southern exit of the city, and therefore very recently in Springfields, then in Lake View, which are both very close to each other, about 25 km north of HuaHin on the Cha-am road, slightly inside as well.
So I’m finishing, for the moment, my discovery of the golf courses of this plethora city with…
The Palm Hills
It’s really my favorite golf course here, for several reasons.
First of all, it is closer to the city than other golf courses that are a little inland. This is important for two reasons:
- We can access it more quickly
- You can easily come back by ordering a taxi on Grab or Bolt (Equivalents of Uber here) which is not the case in other golf courses that are too eccentric for this.
Another reason why I really fell in love with this golf course is that I particularly enjoyed the clubhouse with a magnificent restaurant terrace, from where you can really have lunch with the view of the green of the 10th.
And for purists who prefer to have a view of the Green of the 18th, don’t worry, everything is planned (it’s Thailand😃), since at the very other end of the building, there is a second terrace with obviously another bar that offers this view of the 18th.
All the facilities of this clubhouse are beautiful and functional. The changing rooms are beautiful.
The course enchanted me: it is very varied, hilly, with water in play on several holes, areas where you can lose your ball if you do not stay on the fairways, which fairways are really beautifully maintained.
There is a good alternation of very wide fairways and places where you have to be much more precise, as well as several long dogleg holes very interesting to play.
The greens are of very good quality with a not very obvious roll and slopes that are difficult to read, the bunkers and trees are very well placed to put the player in difficulty. The only small downside that could be brought is the quality of the sand in some bunkers. It is sometimes a little hard, but it must also be said that it is the monsoon season with rains that can be very violent and I don’t think it’s the best time to have perfect bunkers.
Caddies are allowed as is done in some golf courses in Thailand (but not in all) to play every late afternoon.
They are therefore real golf players who not only have a learned knowledge of the course, but a practiced knowledge.
In short, you understand it, I loved this golf course in which I would appreciate being able to be a year-round member. I don’t think it’s possible in view of the contribution rates ( I supposed). This is a bit where the problem hurts.
Finally, this golf course is surrounded by magnificent villas all more beautiful than each other, as well as condominium apartments that must be very pleasant to live as the place has so charming.
This is certainly the golf course where I will play most often.
I wrote a little above that I didn’t think it was possible to become a member in this golf, because of the fee rate. Finally, I decided to have a clear knowledge of that by asking at the pro-shop.
The result of my investigations is rather surprising : the greenfee at the normal rate in this magnificent Palm Hills golf course is actually not given : 3500 baths, or about €90. It must be said that the foreign clientele who come here on vacation to play golf generally have the money.
But there are relatively few members per year. No doubt that’s why membership is not so high.
The membership card consists of a double contribution. First of all, you have to pay a fixed part of 30,000 baths, or about €780.
This payment gives two choices :
- Pay an additional fixed sum of 20,000 baht, or about €520 and play at will.
- Pay each greenfee 600 baht, or about €15, which can be a solution for more casual players
Finally, this gives an annual fee (allowing you to play at will) of the order of €1200 which is very low compared to the quality of this golf course and the effective possibility of playing every day of the year in Thailand.
To be completely complete, I must specify that obviously the youngest is never understood regardless of the solution chosen. It is therefore necessary to add to each part (excluding tips) the sum of 350 baths (less than €10) for the youngest.
