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This is one of the most
prestigious courses in Thailand, famous for the fact the 1975 world cup was held
here the first time in Asia. There is a good mix of wide and narrow fairways and
natural water enters fray on five of the holes. Because of the beautiful course
design, with mature big trees, and pretty flowers & shrubs, it is very much
fun to play. The 6th and 18th holes represent great holes of Thailand.
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very short par 4 but very good. The left side of the hole faces water-hazards
and the closer to the green, the narrower the fairway becomes, so you had better
avoid using a driver. The second shot becomes extremely hard if the flag is on
the left side because the green is only 15 yards deep with water in front and
trees at the back of the green. |
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A signature hole. This
beautiful hole was selected as one of the best 500 holes in the world in 2000
by US Golf Magazine. A very challenging par 4 with a slight dogleg to the left.
It is an intimidating hole even for good players. The left side of the fairway
faces a lake and the second shot is across the lake. You need to hit the tee shot
to the left half of the fairway in order to hit the green for the next shot. Mounds
catch the safe tee shot right, leaving a sloping lie. Because the front side of
the green borders the water, if you are short of the green, even a little, you
will be in is the water hazard. The green slants from back to front and is slightly
elevated. When you hit a poor tee shot, you should not force yourself to aim for
the green on the second shot, and had better lay up on the fairway, 40 to 50 yards
left front of the green. Making par on this hole is a notable achievement. |
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| A dogleg
left par 5 with water on the left side. The tee shot is threatened on the left
by a lake, but if you play safe to the right, the distance of the second shot
which must be played across the lake will be longer. It is possible to hit the
green in 2 for a long hitter but the left side of the green is bordered by a water
hazard, so a long, accurate 3 wood second shot is needed to hit the green. Tom
Kyte, a US PGA pro, in his hey day some decades ago, scored more than 10 on this
hole by hitting to the lake a few times on his second shots in order to reach
the green in 2. He claimed the club to re-measure of the distance after the game
because of the wrong yardage. But the yardage was found out to be right and it
seemed that the subtle winds threw him his distance estimates off. |
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| A beautiful par 3 over the lake. There
is also danger beyond the green, which is elongated and guarded by bunkers. |
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| A dogleg to the left with the green
swung to the right. A large bunker on the left catches 240-yard drives. When the
pin position is on the right, the second shot is over water and bunkers, which
will be more difficult. |
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| An “S” shaped par 5 with a slight dogleg to the left followed by
a dogleg to the right. Various bunkers guarding the fairway and the green come
into play on each shot. |
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takes only 30 minutes by car from Central Bangkok and it does not take more than
4 hours to finish 18 holes, which is rare in Thailand. You need to be accompanied
by a member to play on weekends and holidays. Therefore, it is suitable for players
who have tight schedules.
It is not allowed to play from the back tee
in the mornings of weekends. I played from the front tees this time because of
the Sunday morning tee time. But I played from the back tees a year ago, and based
on it I rated the course 3 for the difficulty level. The course was a delight
to play thanks to the seed of playing, and I felt much better than the over-all
rating of 3.80 because of that and the course.
Robert
Trent Jones Jr. has designed over 250 golf courses in the world since 1972. Santiburi
CC, Green Valley CC, Eastern
Star GC, and President CC
are among his designs in Thailand. |
5th Par 4 329 yards (3)