As such for this trip, the golf courses that we have chosen are located around Samut Prakan, which is just about an hour drive from Bangkok city center.
Without much fuss, 8 of us immediately signed up. Many thanks to David, who made the flight and hotel bookings for himself, CP Lee, Alex Geok, KS Lim, YS Liaw, SH Khoo, John Ng & Francis Wan.
May 8 - Kiarti Thanee Country Club, KTCC
Since we will be arriving Bangkok close to noon, we have decided to play the course immediately after our arrival.
KTCC is a relatively flat course with wide and well maintained fairways but many holes are guarded by bunkers with soft sand. Since all of us are not used to this kind of bunkers, getting the ball out is already a challenge! The green speed was average but the drop can be very subtle. We also experienced strong wind blowing the whole afternoon.
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| Note: this photo not edited! |
May 9 - Green Valley Country Club, GVCC
This course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. The fairways are well maintained with undulating mounds, many holes are also guarded by water. Two of the four par-3s are closed to 200yds, and guarded by water in front. Not a very welcome sight for many social golfers!
Many holes has undulating greens, on top of that some has sand tiling on the upper quarter, so it is not easy to putt at the right speed when the ball landed in that zone.
For the first 2 nights we stayed at Clef hotel in Samut Prakan. One of the must see attractions nearby is the famous Flea and Street Market called "Train Night Market", which received many good reviews from all those who visited the place. So we went on the second evening but left very disappointed because the whole place was closed probably due to Wesak Day tomorrow.
May 10 - The Vintage Club.
This club was designed by Arthur Hill and opened in 1996 and it has been the venue of Thailand Ladies Open from 2008-2010. The club house is a Tudor English Style building , which looks very much like our Selangor Club in KL.
The fairways are lined with matured trees and many holes are hidden beyond doglegs left or right. A player will need to avoid the many fairway bunkers to achieve good scores. Most caddies are very friendly and chatty, though they speak little English. Overall rating 8/10!
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| my caddy, suoi chin chin |
May 11 - Panya Indra Golf Club, PIGC
This GC was the best of the four. It was designed by Ronald Fream featuring 3 distinct 9-holes and we played the Lagoon and Garden. Walking on the fairways felt like walking on grass carpet, water are in play in all but one hole on the Lagoon Nine, compared to the Garden. During low season, the week day green fees is only THB1400 after 11am.
Apparently PIGC has a separate batch of sexy caddies in pink skirt just to carry umbrellas for players, but they are booked in addition to the normal caddies, who are compulsory for each game. Though we rated the GC an overall rating of 8/10 , the same cannot be said about the changing room. However, this course is still highly recommended!
After the game, we went to the golf exhibition, They were some attractive golf packages but most promotional vouchers are valid until end Oct only. The price for golf accessories were not at bargain prices, although none of us bought anything we did not left empty-handed as everyone got a lucky draw (a Honda LPGA Arm Sleeve or a tube of SP50++ sun block) from one of the exhibition stall! However, we did learned from this exhibition that if we intend to play golf in Thailand in the future, we could come to the Exhibition a day before, then buy the vouchers at real bargain price!
For the past few days, we spent very little on lunch and dinner. Mostly eating local food at small restaurants. So tonight, we have decided to go to China town for our closing dinner with roasted suckling pig in mind. We ordered suckling at THB 2000, goose web, fish maws with mushrooms, scallops in broccoli, oyster with eggs, plain fried veg with garlic. The food bill...all for THB6400.
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| Crispy suckling pig |
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| Goose web stewed with mushrooms |
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| Oyster with eggs |
Happy faces after the grand dinner. Liaw not in the photos probably he has gone to ta-pau roasted pork leg for his supper!
For the last 2 nights, we stayed at Check Inn Regency hotel, mainly because of its close proximity to Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, which is the venue for the Thailand Golf Expo 2017 from 11th - 14th May. It is also well located with many massage centres within walking distance, a very welcome relief for 4 days of non-stop golfing!
The rooms are quite spacious, however the toilets are due for a renovation work. Moreover, the WIFI is terrible; hardly can stay connected and when it is disconnected, the user has to login again & again!
Overall summary of the trip...
Although Lim was the best player for the 4 days, the total score was still about 20 over par if based on his handicap of 13. The rest probably played 10 over par on each course, just guessing since none of us were grinning after the games!
I believe, we still have a great time enjoying ourselves although this could be our last trip to this place; mainly because of the city traffic. Always got caught in the jam on the way back from golf courses to the hotel!
Just a small episode....
While waiting at the departure lounge at the Don Muang Airport, Khoo suddenly realized that he could not find his phone although he had search his pockets and back pack multiple times. Obviously panic stricken, Lim offered to search his back pack again before checking out at the Immigration Counter, which could be the last place where his phone maybe lost.
To everyone's relief, Lim found his hand phone safely tugged in his back pack!
Approx expenses for the trip...
| BKK Samut Prakan golf tour expenses 8-12, May 2017 | ||||
| THB=Thai Baht | ||||
| Total expenses approx/head: | ||||
| RM | avg Exc Rate | |||
| Malinda Air +Taxi | 350 | |||
| Accomodations: | 592 | THB 4668 | 12.7 | |
| Golf Package: | 1778 | THB 14000 | 12.7 | |
| Caddy tips x 3 | 152 | THB 1200 | ||
| Meals +Misc | 381 | THB 3000 | (incl tips to driver) | |
| Total | 3253 | |||
| Golf package includes ( transport + golf green fees + caddies) | ||||
