• Thailand – ‘Best Up and Coming Destination’ for Golf Vacations
• 11 reasons why Thailand is a great place to visit and play golf
• Climate – best time to visit
• Choosing the Right Location

Most of the courses are designed with many water features and strategically positioned bunkers, ensuring the golfer has to apply good course management in order to score well. Below are some of the more famous courses that are popular with visiting tourists.

Thai Country Club and Alpine Golf and Sports Club, Bangkok

Thai Country Club and Alpine Golf and Sports Club, both in Bangkok, are good examples of very challenging, well designed courses. Each are kept in immaculate condition and the greens are always kept at a good speed. Alpine in particular, provides very challenging putting with large sloping greens. Thai Country Club will host the Asian Tour’s season ending Volvo championships for the next 3 years, and has previously hosted the Honda Classic, of which world famous golfers Tiger Woods and Ernie Els played. When visiting, you can stand on the back of the dog leg 10th hole and visualize the tee shot that Tiger Woods hit when he drove this par 4 hole. In 2004, Alpine Golf and Sports Club hosted the Johnnie Walker Championship, a co-sanctioned event between the Asian and European golf tours. Although not an overly long course, it is a very demanding test of golf with the par 3s particularly difficult as they are long in length, with many bunkers around the well guarded greens awaiting errant tee shots.

Blue Canyon Country Club, Phuket

In Phuket, Blue Canyon Country Club also hosted the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1994. There are now two 18 hole golf courses, the Phuket Blue Canyon Course, and the Phuket Blue Canyon Lakes Course, with the Canyon being the tougher. The signature hole is no 13, which demands a long tee shot over a canyon, followed by an uphill iron shot to the green. Just as you thought you had got through the worst of it, the next hole is an equally challenging par 3, nearly 200 yards downhill to an island green surrounded by water.

Laem Chabang International Country Club and St Andrews 2000 Golf Club, Pattaya

Laem Chabang International Country Club and St. Andrews 2000 Golf Club are both located in the Pattaya area and each have relatively unique features. Laem Chabang, with 27 holes that were designed by Jack Nicklaus, bear all of his traditional hallmarks with very large fairway bunkers, numerous water hazards and left to right dogleg holes. The greens are very large and sloping in line with the terrain, ensuring maximum care must be taken whilst putting. The truly unique feature about St Andrews 2000 is the two par 6 holes, measuring over 1700 yards between them off the back tees. Hole number 4 is certainly the most testing of the two, with a drive that requires a 200 yard carry over water, which then doglegs sharply right, when you have to hit over the same expanse of water, albeit in a slightly different direction. Once you have succeeded with your first 2 shots you are then left with a long, tight, well bunkered fairway before reaching the green. There are many other excellent golf courses throughout Thailand.