Thai Golf Insider

Bangkok All Normal After Floods

Flooding around Bangkok in the past month has caused only minimal disruption to golf tourism. All courses close to Bangkok that are frequented by foreign golfers are open, except the two separate Royal Gems City layouts and Bangkok Golf Club.

Golf In A Kingdom members, Thai Country Club and Muang Kaew, have remained open throughout the floods, which mainly affected areas to the north of the city. Other golf centres - Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai, Khao Yai - have been completely unaffected.

"There is absolutely no reason for foreign golf tourists to have any concerns about coming to Thailand to play golf," Golfasian's managing director, Mark Siegel, said this week. "The high season weather pattern is now delivering clear, sunny days with lower temperatures and much less humidity - perfect conditions for golf."

The Thailand Golf Championship at Amata Springs Golf Club near Bangkok is to be played next weekend. As well as being the season-ending event on the Asian Tour, it will serve as a reminder to golfers around the world that Thailand's golf courses are open and eager to welcome visitors.

GIAK Members Dominate Awards

Golf In A Kingdom member clubs picked up all the major awards at the Asia Pacific Golf Summit in Pattaya, Thailand last month.

Black Mountain Golf Club at Hua Hin was named best course in Thailand and best championship layout in Asia Pacific.

Thai Country Club, which held the mantle of top course in Thailand for the eight previous years, was named second best course in Thailand, with Banyan Golf Club at Hua Hin third.

Siam Country Club's Plantation layout was named best-maintained course in Asia/Pacific.

Thai Country Club was also named second best course in Asia/Pacific behind Kingston Heath in Melbourne, Australia, where Tiger Woods scored his most recent tournament victory almost exactly two years ago. Thai Country Club has a strong link with Tiger, who won the 1997 Honda Classic there - just his fourth professional victory - and whose nameplate adorns the number one locker.

In an emphatic endorsement of the quality of golf in the kingdom, Thailand took the gold award for the best golf destination in Asia/Pacific, followed by Indonesia and China.

"These prestigious awards have been one of our long term goals from the beginning," the general manager of Black Mountain, Harald Ellison, said after receiving his club's award. "To receive the top award after only four years is fantastic and we will keep working hard to retain this status," he added.

Members Attend Golf Tourism Showcase

Several members of Golf in a Kingdom attended the International Golf Travel Mart 2011 in Belek, Antalya, Turkey last month.

Pascal Orczech, the business development manager of Golfasian in Bangkok, Richard Mehr, general manager of Banyan Resort & Golf in Hua Hin, John Neutze, national director of sales for Thailand of Hilton Worldwide, and Tanes Petsuwan, director for Europe, Africa and Middle-East market division of the Tourism Authority of Thailand were at the annual international golf tourism showcase event.

"Despite floods on the outskirts of Bangkok during IGTM, the interest for golf holidays to Thailand was higher than in previous years, with many agents showing confidence in Thailand's strong hospitality infrastructure and fantastic golf services," Pascal Orczech said. "We met more new agents this year than in the past who confirmed that Thai golf tourism still has big potential for growth."

The Mayor of Pattaya City, Itthiphol Kunplome, who received the award for Pattaya as Asia and Australasia's best golf destination for 2012, said the award confirmed "that we are on the right track with the quality of our golf courses and hospitality services". "We are ready to welcome golf travelers from around the world to enjoy the striking golf courses of Pattaya," he said.

Black Mountain Par-3 Course Opens

Whatever you have seen, heard or think about par-3 golf courses, it's time to reconsider.

Long ridiculed as an undignified version of the game suited only to children and novices, acclaimed US golf writer Joe Passov this year wrote that serious golfers often regard par-3 courses, undeservedly, as "the red-headed stepchild of golf layouts".

Now, a new nine-hole par-3 layout in Thailand, at the country's official best golf course - Black Mountain Golf Club at Hua Hin, 200 kilometres south of Bangkok - seems set to change attitudes in Asia about the short version of the 500-year-old game.

Like its big brother layout named last month as the best in Thailand and best championship course in Asia Pacific, Black Mountain's new par-3 course, which opens officially next week, is winning plaudits from the outset.

European pros Johan Edfors, Pelle Edberg and Alex Noren raved about the layout when they test-drove (or, more correctly, test-ironed) it last week.

Deep and plentiful bunkering, water on almost every hole, greens protected by steep banks, and undulations everywhere make the course a far cry from the pitch-and-putt image of par-3 courses - and a challenge even for tour pros. [Read more...]

About Us

Golf In A Kingdom is a co-operative marketing group comprising Thailand's best golf courses/resorts, hotels, Golfasian and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Established in 2009, Golf In A Kingdom promotes golf tourism in Thailand - the world's third largest golf tourism destination.

For more information, contact:

Paul Myers, Asian Travel Media, Bangkok Email: paul@asiantravelmedia.com Web: www.asiantravelmedia.com Tel: +66 (0) 84 125 1894