Golf in Thailand
Golf in Thailand
To get fantastic discounts on the golf courses within each reach of your Pattaya Villa, you can either pay a visit to the Pattaya Sports Club (PSC) on Third Road or get a Thai Rewards Card. PSC offer an excellent golf discount scheme for members, the cost of which you will recoup from the savings on green fees after a couple of games. The joining fee is 400 baht and the annual subscription 600 baht. The lovely young ladies working there will issue a membership card while you wait, and whilst there you can pick up details of telephone numbers and costs at each golf course around Pattaya. Thai Rewards (www.thairewards.com) offer a discount card that gives you more than discounts on golf alone. Ask at your villa for details.
If you don’t wish to drive to your chosen venue using the car provided by Luxury Thai Villas, there are various other methods getting there. You can use the local tour companies who will pick you up from your villa, local taxi or hire car if there are a few of you. However, probably the easiest and most convenient way to play is to join one of the many local bars who organize golf days to most of the courses in the area.
One such bar is The Bunker Bar in Soi Chayapoom, where you can always be assured of a friendly welcome from the owner and the regular golfers. The Bunker Boys play every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, never playing the same course twice in one month. The competitions alternate between medal and stableford to suit both high and low handicap golfers. If you wish to play in the competitions and are not staying long enough to acquire a PSC handicap (by putting in 5 cards), you should bring a handicap certificate from your home country. One of the benefits of playing with The Bunker Bar is that there are invariably enough expats with their own transport taking part, so it is very likely you will be taken to and from the course in air-conditioned comfort, rather than an open air taxi or a cramped minibus.
Courses around Pattaya welcome visitors 7 days a week, although at weekends and bank holidays green fees are usually about double those of weekdays. Carts are compulsory on a few of courses, and are available on all of them. The average tip given to the caddy after 18 holes is usually about 200 baht. If you are travelling independently to golf, it is advisable to telephone ahead to book a tee off time, especially on holidays and during high season (December to February). On the other hand in low season, especially at weekends, the courses tend to be far less crowded than in the West.
