Thailand. A day on the golf course in Isaan.

Today I was happy to be able to get out and about doing something that I really love, that is playing golf.

Golf would have to be the best game ever invented, I know a lot of people won’t agree but it is the biggest test of so many skills of an individual. You are playing yourself against the golf course and that’s it.

So many people think that golf if easy and all you do is whack the little white ball again and again until it’s in the hole and that’s all there is to it.

Golf is such a skillful game and the smallest mistake can mean horrible things for you. You take a lovely mown piece of grass and add trees, sand bunkers and water and things start to get a little interesting. It’s a great way to spoil a lovely walk by playing golf.

Today I went to our local Army Base that has a really lovely 9 hole golf course. It’s it kept in tip top shape all the time and even after all the rain we have had lately the fairways were really good in most places.

I haven’t played for about 3 months and in the last 6 months I have played 2 games. I was a pretty decent golfer and played off a handicap of 1 but never made it to scratch which was a little disappointing to me but again maybe that is a new goal I can set for myself.

My official handicap at the golf club is 16 and I am very happy with this even though I would be gutted and hung from a tree if I tried to play off this handicap back home in Australia. It is what the handicapper gave me and I have to respect his decision.

When I was playing a fair bit during the last holidays I started to finally get some feel back around the greens and shot some decent scores of mid 70’s off the stick and once when I played with mum and dad I shot 78 at this golf course and all dad would say is I was a burglar. I was playing off a higher handicap than him.

So today I was hoping to break 85 and that would have put a smile on my face as golf is such a feel game especially around the greens chipping and putting. This is where good players and weekenders are different. Average golfers waste so many shots from 100 metres into the green and I was expecting some bad chips and 3 putt greens so I was allowing for this.

The golf course is just over 3,000 metres in distance or 3,328 yards for the 9 holes so you double that for the 18 and it’s a lovely 6 kilometre walk spoilt by hitting a white ball. It’s isn’t a long golf course but there are plenty of tricks and lots of out of bounds, tricky bunkers, a few water hazards and plenty of trees that can catch you out if you aren’t thinking.

Some early birds tee off when it’s nearly still dark. These guys were putting out on the 9th hole and it was just 7.30am.

The first hole is classic for this. It is a 320 yard dog leg left par 4 that has a water hazard in front of the tee that shouldn’t come into play but often does for the higher handicappers. Some of the big hitters love to go over the big and well developed trees for the green and this is usually not a good idea as it is out of bounds all the way on the left and if you hit it straight it is out of bounds on the other fairway. I play a 6 or 7 iron and that usually leaves you in a fantastic position.

If you don’t place your tee shot well, you can have a nasty and tricky shot trying to hit a punch shot under big overhanging trees and there is also a large mound that helps stop punched balls running up to the green easily. I hit a 7 iron and then a 9 iron onto the green and 3 putted for a bogey, a great start.

At the back of the second tee is the military prison for the bad army boys and you will often here them doing drills on the inside of the walls through the day.


There was a large group of soldiers on a parade ground for the national anthem and then they split up into the regiments or platoons and then went on a march and run around the army base.


This is the 4th hole and is an easy Par 3 or it should be. It’s only 130 yards or 118 metres but is all water carry and this for some reason makes so many people hit the ball 3 club lengths long or the hit it fat and end up in the water. My mother donated many balls in this lake and others when she played here.

The group of juniors I was playing with all hit reasonable shots here and only one missed the green out of the 5 of us. The sad thing was none of us got a birdie either. There are 2 twins from the school I teach at in the group and they live and breathe golf each and everyday.

The 5th hole is the longest hole on the course at 610 yards or 550 metres. If you hit it left and it goes onto the other fairway it is out of bounds but if you go right onto the other fairway that is fine but there is a water hazard out there. There is a large tree in the middle of the fairway and you aim at it and most people come up well short of it and then hit their next shot into it. It is around 270 metres to the tree.

The second shot is pretty easy as there isn’t any out of bounds or hazards other than 3 bunkers, one at each side and one over the back. The green is very fast and has a lot or burrow in places, so a small 2-3 foot putt can be daunting.

The course is kept really clean and this is done by having day labourers and people who have to do community service all over the course sweeping up leaves, picking up sticks, raking bunkers and so forth. A lot of the time you see the workers in groups in the shade of the trees talking and not really working too hard but then again I haven’t seen anyone really supervising them either.

Now this should be an easy hole. It’s the 6th hole and is only 465 yards or 330 metres. The big hitters take driver and try and blast it to just in front of the green but there are many little things that grab you on this hole.

It’s out of bounds left and right and there are fairway bunkers left and right at the 200-220 metre mark. For a hole that is simply set-up I have seen some horror scores through mismanagement and just plain not thinking.

I hit a 3 or 4 iron and then have usually a 9 or pitching wedge into the green and it is a small green and slightly raised and is a lot easier to stop the ball with a full wedge than a half sand iron. The green on the right has a bunker and left is a water hazard.


I really enjoyed the day and am looking forward to getting a lot more golf in over the coming weeks and then keep on playing at least once on the weekend. I am going to stop teaching on a Sunday privately so I can just play golf and then spend quality time with my sweetheart!


There is a big tournament coming up on the 28th of the month with golfers from all around Ubon coming to play and I will be playing off my nice handicap and might pick up an award if I am lucky in B-Grade. I will also play Pennant Golf for the club which I also enjoy as it is match play and this is the best form of golf. You playing another guy and playing mind games and so forth, it’s really enjoyable.

Today I really surprised myself with a 79 off the stick, so a 63 nett after taking off my handicap. I got really tired at the end and fatigue started to set in and this may sound funny but when you haven’t played for a long time mental fatigue is a killer. I wasn’t so much physically tired but mentally I was drained.

I had a 38 for the outward 9 holes or 2 over par and then the inward 9 I started to struggle at times and hung on for a 41.

For the round I;

Had 31 putts. 3 three putt greens.

Hit 11 fairways off the tee.

Hit 7 greens in regulation.

These figures are not pretty and I was expecting that but I scrambled well and when I missed, I missed in a good place that made it easy for an up and down. My chipping was pretty good but I didn’t have a lot of feel around the greens and the putting was just pick the read and then hope I judged the pace and early on this worked well but later in the day I struggled and missed 3 putts inside 3 feet which were easy putts to hole.

I might even get a little serious next week and get to the driving range to work on my chipping at the pitching area, hopefully a week or so of this and a little confidence will be back

So that was my lazy day in Isaan Thailand. I am sorry for the non golfers and readers who don’t like golf but I did enjoy the day immensely.

Brunty