Golf in BKK

[reflections]

thanks I must have missed it

[reflections]

jana and sting thanks. I changed my trip plans and I am only staying in BKK for two days and then coming to Pattaya and staying at the LK Renassaince (spelling sorry) where I got a 40% discount due to my going to join the Pattaya sports club. I also have my application completed and I took the picture here at Walgreens so I am all set and psyched

[PigDogg]

(reflections @ Aug. 19 2008,11:25) LK Renassaince (spelling sorry) where I got a 40% discount

Think their rack rate is 2500 baht but in low season stays of a week or more are only 1500 a night.

IMO the best place for high end mongers in Patts.

[reflections]

sorry piggdog I meant the LK Metropole I got a discount thru Pattaya sports club.
Piggdog can we hook up when I arrive into town next month on September 18th or so?

[reflections]

I changed hotels Piggdog. I took your advice and I got the LK Renaissance for 1750 Baht a night for standard studio room for five nights. Only 250 Baht more than the Metropole so I booked that instead. Any chance of us hooking up on september 17 or so?

[PigDogg]

Sure; let's go out for a few

[reflections]

great will contact you can you PM me your cell phone number piggdog?

[thaibound]

(PigDogg @ Aug. 17 2008,02:17) Should a serious golfer bring their own clubs for a 2 week trip to Pattaya?  A buddy of mine wants to know.

i have a buddy (hdcp 13) wondering the same thing.
carrying *any* luggage over the pond is such a pain in the ass, i (uh, i mean 'he') is tempted to buy a second set to keep in the LOS, or perhaps a long-term/monthly rental could be arranged at a fee greatly reduced from the exorbitant daily-rate charges for crappy clubs that generally doubles the cost of the round while halving the pleasure to be had from it.

btw, good to find there are some fellow ladyboy-loving golfers as the little 'la bamba golf tourney' rossco and i tried to work up last spring ended up with only two participants.

maybe do better next year?

[rossco]

There is a special deal at Phoenix Golf Club.
2 Players green fees plus buggy plus 2 caddies - 2600 Baht

Golf club rental is easy - some golf shops on 3rd Road rent out better sets than Golf courses.

A half set is probably enough as the courses are in excellent condition and fairways forgiving.

Pattaya Sports Club - 3rd Road between Pattaya Klang and Pattaya Nua - Soi 3.

PSC is behind Pattaya driving range. Excellent Scottish golf pro at the driving range. 6 lessons 3500 baht or 700 per lesson.

There are 18 courses within one hour of Pattaya including one with 2 Par 6's

[janabiyah]

(thaibound @ Aug. 30 2008,16:59)

(PigDogg @ Aug. 17 2008,02:17) Should a serious golfer bring their own clubs for a 2 week trip to Pattaya? A buddy of mine wants to know.

i have a buddy (hdcp 13) wondering the same thing.
carrying *any* luggage over the pond is such a pain in the ass,

Carrying clubs is not a problem. Try to see it in a positive way.

First. The distance to the USA. No problem, it is in the hold all the way, you dont see them until you arrive at BKK.

OK, then you have to put them on your trolley and push it to your pickup, where someone else will load it in the bus or car for you. So far so good?

Arrive Pattaya, you will see your clubs again as they are loaded to a local car.

You get the car to go to your hotel via Cafe Kronburg and get the driver to bring them into the bar and deposit them in the bag room.

So where exactly is the problem? Lets try to be positive.

[rxpharm]

Many airlines are reducing the allowable checked luggage limits, so it is possible you may have to pay excess baggage depending on what else you take on your trip.

[reflections]

I am bringing my clubs My rule of thumb is if you are going to play more than twice bring the clubs.

[manarak]

yep, nothing's better than bringing your own.

On the other hand, I would hate to lose my set, I had it fitted 2 years ago!

Set:
Mizuno MP-32 forged irons with nippon steel shaft and flattened by 2 degrees.
plus a set of Honma woods, the 9° Driver having a fitted D2 stiff swingweight, which made me gain 20 yards.


BTW:
I have an important question about Thai fairway grass:
is the grass layer usually thick (i.e. more than one centimeter) or is it thin?
I ask because it could influence my decision on which woods to bring along.

[titleist]

(manarak @ Sep. 01 2008,22:46) Set:
Mizuno MP-32 forged irons with nippon steel shaft and flattened by 2 degrees

hmmm, this seems rather a strange set up my friend. You have an MP32 pro forged clubhead, fitted to i assume an NS pro shaft , which is designed for middle of the road golfers who struggle with a low ball flight and these are then bent 2 degrees flat to compensate for a powerless very flat swing. I am in no way taking the piss mate but what is your handicap ?, and where did you get fitted for these clubs........ On a positive note you will have no trouble with the fairway lies, most courses have fairly lush fairways and the ball sits up just fine for sweeping long irons and woods, if i were you i would worry more about trying to read the grain on the greens as i find this is the most difficult aspect of the game on asian courses.

[manarak]

I have a strange body too, that explains the strange setup!

My handicap is 7, although I must confess that I moved to a new course with a slope rating of 139, and I rarely play that hcp now - well, except last saturday, where I blasted my mates off the course with 4 over par :-)

The course is quite difficult by itself, but the difficulty increases also also because our course is more often humid than dry (the shitty weather here is another reason why I want move to Thailand - talk about summer, with 12°C and rain in August!), and because the management wants to save money, the roughs and fairways are not being cut as often as they should be, so that missing the green by two meters can yield an almost unplayable ball (i.e. buried in 10cm long humid, sticky grass with the pin being just 5 meters away - absolutely no control - oh yeah, I forgot to mention small greens as well).

Anyway, I digress, back to my fitting... The flattened angle is because I am not a tall guy, quite the opposite (just a couple of centimeters taller than Ian Woosnam). Since my clubs are standard length, and if you didn't sleep in trigonometry classes, it should be pretty obvious that I need flattened clubs.

My arms are also much shorter than average by about 5 cm, so that the lighter NS shaft helps me to get more speed into the long iron's club head, without sacrifycing control on the shorter irons.
The result is a medium-high trajectory on mid and long irons by my standards (remember I am not a long hitter, my iron 3 carries only about 180 meters when I hit it well).

About the fairways, I don't particularly like thick fairways, because there is a chance that the flat heads of my fairway woods will pass under the ball, and usually I got trouble centering the ball on pitch shots as well - at least the first couple of occasions I play on such ground.
On the other hand, this kind of lie helps for hitting med and long irons.
But I guess I just need to get used to it and overall, this kind of grass will be easier to play than what I got now.