At the end of 2017, both Rosie and Bruce turned 60 so Bruce decided to take the last couple of weeks off school and go back to Thailand for another golf holiday to celebrate.
We decided to go to Hua Hin this trip since Bruce had been discussing trips with other golfers and had heard really good things about this town. Hua Hin is a beach side town about two hours South of Bangkok. It is on the opposite side of the gulf to Pattaya, which is also very good for golf, but pretty full on with the sex scene.
We stayed at the Laksasubha Hua Hin Hotel, right on the beach. We had a really good room with garden views and a private balcony. We could walk easily to either of the pools and the breakfast restaurant was right on the beach so we had great views every morning.
The walk to the night markets was enjoyable and Rosie and Bruce found many great places to eat.
Our first golf game was at Banyon Country Club (this is now renamed to Pineapple Valley Golf Club). It was situated on an old Pineapple plantation and was exceptionally well presented. We definitely hadn’t been to any course that was this plush.
This course was much busier than any other we had been to so we were joined by a couple of other players, which was also a good experience since your got to see how other people treat their caddies and also find out about other courses you could play. At all the golf courses we have been in Thailand, they have extremely plush locker rooms and this set a standard to compare others by. Players quite often have a shower and change after their game, Bruce just wanted to have a beer and then get back to the hotel to swim in the pool.
On Bruce’s birthday he decided to go to a seafood restaurant on the pier over the water. The scene was great, but, even though the restaurant had good reviews there were very few customers, which is a bad sign. The meal was ok, but we think Bruce got ill from a prawn dish he ordered. Such is Life.
Our next game of golf was at Black Mountain GC. Again this course was exceptionally presented and the club facilities were excellent. We didn’t know it at the time, but Banyan and Black Mountain were very expensive games of golf. Black Mountain had a lot of water in front of greens, but interestingly, they had sand bunkers across the front of the water, so your ball didn’t run into the water. You still had a very difficult out of the bunker onto the green, but it did save you some golf balls.
Bruce did a bit of research about what you could do in Hua Hin and once he got past the Wats and tourist traps, he came up with a trip to Phraya Nakhon Cave. We were picked up by our taxi with a private guide (the cost of this was cheaper than any organised tour that he found) and taken off to a small fishing village near the National Park containing the cave. Here our guide put us on a long tail fishing boat and the driver took us around to the beach where we paid the entry fee, which wasn’t much. Then we went around the headland in our boat and were dropped off at the beach for the walk up a mountain.
The path up the mountain was very steep and we had to take several stops to rest. When we booked, the guide did check to see if we were healthy enough to make this climb, but then decided that if we could walk a golf course we should make it up the hill. There were several signs around warning about people having heart attacks. Bruce picked this trip since there was supposed to be a small temple built in the cave and it was supposed to look spectacular when the sun was on it. We didn’t put any planning into the best time of day to see it, just hoped for the best.
Once we made it to the cave, we were buggered, but it was well worth it. The little temple was a real surprise and the sun shone down beautifully highlighting the golf leaf used on it. We loved it and it made the whole hill climb very worthwhile.
We went for a swim on the beach when we got back down the mountain, which cooled us off and then our guide took us for lunch. Bruce thought that if the cave was a bummer at least we would have a good lunch.
On the drive back we stopped to look at the fishing village where we caught our boat from.
On the way to the restaurant, our guide pre-ordered our lunch to make sure we got what we wanted. Wasn’t sure what we would get since the tour didn’t cost that much. We passed by rice fields and the way to lunch, which our guide told us was where they filmed the movie “The Killing Fields”, which Bruce remembered seeing in the 80’s.
We arrived at a nice little restaurant overlooking the beach, which was deserted. Apparently it was very busy on weekends and during the peak season, but we had it all to ourselves.
We were served a huge selection of foods that we had requested. It was enormous, given there was just the two of us eating, our guide sat with the owners while we ate. It was worth the tour, just for the locations and the lunch. All up one of Bruce’s more successful plans.
Our final golf game was at Springfield Royal CC. This course was a bit older than the other two and wasn’t as pristine. The caddies were still great and the greens were good.
In terms of value for money, we were very happy with this course and being an older design, it was more about avoiding the water and bunkers, rather than having no option.
A great way to end our golfing experience.
Bruce loved this holiday and is already planning the next trip to Asia. Rosie really liked it, but isn’t keen on repetition, so Bruce will have to look at a different location to keep her motivated.
We have now played 12 games on our World Golf Tour and so far Bruce is still winning on Stableford, but Rosie is just ahead on Stroke. It is turning into a very competitive tour.
