Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Sub-forum for discussion on golf in Hua Hin and Thailand.
Majestic Creek
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by Majestic Creek »

Hua Hin is not a holiday destination?? Sorry, all those major Hotels along the road from Cha Am to the out skirts of Hua Hin must be a mirage I keep seeing.

And the throng of multi- National groups in the night market or bars are all local residents too ?

The fact is that Hua Hin is a very large tourist destination that has it's own appeal, as do Phuket and Pattaya.

Having just spent a couple of days in Pattaya on a visit to friends, I was very pleased to get back to Hua Hin. And all the courses seemed a long way from the city, where as we have 7 or 8 within half an hours radius of the town centre.

Take the traffic density of Bangkok and put that into a roads infra structure similar to Hua Hin !!! That is travelling in Pattaya. Every where you want to travel is just a solid traffic jam adding a lot of time and frustration to the journey.

I think we have a good balance here.
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Lev
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by Lev »

People complain no matter what you do.

They complain when golf courses never update their websites or promote their special offers ... they complain about steep rates at the "two B's" for example, compulsory carts etc ...

... then they complain when a golf club takes the initiative, offers a discount, and advertises their special offers on the web.


You just can't win ... :roll:
Ropes
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by Ropes »

Majestic Creek wrote:Hua Hin is not a holiday destination?? Sorry, all those major Hotels along the road from Cha Am to the out skirts of Hua Hin must be a mirage I keep seeing.

And the throng of multi- National groups in the night market or bars are all local residents too ?

The fact is that Hua Hin is a very large tourist destination that has it's own appeal, as do Phuket and Pattaya.

Having just spent a couple of days in Pattaya on a visit to friends, I was very pleased to get back to Hua Hin. And all the courses seemed a long way from the city, where as we have 7 or 8 within half an hours radius of the town centre.

Take the traffic density of Bangkok and put that into a roads infra structure similar to Hua Hin !!! That is travelling in Pattaya. Every where you want to travel is just a solid traffic jam adding a lot of time and frustration to the journey.

I think we have a good balance here.
I never said HH wasn't a holiday destination I said you cannot compare HH with Phuket or Koh Samui.
Do you see throngs of young holidaymakers in Hua Hin?
Have you been down the town lately? Throngs of multi national groups.........where? Another mirage??
valrhona
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by valrhona »

You are correct that Phuket is a different place than Hua Hin. That's why prices are about double what they are in Hua Hin however you can't escape the fact that a fair number of golfers that come to Hua Hin don't live there...Businesses recognize that and charge accordingly. You seem to think that golf courses should somehow charge less to accommodate you. If a business does well charging current prices, tell me why they should lower them? What possible reason would they have to do that?

We live in free market societies, let it decide if it's too expensive or not. If no one goes then they will go under, simple as that... I agree that Hua Hin is not a cheap golf destination however for a seaside resort town, the value is OK particularly in low season and as was pointed out, it's not that hard to drive up to Dragon Hills or Ratchaburi for cheaper prices, many people in Pattaya or BKK will spend just as much time to get to courses.
heartofmidlothian
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by heartofmidlothian »

Sorry Ropes, but your comments are quite confusing. There are a lot of retirees in Hua Hin, but it is predominantly a tourist destination. At this time of year it is mainly Bangkok people - the traffic tells you this. Paying green fees in Hua Hin is a bit expensive and it does make a lot of sense to drive to Royal Ratchaburi or Dragon Hills, for your golf. Car sharing could, I'm sure, be organised on this forum.
I see that Banyan are now making carts optional. Delighted to see that, as I hate compulsory carts. Does make me wonder how their caddies will get on with more walking? I used to walk the course regularly and I twice had caddies quit on me and plenty others complaining about having to walk. The old saying about the caddie should "keep up and shut up" is so true and a smile helps too.
valrhona
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by valrhona »

Excellent news that Banyan will allow walking for everyone. That's the way golf is meant to be played and forcing people having carts and caddies is overkill considering that the main use of caddies is to carry the clubs. I imagine it will be tough on them at the beginning but they'll get use to it just like at any other clubs. Banyan isn't that hilly... Does that mean that we'll be able to play Banyan for 1300Baht all inclusive during the festival?
Ropes
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by Ropes »

valrhona wrote:You are correct that Phuket is a different place than Hua Hin. That's why prices are about double what they are in Hua Hin however you can't escape the fact that a fair number of golfers that come to Hua Hin don't live there...Businesses recognize that and charge accordingly. You seem to think that golf courses should somehow charge less to accommodate you. If a business does well charging current prices, tell me why they should lower them? What possible reason would they have to do that?

We live in free market societies, let it decide if it's too expensive or not. If no one goes then they will go under, simple as that... I agree that Hua Hin is not a cheap golf destination however for a seaside resort town, the value is OK particularly in low season and as was pointed out, it's not that hard to drive up to Dragon Hills or Ratchaburi for cheaper prices, many people in Pattaya or BKK will spend just as much time to get to courses.
My original post was not about lowering prices but increasing them in June.
As I said on another thread the courses can charge what they like but I find their decision strange for what is in effect the low season.
dws
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by dws »

Walked Banyan a few weeks ago and took advantage of the afternoon (twilight) offer of THB 1,000 green fee.

Easy to whizz around if you are a 2 or maybe 3 ball before the sun goes down

to my knowledge Banyan have never offered the THB 800 (or now THB 999..??) during the festival, so imagine that the same will apply this year

Love visiting HH at this time of year to take advantage of the (in my humble opinion) good rates and loving the quieter courses, and certainly don't mind the rain

The rate moaners don't play at this time of year, so highly unlikey they play in the peak months.....when do you actually play?
Ropes
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by Ropes »

dws wrote:Walked Banyan a few weeks ago and took advantage of the afternoon (twilight) offer of THB 1,000 green fee.

Easy to whizz around if you are a 2 or maybe 3 ball before the sun goes down

to my knowledge Banyan have never offered the THB 800 (or now THB 999..??) during the festival, so imagine that the same will apply this year

Love visiting HH at this time of year to take advantage of the (in my humble opinion) good rates and loving the quieter courses, and certainly don't mind the rain

The rate moaners don't play at this time of year, so highly unlikey they play in the peak months.....when do you actually play?
Usually after dark. Me and Stevie Wonder sometimes have a two ball.
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Dannie Boy
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by Dannie Boy »

I don't play golf so don't have any real interest in the merits of this debate, However the basic principle is the same as any supply/demand situation. The supplier will charge what they think they can get, which will provide them with their required level of return, if they get it wrong, they have two basic choices - keep the price as it is and risk missing their targeted profit margin, or lower the price and hope that they attract sufficient (more) customers to bring in the revenues.

The customer has three basic choices - pay up even if that means playing less frequently, go and find somewhere else to play within their budget, consider playing tidily winks or whatever else turns them on!! :thumb:
3wood
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by 3wood »

Thing I don't get with Majestic is you buy your 5 year membership, then pay your annual maintenance fee, then
pay another 250 or 300 B. every time you play . For what ?
Should only have to pay caddy fee!!
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JimmyGreaves
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by JimmyGreaves »

3wood wrote:Thing I don't get with Majestic is you buy your 5 year membership, then pay your annual maintenance fee, then
pay another 250 or 300 B. every time you play . For what ?
Should only have to pay caddy fee!!
What is the actual cost at Majestic per round after you become a member? GF + CF ?
Diplomacy is the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to making the trip
valrhona
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by valrhona »

The 5 year membership is only 40K Baht and annual fee 10K then it's 350Baht per rounds...It's not surprising that they ask for some money for green fees. You want to pay no green fee at Springfield? It'll cost you over 300K, 800K at Banyan... If I'm not mistaken, at Sea Pines, it's 30K per year and you pay 500 Baht a pop + caddy fee. You can't seriously be expecting to pay 18K a year and get free rounds... It would be pretty tough to find a half decent course anywhere in the world that would sell such a cheap membership.
jingjoe
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by jingjoe »

at least at springfield you can resell your membership for possibly the same or higher price,so you only pay annual fee and no green fee,i think a better deal
valrhona
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Festival 2013

Post by valrhona »

True however it's a lot more money to fork out in one go and you have to be able to resell it. If the club goes under or is under crisis, you could lose it all. Furthermore, rules can change... a couple of years ago Loch Palm decided to charge 300Baht to people who had paid a 200K membership, many of those attached to villas so you couldn't resell and there's nothing members could do about it.

For someone well established in Hua Hin, Springfield makes more sense. If you want more flexibility then something like Sea Pines or Majestic is probably better. I mean if you play 50 rounds a year, it comes up to 660 Baht + CF. That's a pretty decent price per round with a small investment.
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