Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Sub-forum for discussion on golf in Hua Hin and Thailand.
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heartofmidlothian
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by heartofmidlothian »

Sam, the Springfield marshal, is very sick just now. We all wish him the best and miss him.
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by cookmanchef »

Played Majestic again on Wednesday and there is further improvement with the greens but still a way to go. Black Mountain, Banyan & Sea Pines are probably the exception but it seems most of the courses go through a bad patch and 2013-14 has been Majestics.

A couple of years ago Lake View was in dreadful condition and you had to play 'placing' on the fairways all year round. Springfield similarly dipped before coming back to good shape.

Majestic 'C' course is now unlikely to open until December I have now been told, disappointing but will be worth it as I'm told they are flattening out some of the silly greens.
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by heartofmidlothian »

Quite surprised to hear so many saying how good the condition of Sea Pines is! I played it 3 weeks ago and thought the greens were very variable. Some greens were better than others, but not in the same league as Banyan and Black Mountain. The fairways on Lakeview C and D are good but A and B are very poor and infested with weeds and wet and dry spots. Definitely need preferred lies there. The greenkeeper told me that A and B is going to be renovated as soon as the water is sufficient.
Good to hear that Majestic are going to flatten out C greens. If they had left the slopes the same and put tifeagle bermuda down, then would have been unplayable. I am sure Gavan has brought this to their attention and good to stop any further mistakes.
All the courses need to up their standards to match Banyan and Black Mountain. Springfield are trying.
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Big Boy
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by Big Boy »

I'm the first to admit that I'm a complete golfing ignoramus, but as a moderator, I am obliged to read these posts. Strange thoughts come into my mind as I read some posts, so please humour me if this question is stupid.

I keep reading that this green is rubbish, and that green is sandy etc, etc. If every green was perfect, wouldn't that make life boring? I thought golf was meant to be a challenge. Going back to my chip and putt days on the local council golf course it used to be part of the fun anticipating what crap greens would do. So, do we have a lot of golfers here who need to be spoon fed, and couldn't play to save their lives on my old council chip and putt? Or is Hua Hin's golfing fraternity so advanced that they can only play on perfection?

I just think that if I were a golfer, I'd prefer different challenges, and this could prove to be quite a leveller, especially with the better players. Surely, being able to overcome every challenge would make a better golfer.

Please accept my apologies in advance if my question offends anybody. I can assure you, my question is genuine, and pops into my head every time I read somebody complaining about something. What do they say about a workman and his tools? :wink:
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richard
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by richard »

BB.........you don't play golf..............so Er...............
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Big Boy
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by Big Boy »

No, but I have to read the posts, and I'm not brain dead ....... yet. A genuine question - I thought they paid loads of money to design various obstacles, so why complain when something natural happens?

As I said - not meant to upset anybody, just natural curiosity.
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by BOZ »

The greens are one of if not the most important part of an overall course quality items.. Greens condition is key to a good game, "true" putts are what we are looking for a good roll and then the results are up to our skills... Bad greens make for a horrible experience and don't allow for a fair score or quality round.... We all deal with coring and sanding of the greens, scheduled events and able to make a choice to play or not during these maintenance cycles... Poor greens from lack of care and up keep is what the real rub is about.. Paying for a round and then finding that the greens are in bad condition makes us feel like we have been robbed... It is assumed that the course is playable if you are charging full green fees... Our great resource of this forum topic allows us to discuss and share updates to allow us to make choices for spending our money... We make that choice and then have to live with the conditions we experience....
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Frank Hovis
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by Frank Hovis »

I think there's three sides to this story, the rubbish golfer (like me), the decent golfer (like some others) and the golf course itself.

For decent golfers (not me), I see that they expect to be able to par or bogey each hole and to do that the greens and fairways must be in a decent condition, they can line up a putt and if the ball follows the line it will go in or very near the hole. I can see how frustrating it is that choosing the right line may not determine whether the ball reaches the hole because there are puncture marks, sand and weeds on the line and there isn't another line to follow.

For golf courses, if you expect people to pay 2500-3500 a round then you should be duty bound to provide a decent course to play on, if you cannot provide a decent course then it should be priced accordingly or people will vote with their feet.

For rubbish golfers (like me), I used to count my score by how many balls I'd lost in the rough per round, once I started needing a handicap to get that down to 72 I switched to scoring based on how many caddies I'd lost in the rough. I don't really care if there's weeds or sand on the green, I don't even care if I'm putting on the same green as the hole I've driven off on, when the caddie asks what club I'd like sometimes I think she means for a bit of a dance after the round and when she shouts 'Get in the hole' ... well, after a couple of times I now know that isn't a come on and that to have three teeth capped costs around 6000 baht.

I think it's a bit like playing pool, if you're just there for a knock about a worn table with a slight slope and a cue ball with a chip out of it really doesn't make much difference. If you actually want to play pool properly then the table, the balls and the cue have to be in good condition so that when you apply some side to a ball it actually does spin sideways and you can judge the speed of the table accurately enough to leave the cue ball where you want it.
I might add that my pool is as bad my golf, so much so that I now score my pool playing by how many balls are still in the general vicinity of the pool table.
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Big Boy
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by Big Boy »

Thank you very much BOZ for that informative answer. I wasn't criticising the healthy discussion, but as a non-golfer, my curiosity was getting the better of me.

I had guessed that when paying top dollar people would expect something good. What I hadn't realised was that if somewhere falls below standard, that it was normal practice to reduce fees. My simple mind put it down to just another challenge.

Frank, thank you too for putting a bit more meat on the bone.

I'll now be able to read the posts better informed :D
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heartofmidlothian
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by heartofmidlothian »

Yes, some good points made. The thing about the climate in Thailand is - your greens can be as good as you choose them to be (assuming you have the budget). The grass grows year round and no need to change your grass in the cool season as they have to do in the southern areas of the U S.
If you construct your greens properly, use a suitable grass and buy the correct equipment and hire an expert, then you will have good greens for 10 or 11 months per year. Coring does need to be done twice a year to keep healthy greens.
This is what Banyan and Springfield do better than the others. The other courses charge very similar green fees but dont invest the same money into their maintenance. For the sort of green fees they charge, they should be making the same investment because golfers vote with their feet. This forum is a good way to find out how courses are looking. All regular golfers, both good and bad, do appreciate well maintained courses. Makes the game so much more fun.
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by hhfarang »

If you are paying resort tourist prices to play golf, you can and should expect perfect courses, both greens and fairways... nuff said.
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by cookmanchef »

The best greenskeeper I ever came across was at one of Englands finest seaside courses, Burnham & Berrow in Somerset, he told me that there was no reason for the greens to be in a bad condition after hollow tining for any more than 2 weeks so long as a good watering system was in place. Should always be done when there is good growth, regular cutting, twice a day if possible and don't catch the cuttings in the evening, water overnight.

I'm sure different conditions probably exist in Thailand but Burnham has always been renowned for it's exceptional greens. One of the problems at Majestic & Lake View is that the slopes are so severe that you cannot have really fast greens without putting a windmill or a waterfall on some of them.
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JimmyGreaves
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by JimmyGreaves »

hhfarang wrote:If you are paying resort tourist prices to play golf, you can and should expect perfect courses, both greens and fairways... nuff said.
Totally agree!!
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by Awu »

Played Banyan today and I just love that course, excelent condition and awesome view.
I like Banyan better then BM.
BUT!! Today the greens was way to slow!!
Everybody had problems with the putting, even some guys (5hcp) that normally is puttermasters had several 3, and even 4 putts. It´s not just the speed, when the grass is to high on the green the ball can turn unpredictable.
The greens is definately the most important thing on a golfcourse and down here there is no excuse not to have perfect greens this time of year.
But Banyan is definately worth the money compare to MJ.
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Re: Hua Hin Golf Gossip

Post by Ropes »

Just had a small trip with some friends to Kanchanaburi. Played Dragon Hills on the way up and disappointed with its condition as the greens were very slow and the bunkers had just not been raked for sometime and every bunker had lots of footprints (I should know I was in most of them). Particularly disappointing as played DH about 6 weeks ago and it was in great condition. Maybe because the high season is over they are not paying too much attention to maintenance.
Then played Blue Sapphire (Canyon Course) and what a difference. Beautiful greens and fairways and all for 400 baht green fee and 250 baht caddy fee. Cannot wait to go back and play the ocean course some time soon.
Played Sawang on the way back and again good value as green fee, caddy fee and cart a 1000 baht all in.I have played the course when in better condition but it's still a good layout.
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