Hua Hin Golf Gossip

[PJG]

Most of the major brands have an outlet in Thaniya but I do not recollect any having a trial bay. Most of the Central Stores have a trial area in the Golf Section, try the clubs there and then shop around in Thaniya. Am a user of Taylor Made R7, suits for me but you need to trial to get the right loft and shaft stiffness for you. Good luck.

There is a shop on the second floor that is great for handmade leather golf shoes. Not expensive.

[lomuamart]

Thanks for the reply.
I'm not certain where these Central Stores are in BKK. I've looked at the internet and it seems that there are a number of them.
I'll be at The British Embassy, so in that vicinity and then maybe Thaniya Plaza.
Is there a Central that would be convenient to those locations?
As might be expected, I'm not a big shopping fan, especially in BKK. I doubt that I'll buy anything (except for maybe a glove or two) on this visit.
PJG, your advice about getting the right club is what I'll be investigating.

[Nereus]

The main Central Dept store is at Chidlom, just a short walk up Sukumvit from the British Embassy. Or you can take the BTS to Chidlom Station, which has a connecting bridge to Central Dept store. Thaniya is at Silom BTS.

[lomuamart]

Great, thanks. I've seen that Central before.
I've seen a map now of where Thaniya Plaza is, so that's easy as well.
If either of those store have practice bays, they'd better armour coat their windows as I'm not hitting the driver well at the moment!!

[bj.blackowitz]

Buying a driver in Thailand is usually more expensive then in other countries / areas as HongKong / USA, But in thanya there are about 50 golf shops, located throughout the building. Best to shop arounf an haggle your price down.
Do some investigation about the price first.

Just take the BTS to thanya plaza, easy to get there.

[PJG]

Some of the Robinson Department stores also have trial bays. Not sure if the store at the top of Silom has but the store by the Underground station at Ratchada certainly does.

[PeteC]

Buying a driver in Thailand is usually more expensive then in other countries / areas as HongKong / USA, But in thanya there are about 50 golf shops, located throughout the building. Best to shop arounf an haggle your price down.
Do some investigation about the price first. Just take the BTS to thanya plaza, easy to get there.

There are some bargains to be had perhaps. The Callaway driver mentioned on the other thread that my wife bought was in a bin at a shop in Pattaya with about 30 other assorted clubs. The manager said "odds, leftovers and discontinued" It was originally marked at 22,000 Baht but reduced to 6,200. No idea if true. It could be a counterfeit or no where near 22,000 to begin with. Pete

[lomuamart]

Well, I went searching for the elusive driver earlier today.
First off, I had a heck of a job gettng into the Central store at Chidlom. Spent about 30 mins wandering around the underground car park, hopelessly lost. Eventually, found a way in, to be told that it was closed for about another month. Wasn't this the store that got torched by the redshirts?
Anyway, proceeded to Thaniya Plaza and lost my self with all the equipment for at least an hour and a half. They've certainly got some stuff there.
I wan't going to buy anything today. I just wanted to look at options. Made quite a few notes, the highlights of which inlude:
Used Diablo, stiff shaft, 9.5 deg - 11K.
Calloway Fusion - used. 9 deg, low kick point, low torque - 6,900
Calloway FD5 - 10 deg, reg shaft - 6,900.
Big Bertha Diablo, 10 deg, reg shaft - 5K
Titleist 909 DZ, 9.5 deg, stiff shaft - 1,100
Ping - here we go
Rapture V2, 10.5 deg, reg shaft - 18K
Rapture 460cc, 10.5 deg, reg shaft - 9,900
G15s, 10.5 deg, reg shaft - 14,800
There were plenty more and some great second hand prices on old models - 2-4/5K.
The pick of the bunch for me were the Cobras. I've been reading up about their latest stuff on the net:
Old model King Cobra, 10.5 deg, reg shaft, low kick point, low torque - 9,800
Cobra S2, adjustable head position, stiff and reg shafts, 10.5 deg - 13K
ZL adjustable, reg shaft, 10.5 deg - 14K
So, there's plenty to look at. I was bowled over by one make of club I'd never heard of before - "Sword". A lot of the Japanese shops had them. Only problem was they cost up to 30K!!!!! Ouch.
I did find a test bay there. If you're on the ground floor, walking away from Silom, there's a shop called Transview Golf. I just pulled a "Conductor" driver out - never heard of them either. The chap opened a club fitting shop up for me with one of these things. 10.5%, reg shaft, 460cc - discounted to 7,900. I hit six or so balls and the chap measured my swing speed, strike angle and flight of ball. All swings were between 74 and 77 mph, so not really fast. He said I definitely needed a regular shaft and suggested a Japanese one as it's more flexible that the USA equivalents. Strike angle was 12.5% which he said was spot on and they were drawing a bit.
Don't know whether experienced golfers will have any views on the above clubs, bearing in mind how my swing is. If anyone's got any advice, it would be much appreciated.
So, a good day's window shopping. But don't anyone try Central at Chidlom for a while although the subterranean car park is great fun at 10am - he he.

[JW]

They are all great drivers just gotta get one that works and fits the eye, the trick is to see the ball flying - there is a range called ALL STAR in the Ratchada area which has has loads of demo clubs available, I will take a look next time i am in BKK.

[lomuamart]

Good point, JW. It's a bit difficult to visulise things when the ball's only traveling 10 or so yards - machine or not.

[JW]

Defo, need to see the flight - all of the best clubfitters still watch the ball flight, they know which is going best! The swing speed/spin and launch technology things are great sales tools!

[Rone]

Wow - cant believe the prices you are talking about for clubs. About 6 months ago (UK) I bought a set of last years Cobra Speed LD and they cost me £70 each for the fairway woods and £85 for the driver. Its just unbelievable here at the moment how much they drop in price once a new model comes out. Suddenly last years model which was all singing all dancing is now c**p and you have to buy this years model.
Incidently if you are thinking new driver the Cobra's are great and very foregiving if you are not playing off single figures. If you are off single figures then they are not so good for fading/drawing. Also looking at your swing speed Cobra do an offset driver with a more flex shaft for swing speeds under 85mph. You can recognise it by the blue shaft (as opposed to the normal red).

[lomuamart]

Rone,
I'd heard from others that clubs are so much cheaper now back in the west. Perhaps, once I've made a decision about a driver, I can get a friend or family back in the UK to get the club for me there and send it over? Not sure how that would work with customs. Actually, thinking about it, a friend is probably coming over in November - he could bring it.
Thanks for the advice about the Cobras and the blue shaft.

[robe]

Played the new military course today and it was very good

[JimmyGreaves]

Played the new military course today and it was very good

Is this now open, If so what's the fees?