Greetings,

Had the pleasure of playing some insanely cheap golf in Chiang Mai, Thailand yesterday. Hit up “Golf Avenue” which is a 9 hole par 3 golf course that has some really challenging holes. Holes range from ~120-384 yards. The longest is the only par 4 on the course which is common for many par 3’s.

That said, some holes were 170-200 yards, unless you’re a long hitter, good luck getting to the green in 1. A gent lent me some clubs, dream set.  3 wood, 5 iron, 7 iron and a lob wedge. The lob wedge is my arch nemesis. It’s so easy to fluff or skull it. Or just hit it 30 yards up and 10 yards forwards. As a result got creative using the old 7 iron “bump and run” as much as possible.

For some reason if you hit it low, you can watch it go. When you get high, things tend to get crazy… Lob wedge is great though as once you get alright with it, the ball stops on a dime, may even do the classic backspin as seen on the PGA tour.

The cost? It’s $3.33us aka 100 baht for as much as you can play after 4pm, sick!? The 1st hole is only 120 yards and they have a 1,000,000baht prize for a hole in one. That’s like $30,000us fyi… Maybe I should make that my job for the next month, just go hard until I get a hole in one?

You can get a caddy it will cost you another 100 baht. Obviously you should tip them though, if not, your scum. You can get beers on the course, its like 25bath each aka less than a buck. If you have a caddy she will keep them in a bag filled with ice for you. That way you can enjoy your beer cold, the way it should be sipped… Not gulped, this is golf, not a keg party.

Walking down the course with a Chang and smoke in my hand, felt like I was back home after work. Good times, used to play basically everyday during the summer when I was back home. It also had a river going through it and caught some guys going down in a canoe, it was cool.

They also have a double decker driving range ($1 a bucket) and it’s only a ~10 minute drive from where I’m staying in Chiang Mai. The name of the golf course is “Golf Avenue”. Many other courses around and hopefully will get to see some more. The gents I go with go out once a week which is great but if you know me, I’d like to pass out on the course and wake up to do it all over again.

As someone who knows few people, lucky to have met some nice gents who love golf as much as I do. Golfer’s are good people, never forget that. If you’re in Chiang Mai, I recommend you look into some golf, it’s cheap as you know… How much is golf where you live?

How did I score? Who cares. I will tell you this, nothing but PAR or Quad Bogey which is basically how I roll, roller-coaster style and “streaky”, ha. It took me 5 shots to get out of this one “death bunker” but I blame it on the fact that I had just woken up from an egregious evening, yeah, that’s it?

Tips hat,

P.S: In Kanchanaburi, you can get a seasons pass for $165US for a really nice 36 hole BlueSapphire. Maybe it’s 27 holes, not sure. You just pay caddy fee and obviously, tip. Golf in Thailand is great fun, recommend it. That said, try and borrow some clubs, they really get you on clubs as they know 98% of tourists don’t bring them and those who live there, obviously have their own.