THAILAND - GOLF AND OLD FRIENDS

Raymond (on my left), Jimmy (my right) and I made a one-week visit to Thailand for golf, seeing an old friend and sight-seeing in the north plus a short hop over to Laos. This memorial shot is of the Old Course of Siam Country Club, Pattaya. We played two games in Pattaya - one at Laem Chabang and the other at the Siam Country Club Plantation (New) Course. The Old Course hosted the Honda LGPA Thailand in 2009 and 2010. At Plantation, there are 3 nines and we played the Sugar Cane and Tapioca 9's. From white tees, the two nines play to 6,424 yds. Slope and course ratings are not printed on the score card.

One of the ending holes of the Old Siam Course. The Old Course was re-done recently.

Hole 1 marker of the Plantation Sugar Cane Nine.

Waste bunkers like this one add to the difficulty of playing here.

A series of bunkers awaits tee-shots at this hole.

I had the opportunity to a have a father-son pair of caddies at Mactan, Cebu. Here, there is a mother-daughter pair. Goi, the daughter, is on Raymond's right and the mother, Fone, is on his left.

Goi is 18 years old.

Everyone hard at work at one of the greens.

Nice horticulture at Siam Country Club.

Hole 1 of the Laem Chabang International Country Club is a par-4, handicap-indexed 3, and is 306 yds long from the white tees. Our caddies never gave us any caution so we teed off into trouble - me into water, Jimmy into the trees on the left and Raymond OB right. Naturally, we had disaster scores. Laem Chabang has 3 nines - Mountain (A),Lake (B) and Valley (C). The A-B combination we played is 6,082 yds from white tees, and is slope-rated 122 and course-rated 68.6. Course was designed by Jack Nicklaus.

My tee-shot found sand but I recovered to par this hole - the par-3 second hole of the A Course.

I am recovering a wayward tee-shot on the A Course par-3 7th hole. We all ended up with a bogey each.

This hole requires crossing a ravine at tee off.

A memorial shot - that we were at Laem Chabang.

A programme for boys at Laem Chabang which may be responsible for the arrival of many strong Thai golfers in the international arena.

A happy Laem Chabang moment.

Laem Chabang water hazard.

Pattaya main street, at night.

Services available.

One of the many beer bars found throughout Pattaya. Buy a beer for yourself and another for the lady and she will chat with you.