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Suwan Golf Club - Bangkok.
Calculating the distance from the hotel to the golf course measures 62 kms I leave the hotel at 7:45 am hoping to arrive at 8:45, 30 mins before my tee time. Instead of booking directly with the golf course I have asked the hotel staff to do it giving specific instructions about not wanting to play by myself and therefore lowering the cost of the round to being one in a group of four.
If you intend to play as a single player you will be allotted a tee time on your own and therefore end up playing as a one. ... Not much fun and very slow... And very expensive!!! You can save 2/3 the cost by finding your way into a group. Well thats what i managed to do at Suwan GC and that took the sting out if the costs.
Getting a taxi is the next issue. I asked the hotel to also arrange this and they told me it could only be a fixed price return trip and the taxi driver will wait. They insist as it is out of Bangkok it should be an arranged fare that pays a holding fee for waiting or that's what I understood it to be. None the less being a little skeptical by now and having been ripped off a few times ( or another way to put it i am learning the scams the Thai people use on tourists) I insist on a metered fare. So we will find out one way or another what's possible. After starting our journey from the hotel in central Bangkok the taxi has a near flat tyre, this is eating into my travel estimates. Very annoying... Not long after leaving he says "the trip is out of Bangkok and should be an arranged fare not metered" - OK, it is a scam... I ask him to return me to the hotel and I'll get another taxi. He says it's ok he will take me but wants the return Fare also. Yes that means he will wait for me to play golf. I Relax!
He stops to take in some much needed air (for the tyre) On our way I explain about the tee time and the need for speed ( or haste). I am lucky to have a driver who understands more than a few words of English. He is soon speeding down the freeway at 140 km per hour . I prefer not to look thinking about the tyre that didn't have much air in it.... I listen to Gossimers Dreaming on my ipod and it's flamenco track. Very apt for the pace of the trip. Whilst the drive is out of Bangkok it is completely built up. Expect to pay a taxi meter fare of 550 THB each way and put up with some interesting driving if the traffic is busy to say the least. Tip the driver that waits 500 THB. it's still cheaper than an arranged fare.
Arriving at Suwan GC... I'm late. Lesson number #? ( god I forgot how many!) calculate the time and add a full half hour. I. am rushed to the tee. I am a bit destabilized by the rush and not knowing where things are... rush to the tee and to my surprise I have no one to play with... And I am following 6 groups of Japanese golfers... s***! The consolation prize is I can play from the rear tees. The blacks!
My first hole (the tenth) I hit left of the fairway into a water hazard that you cannot see off the tee. That and no shot to the green on this 375 meter hole with three putt triple bogey start, I am now behind the 6 groups of Japanese golfers waiting 5mins for every shot. A triple, double, triple start i am not a happy camper! My driving is sensational after the first but poor iron play left me plugged in many bunkers. If you can manage to avoid the bunkers then your round will be the better for it. I managed to get the hang of them by the end of the round. Bunkers have very soft sand and a high ball will plug nearly every time. There is so much sand that you can bury your sand iron into it and not extract the ball or equally worse, just make it out plopping it onto surrounding long grass. This also applies to fairway bunkers which I did not get into... Thank goodness!
I started from the tenth hole and I recommend you avoid this If you can. Ten and eleven are very tight driving holes lined with a common water hazard running the complete length of the hole. Racking up a poor start is easy on the back nine and I had dropped 8 shots to par in three holes thanks to penalties but mainly sand shots... and my inability to come to terms with the softness of the bunkers. A bit like playing out of a merengue. Nothing to bounce off. The greens here are fantastic to putt on. Fast and true. Very Challenging! Most putts go the way you read them. Visual design and layout is fantastic and if you hit off the blacks (back tees) like I did you need to drive it well. Lucky for me I hit all but two fairways. The ones I missed cost me a triple and a double.
It wasn't till I got through all 6 of the Japanese golfing groups did my game begin to flow hitting 6 of the closing 9 greens. So something to check before you play is other groups of non members. I think the Japanese groups averaged just over 5 hours 15 minutes for their rounds. The course is gorgeous and every hole has water on it somewhere making sure you are always playing good shots. There is a couple of par 3's here across water carries. The brilliant 16 th is set up like an island so bring one of your best shot to this hole. This par 3 is 184 meters off the back tees and has a very challenging green I managed to 4 putt "it" having hit a solid 3 iron to the back of the green. I was faced with a double turning down hill putt that got caught up on the upper ridge. Feature holes you will definately enjoy are 2,5 9,11,14,16 and a brut of a finishing hole 18. So there is plenty to enjoy here.
Suwan is a must play course if playing golf here in Thailand if golf is your aim. It is not a course for the beginner, however as it will be a very long day if you havent played much. I highly recommend it but bring plenty of balls. Lots of interesting water hazards await. Oh yes and spend some time hitting a few bunker shots before you start. You will definitely end up in sand even if you navigate the course well and manage to avoid all the water.
Half way through my round I turned to thinking about my "waiting" taxi driver. Had he left the meter running? Could he be that cheeky! It was possible I thought. Probably had his rights to do it too! Luckily when I returned he had only run the meter on about 100 baht. Anyway I can confirm the trip there and back is around 1100 baht. 150 km round trip. I gave a tip of 500 baht for his service and patience maybe just a little too much 350-400 is probably ok. Tip included he saved me 400 baht. So I can confirm the arranged fares (not on the meter) are more expensive.
Something else you need to be aware of when accepting trips in taxis "off" the meter around Bangkok. As a tourist you have no proof and no come back if things go wrong, plus you have the additional language barrier. Stick with the meter. It's just my suggestion you do it by the meter or get the hotel you stay with to negotiate it with their favored drivers but you should know they most probably make a cut.
Good luck playing Suwan golf course.
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