Bangkok Golf Courses

One of the top 3 Bangkok courses and host of the 1975 World Cup of Golf, Navatanee has improved with time and matured into one of Bangkok’s most beautiful courses. Play is strictly for members only during weekends, but the course does allow international guests to play during weekdays.

The Navatanee golf course is always well maintained and the caddies are very knowledgeable. Some great holes are sprinkled throughout the course including the short Par 4 5th which is one of the more difficult despite being only 329 yards, and the Par 5 9th around the water, which receives unanimous approval from all who play here.

The signature 6th hole at Navatanee is a 445 yard par-4 that demands a draw from the tee in order to reach the green in regulation. However, with water guarding both the entire left side of the fairway and another lake fronting the green, making par on this hole is a notable achievement!

The clubhouse at Navatanee Golf Club has a superb outdoor restaurant overlooking the 9th that serves up some of the best local food around. 

Suwan Golf & Country Club is a new course is just less than an hour drive from Bangkok. Surrounding fruit orchards and rice fields along with the golf course’s hilly and challenging layout makes every hole have its own unique character. More than most other Thailand golf courses there are many holes with significant elevation changes where level fairways play up to built up and well guarded greens.

Several holes require long and straight tee shots when played from the back tees so as to take the strategically placed fairway hazards out of play. The tips play at over 7100 yards! Water or OB comes come in to play on most holes, putting shot making accuracy at a premium.

Holes number 2 and 14 are among the more challenging, the former being a double dog leg par 5 and the later being a long par 4 with water running down the right side. Careful shot planning is required to make par on both of these holes and only repeated playing will give the golfer the correct club selection knowledge required. Hole 17 is the signature hotel with a well bunkered green surrounded on three sides by large lily ponds. This challenging hole exemplifies Thailand golfing at its greatest.

Suwan Golf and Country Club is one of Bangkok’s best golf courses. The club is a must play as part of any Bangkok golf vacation and playing now is even better as the course has yet to be discovered and Suwan is less crowded as compared to the other Bangkok championship golf courses. 

Alpine Golf and Sports Club, created by one of America’s leading golf course architects, Ronald M. Garl, was the venue for the 2000 Johnnie Walker Classic PGA tournament won by Tiger Woods and again hosted the same event in 2004.

The 18 holes at Alpine golf simply put make up the most challenging golf course in Bangkok, and by a wide margin! In addition to the superb layout this member’s only golf club is extremely well maintained and features lightening fast greens and undulating fairways.

Alpine Golf and Sports Club’s picturesque hills were created from flat rice paddy fields and the changing elevations may remind you more of places like Chiang Mai, Hua Hin or even Myrtle Beach. The rolling fairways and undulating greens at Alpine differentiate the course from any other in Bangkok. Eighty percent of the greens slope from back to front, so keeping the ball below the hole is the key to shooting low scores. Good fairway and approach shots will be rewarded while badly placed shots held subject to costly penalties.

Golfers privileged to play at Alpine Golf and Sports Club will have an unforgettable experience of having their golf skills challenged.

Thai Country Club is a prestigious member’s course is managed by the Peninsula Hotel, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Thai County is often considered the best in Bangkok as it sets the standard for service excellence. The 7,157-yard course, from the professional tees, was the venue for the 1997 Asian Honda Classic, where Tiger Woods cruised to a comfortable 10-stroke victory after shooting a final round of 68 for a 20 under-par total of 268 for the championship. One year later the second round of the 1998 Johnnie Walker Super Tour was also played in ideal conditions at Thai Country Club, won in style by Vijay Singh, who carded a magnificent score of 66 - two strokes ahead of Ernie Els and Jesper Parnevik. More recently Thai Country Club hosted the 2007 and 2008 Volvo Masters. 

Discerning golfers will appreciate this truly world-class golfing experience. Thai Country Club’s caddies are amongst the best trained in Thailand. The award-winning best in Asia clubhouse which stands surrounded by water between the 1st tee and 18th green – is regularly voted the best clubhouses in Asia and caters to every need. Once there, you’ll find the friendliest staff of golf professionals in the Kingdom, committed to making your golf experience a memorable one. 

Summit Windmill is one of the most challenging layouts in Bangkok. Despite its difficulty, it continues to remain an attraction for all types of players as course conditions are always kept up well.

Water comes into play on many of the holes starting with a large hazard that flanks the left side of the long par-5 1st hole. The same concept is repeated on the 18th and both these holes also happen to be the golf course signature holes that well exemplify the course challenge. The 1st hole is a long 624 yards, even by today’s standards, and the 18th is an exciting finishing hole that can provide some dramatic endings to any round.

Nick Faldo’s often innovative design also is further characterized by contoured fairways and four excellent quality, water-protected par-3’s, thebest of which is the island green 12th. A variety of palm trees line most fairways and give the course a Thailand tropical feeling. With little rough to worry about, golfers can look forward to getting their balls onto the many elevated greens and coping with the undulations.

Make sure you play from the set of tees most suited to your level of play or you’ll be in for a rough day. The black championship tees in particular are set on their own island teeing areas and are placed at very different and more difficult angles than the other tees.  

Rachakram Golf Club is a newly opened course in the Bangsai area of Ayutthaya province north of Bangkok. Ratchakram features a great layout offering a tremendous variety of memorable holes. Greens are quite firm and fast, but receptive to holding approach shots, even with long irons and/or woods. In addition to superb greens, the bunker sand is of a nice firm texture, providing the ability to put good spin on bunker shots.

The fairways provide excellent lies and are generous with young trees lining most. Now they do not present much of a problem, but naturally they will in future years, enhancing the challenge of Rachakram Golf Club. 

Designed like a links course there are the undulations and openness in front of the greens enabling shots to run up to the greens on a number of the holes.

This course has a great variety of holes both in length and design. The pars 3’s are challenging with lengths of 193, 230, 206 and one short one of 136 yards. The par 5’s all measure over 500 yards and with the wind against you at times; these par holes can play like well over 600 yards! 

There is plenty of water including some blind water hazards. The most scenic holes due to their outstanding design are number 10, a dogleg par 4 with a carry over water to a huge green with a false front and hole 12, a long par 5 into the prevailing wind; don’t even think of reaching in two shots. 

Lakewood Golf Club is an interesting course near to Bangkok city center. The Lakewood golf course comprises of a vast green space and a luxurious housing estate. Although the golf course is relatively flat, the surrounding landscaping features more than 45 species of plants and more than 2,000 trees.

The course has 3 nines, Rock, Wood and Lake. All three nines are similar in design with subtle doglegs, slightly undulating greens and water. Fortunately the water (as any OB) should only seriously come into play on a few holes. The golf course is well maintained all year round and has excellent drainage making it a good choice especially in the rainy season.

Fairways are generally wide and the Bermuda grass course is in excellent condition. The fairways drain well, are somewhat spongy which provides a good lie but important to note; because of the sponginess there will be virtually no roll on your drive. This of course means the course plays longer than the indicated yardage. Also impacting the length of play is the fact that the prevailing wind is at most times in your face and usually on the longest holes! The Bermuda rough is typical Bermuda rough and generally not too severe however during the rainy season, it becomes denser thus requiring at times the need to merely take a lofted club and get back on the fairway.

The caddies are all well trained with most having worked at Lakewood for over five years. This makes green reading, with their help, a real pleasure. Lakewood is a little more expensive than some other area courses due to its relatively close proximity to Bangkok city center and the new Suvanabhumi airport as well as its popularity with the many Asian expatriate members. Lakewood is a fine course with excellent service and a good course to play as you get your game in shape.

Lam Luk Ka Country Club offers the best 36 hole layout in all Bangkok and provides a very relaxing golf day in Bangkok. Because it’s a little further out and features two courses, tee times are usually easy to find. Both courses meander through Bangkok’s wetlands, where over 10,000 trees and waterways provide homes to over 100 species of birds and wildlife. There has been a great deal of tree planting, so the courses are already are blessed with more shade than many of the newer Bangkok golf courses.

In this very natural, rural environment, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Bangkok, four relatively similar nine-hole loops are interchangeably used on any given day. The Championship East Course comprises the A and B nines, the Resort West Course the C and D nines.

Though there is little to separate them in terms of quality of upkeep and presentation, which is always excellent, the East course (7012 yards) is longer than the West (6605 yards), and can feel tougher as a result. Water hazards feature on just about every hole on both courses. Golfers will also be attracted not only by the good course layout, but also by the greens, which are some of the best putting surfaces in Bangkok. Good bunkering throughout and well-paced sloping greens reinforce the overall high quality golf environment at Lam Luk Ka Country Club.

Best Ocean Golf club is a golf course that every golfer playing in Thailand needs to try at least once. Being located west of Bangkok and near to the sea; the breezes at Best Ocean lend themselves to very pleasant playing conditions. In addition, a links style course layout makes Best Ocean unique among Bangkok’s top courses. The course has narrow fairways and elevated, well guarded greens, both characteristic of award winning Schmidt-Curley designs.

There is water on every hole with most holes even having water left and right, and sometimes center! Well struck drives are required to land on the many island fairways (yes islands!). Very accurate approach shots are then needed to hit the well guarded greens, otherwise water or sand is a sure result. This is a course that demands planning and strategy from the tee to the green and golfers should be warned to bring lots of extra balls.

Love it or hate it, Best Ocean will have you taking about your round for a long time as it one of the most unique Bangkok golf courses!

The Legacy Golf Club is the only Jack Nicklaus course in Bangkok. It was formerly known as Natural Park Ramindra Golf Club and part of the large Natural Park group of courses. Before Legacy Golf Club was taken over by the Natrural group it was independently run as the Winsan Golf Club. The golf club is located next to Safari World in the Minburi area and is a very easy 40 minute drive from the city center of Bangkok.

The course is popular with local Thai golfers, members, and golf visitors alike. Course conditions are well kept especially considering the amount of rounds played. Caddies are well trained and as good if not better than other Bangkok golf courses. However, during the rainy season the fairways can get soggy very quickly as the course is in one of the lower lying areas of Bangkok.

Legacy Golf Club was built between two lakes and is equally challenging for amateur and professional golfers alike. All the common Jack Nicklaus design features such as waste bunkers, wide fairways, and tight approaches are found in abundance at Legacy.

The Jack Nicklaus designed course measures over 7,100 yards from the “Jack” tees, but with 5 tee boxes to choose from the golf course provides a tough test for players of all abilities. Huge lakes come into play on almost half the holes. Greens are good but sometimes on the slow side, at least compared to some of the top Bangkok golf courses such as Alpine and Thai Country Club. Most of the greens are well guarded and surrounded by deep bunkers. The par 4, sixteenth plays especially difficult as a large island green is all but surrounded by water and sand.