Thailand’s vibrant capital is a heady mix of exciting nightlife, ancient heritage and incredible street food. It also has plenty to offer golfers with an abundance of excellent courses and places to stay.
There’s few destinations as thrilling for golfers as Bangkok, and the year-round warm weather provides great golfing conditions and an escape for some winter sun. With over 60 courses, we pick out the highlights and some great places to stay.
Golf resorts & hotels
Le Meridien Suvarnabhumi Bangkok Golf Resort & Spa is one of the best luxury hotels in Bangkok. Around 30 minutes from the city centre, this five-star hotel offers over 220 rooms of elegant luxury with fantastic facilities. It also has stunning views across the resident Summit Windmill Golf Club. Manmade lakes, rolling hills and landscaped gardens dot this fabulous design, and you can play night golf here as the course is floodlit for a magical golfing experience.
For those playing at Summit Windmill Golf Club, you can also stay at Summit Windmill Golf Residence. Opening directly on to the golf course, it has 70 exquisitely appointed suites and residences where fully serviced luxury is combined with a sense of tranquility.
Park Plaza Sukhumvit Hotel is a great four-star option close to the city centre, just yards from the nearest Skytrain station and within easy reach of an array of bars, shops and restaurants. And there’s a rooftop swimming pool with spectacular views over the city.
Set in a quiet part of Bangkok, a few minutes walk from the famous Sukhumvit thoroughfare and the fashionable Makkasan district, the 4.5 star Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit offers stylish accommodation with a wide choice of dining options and facilities. The closest golf courses are Riverdale Golf Club, Lam Luk Ka, and Suwan Golf & Country Club.
Golf courses
Riverdale Golf Club – North of the city centre, this course has large water features and deceptively steep slopes, ready to catch wayward tee shots. It’s rolling fairways, small reed-lined lakes, raised greens and well placed bunkers make it a joy to play no matter what your handicap is.
Suwan Golf & Country Club – Located north-west of the city centre, this club hosted the 2011 Thailand Open. Every hole has its own unique character and it’s surrounded by orchids, rice fields, palm trees and lotus ponds, providing a tropical feel.
Lam Luk Ka – An hour outside the city, this club is built on wetlands and is home to many tropical species of plants and animals for a distinctly Thai feel. There are two 18-hole courses here so reservations are usually easier to guarantee than at other clubs. The West Course offers a more modest challenge as the fairways are wide and the distances achievable with woods or irons, while the Championship East Course is one of Thailand’s most testing layouts which hosted the 2002 Thailand PGA Championship.
Alpine Golf Club – About 10km north of the city centre, this club is remembered as the site of Tiger Woods’ Johnnie Walker PGA Tour victory in 2000. The course is covered in grass coved slopes, shrubs and trees, giving it a beautiful parkland feel. It’s challenging and excellently maintained with rolling fairways and a series of water and sand hazards. The name Alpine is a reference to its hilly nature and its surrounded by jungle.
Thai Country Club – About 20km east of the city, this is a tropical course with water features ringed by palm trees and gently undulating landscapes. It offers world-class facilities, professional caddies and an interesting variety of holes. A brilliant clubhouse with great food makes this a superb golfing day out.
Bangkok Golf Club – Built in the 1990s, this course in the north of the city has both natural and manmade water hazards as well as an island green and tee box. It has hosted various tournaments including the Asian Tour Volvo Masters in 2003. Resident foul and deer roam this parkland layout giving it a pleasing atmosphere.
Siam Country Club Bangkok – In the south-eastern suburbs of the city, this club is home to five golf courses, so there’s plenty of green-fee booking options. There’s the 50-year-old 18-hole Old Course, the 27-hole Plantation, the 18-hole Waterside and the 18-hole Rolling Hills. It’s newest course is the 18-hole championship course, named Bangkok, which was designed by Toby Cobb, a design associate of Coore and Crenshaw Design. This is a must visit club for golfers travelling to Thailand.
