Golfing in the month of august

[skiguy45 0]

Would like to know if this is a good time to come and play some golf, and what course conditions are

like. And some places to stay, thanks.

[ktappinen 52]

A lot depends on your point of reference - is it Seattle or Santa Fe or Miami? August in Pattaya is not in the hottest season, but January tends to be cooler. However, the typical highest daytime temperatures are a bit lower than in Miami in August, while nights are a bit warmer. There usually is more rain than in January, but less than in September or June. The average rainfall is about half of what Miami gets in August. The rain also tends to be quite predictable: the typical pattern is that you have rain showers in late afternoon/evening, Sensible players start out early morning to be able to finish before the hottest part of the day and to minimize the risk of being hit by the rain. However, thus far the 2012 weather has not been quite typical in Thailand.

 

August is the summer holiday month for many Europeans, but they are less desperate to come to Thailand than during the atrocious winter months. In particular the golfers are able to play at their home courses instead of traveling to Pattaya as so many golfers do in my home country in December and January. August is well into the official rainy season, so the Pattaya golf courses may be in a better condition than in April, although the irrigation is quite thorough all around the year.

 

If you are an avid golfer and intend to play practically every day for a month, you can do as my mother has done now for years: rent a condo practically next to her favorite golf bar. This makes it painless to catch the van to the day's golf course in the early morning. There are no golf courses in Pattaya town or even Jomtien, so you will have to ride a van for a while to reach one. There are outlying resorts with an attached golf course, but these are really the worst option, since they won't be arranging tours to their competitors and you hardly want to play a single course day after day when there are so many others available - and downtown entertainment will be far away. Searching the forum will provide accommodation tips: http://www.pattayata...__fromsearch__1 seemed to be the most recent one. Of course, a first-timer runs the risk of not finding the bar nor the other customers to be amicable.

 

My mother's latest visit was in December, and she was griping about the golf courses' response to the lower demand due to the floods: they refused to let people to share a golf buggy and the additional fee - in the past two persons were allowed to share. Of course this is significant only if you are not willing or able to walk the course, but quite many people find it to be too much to walk in the heat and humidity. As a result, in her case playing 18 holes in Pattaya costs now about the same as in our home country. The fee for the golf bar for the van rides and the breakfast, the green fee, the golf buggy rental and finally the tip to the mandatory caddy added up to be over USD 75. This is still about the same as the average green fee back home - without the caddy and the golf buggy.

[Norfloxacin400 87]

Beware of lightening.

[bigmick 839]

There are several bars in the LK Metro area that do golf days and are geared up specially for this, there is also a bar/restaurant called the caddy shack that does golfing days almost every day. A typical day at golf (if you have your own clubs) will cost you circa 1000 - 1300 baht, this includes green fee, caddy and cart, you then tip your caddy - average 200 - 300 baht. If you are ging to go with one of the bars that are in the LK area that cater for this, it will cost you about 200 - 300 for breakfast and travel there and back. Not exspensive for a good day out. That time of year, beware of heavy rain and if you start playing golf and it rains - there is no "money back" One good course is the Thai Navy course in Sattahip caled Plutaluang, it has 36 holes and is well laid out.