Having lived in Thailand for a little over 4 years, and watched everything on YouTube I could ever want to watch, I was twiddling my thumbs, wondering what I could do to pass the time of day. I have tried the fishing in Udon Thani, and got quite bored quite quickly thanks to the lack of variety of species and methods to catch them. Over the years, while busy on the home PC, I also played Tiger Woods Golf for a while, so I thought - why not learn how to play golf - for real?
There are a small clutch of golf courses in and near Udon Thani, and I decided to try out the Nong Samrong Golf Course, just off the Nong Khai Road (Highway 2). Nong Samrong Golf Course is the only golf course round these parts which has a chip & putting green in addition to a driving range, which I thought would be an ideal starting place.
There are a small clutch of golf courses in and near Udon Thani, and I decided to try out the Nong Samrong Golf Course, just off the Nong Khai Road (Highway 2). Nong Samrong Golf Course is the only golf course round these parts which has a chip & putting green in addition to a driving range, which I thought would be an ideal starting place.
As a non-Thai speaking ferang, there was always the possibility of not being able to learn much on the first day due to the language barrier but the guy that took me under his wing had a few 'choice words' which was a bit of a help. Very few of the people that work here, from the pro shop down the large number of orange jacket wearing caddies, speak any English so the first time visit is a little bewildering, until you find your way round to find where everything is.
Being in Issan, everything related to the golf course is not what what we would class as quality, and that includes the course itself. Many of the current buildings are like tin-roofed shacks but there are a number of block buildings being erected as I write, so hopefully the place will look a little tidier quite soon.
Being in Issan, everything related to the golf course is not what what we would class as quality, and that includes the course itself. Many of the current buildings are like tin-roofed shacks but there are a number of block buildings being erected as I write, so hopefully the place will look a little tidier quite soon.
Moving on to actually trying to play the game.....I stayed with the chip & putt for this session, just to get a feel for a golf club (having never held one before), and the first impression, based on my 80 ball practice and watching a few guys that have been playing for many years, golf is much harder that I imagined. That may work to my advantage though, as there is clearly a lot of room for improvement, and that should be something to keep me interested for many, many years to come. Next week I will start to swing a driver and a few irons around, and really begin to start on the steep learning curve.
During my day, I met a few Thai people, whose English was every bit as poor as my Thai, but all the same I managed to convey the message that I would like to follow them round the course as they played, taking a few pictures along the way. They were more than happy to entertain the idea and we actually did manage to have some golf conversation, so it was not as difficult to have a laugh with them. The caddies were up for a laugh too, and naturally one of them was more than a little interested in a ferang on his own. A very young looking caddie called Pisat was definitely distracted during the round and even got brave enough to ask me to take her picture, and started talking a little (exchanging names but little else).
During my day, I met a few Thai people, whose English was every bit as poor as my Thai, but all the same I managed to convey the message that I would like to follow them round the course as they played, taking a few pictures along the way. They were more than happy to entertain the idea and we actually did manage to have some golf conversation, so it was not as difficult to have a laugh with them. The caddies were up for a laugh too, and naturally one of them was more than a little interested in a ferang on his own. A very young looking caddie called Pisat was definitely distracted during the round and even got brave enough to ask me to take her picture, and started talking a little (exchanging names but little else).
Please visit my Golf in Udon Thani page for more details about Nong Samrong Golf Course and other golf courses in the Udon Thani area.