Navatanee

No doubt there are many better known golf courses in Thailand but there are very few as good as Navatanee, an early Trent Jones Jr. design on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Although Navatanee is within an hour of Central Bangkok it certainly does not feel it. Some traffic can be heard in a couple of corners of the course, otherwise it is like strolling through a sedate tropical park.

Trent Jones Jr. was a young course designer following in his famous father’s footsteps when he won the contract to design this course in 1969. It was a meaningful commission for him as it was the first course he designed that hosted a professional tournament. Since then he has been involved in hundreds of projects worldwide and many within Asia.

Navatanee hosted the World Cup of Golf in 1975 which was won by the US team of Johnny Miller and Lou Graham. The event did more than anything else to instigate interest in the game in Thailand – that in turn triggered the investment boom in the 1980s and 90s. It may be a coincidence but 1975 was also the year of half-Thai Tiger Woods’ birth.

In his book Golf by Design, Trent Jones Jr. speaks often about courses requiring heroic characteristics and heroic shots. Both full length shots at the 6th and 9th are straight out of this canon.

Golfing here is an immensely pleasurable experience. The rough is kept low for everyday play, the trees are not very densely grouped and the fairways are pretty generous. This is a subtle classic course that has moved gracefully into maturity.

Re-produced with kind permission from The Finest Golf Courses of Asia & Australasia by James Spence.