DAVID LAIRD

Moore Park must be the course nearest to the middle of Sydney. It is a typical city centre course, fitted into a small area but it is not short. if you’re staying in Sydney, it well worth a visit. It is a good parkland track with a good variety of holes and available at a reasonable price. Have a good day mate ! DAVID LAIRD

I seem to be the first to review this course, although I know many people who have played it. Rajapraba Dam belongs to the Thai Electricity Company who presumably also built and own the Khao Sok lake and dam. It is an absolute must to visit the lake and stay in one of the floating hotels either before or after playing this course. They take your hotel in a long tail boat which take about 1 hour through this spectacular lake with limestone hills and cliffs. In the morning, you go out in a small boat at dawn to see and hear all kinds of wildlife.The course itself is excellent and normally in good condition. This is a hilly course so don’t try to walk it in the heat unless you are really fit. Most of the par 4’s and 5’s give you a reasonably wide driving area but there are a couple of holes where it tightens up and you should think about playing a ladyboy (My Thai caddy taught me this name for a hybrid - it’s neither one nor the other)The par 3’s are outstanding, smallish greens which are well protected and the 17th which is played from uphigh to a green over water.. The par 4’s and 5’s are very varied, every hole is different. Make sure that you ask your caddy where to aim in order to avoid the various burns and ponds that are around the course and also to get you in position on the doglegs to have a clear second shot. The only hole which I don’t like is the last which seems to be fitted in somehow without really being one thing or another, which is disappointing as the rest of the course is so good.This course is a really good test which every level of golfer can enjoy. Stop for something to eat after the tenth hole. The greenfee is reasonable and the drink stops on the way round are cheap and charming.Sawasdeekap DAVID LAIRD

Southern Hills just south of Hat Yai is well worth the visit. This is a very good golf course. It is not the perfectly manicured American course but normally in good condition.There is a small welcoming clubhouse. The greenfee is reasonable and ay have gone down now in Covid times. The course is a Dye course with a great variety of holes, short par 4’s and winding par 5’s.. There are many similarities with TPC Sawgrass, 17th island green and 18th round water all the way up the left. This a course that you will want to play again and again.Sawsdeekap DAVID LAIRD

I now live most of the year in Khao lak in Thailand. It is a one hour drive to Blue Canyon, and well worth it. I absolutely love this course. In previous times, I did not play Blua Canyon because it was so expensive, but the price has come way down. The greenfee is 1800baht for a Thai resident and I think 2400baht for a visitor. This includes buggy and caddy (tip is extra.I like the atmosphere throughout. The clubhouse is welcoming and the prices reasonable.The course is in perfectly good condition. It may not be as good as Amata Springs or Thai Country club but as a Scot, I do not expect or really want a perfectly manicured course.Blue Canyon starts quite gently and it keeps getting better and tighter as you go round. The par 3’s are good and the14th has the obligatory island green. This si a difficult hole as if there is any wind it swirls. The final 8 holes are all good and difficult with a little bit if respite in the 16th. Having played Blue Canyon 5 times this winter, I have had an excellent caddy each time.

I remember Killermont as a very classy well maintained course which was raher short but definitely tricky. Great facilities in the clubhouse. Some tight holes but good greens. Actually if you want an enjoyable round of golf without having to crush drives and hammer 3 woods to get up then this is for you.DAVID LAIRD

I was a member here for over 10 years. Anyone arriving here not knowing the course will think it is flat and easy but it is not. It is unforgiving. Mostly it is in good condition and underplayed so no pressure to rush round. At the time of writing (Covid time) you must book a tee time but normally this is not the case. It is a long course, particularly off the whites. Every fairway it tree lined so there is a premium on accuracy. The greens are not huge and many are raised so you can’t run your ball on. The 7th and 17th are long par 4’s which need a long drive and a long second to get the green. It is a course where you need to be able to hit both fades (5th) and draws off the tee (18th). If you can play your handicap on this course first time out you will be doing well.DAVID LAIRD Jan2022

I just played the »Lakes « and Blue Canyon at a very reasonable rate. The Lakes has a lot of water indeed on 17 of 18 holes. Nevertheless it is not ridiculous, you can get past or over most of the water hazards. I found it a very interesting course in good condition. Our caddies were excellent . Blue Canyon Resort was very comfortable and di not over price drinks and food. Go and stay in the resort for 2 nights and play the 2 courses. Even a mid or high handicapper can enjoy these courses unless you have « Waterblock » like my brother, you can enjoy the Lakes. Jan 2022 DAVID LAIRD

I played this course with a long time member and that halped. This is propers links golf as it should be. It’s not straigthforward; it has idiosyncrasies and blind shots and long holes and short holes but lots of variety. All in all a course that you will want to play again and again because you will never beat it.Firendly clubhouse.David Laird

I played Kempferhof many years ago and did not particularly enjoy it. I do not like courses where woods are bounded by red posts and become lateral water hazards.Having just played it again, I enjoyed it more this time although it is still a course with a lot of water hazards and due to its situation tends to be wet and players take huge escalopes of divots. It is a good layout with lots of variety. I particularly liked the par 5s which are goood holes demading discipline and good course management. The par 3’s are varied and one straight over water will not be appreciated by high handicappers.The greens were not in great shape with many patches and bumps. The clubhouse has been renovted and seemed to have some atmosphere which it did not ion my last visit.Apparently there is a new owenr who intends to invest in the course and bring it up to scratch so wait and see.David Laird

I love this course. It has always been in good condition when I have played ( always in autumn) The layout is interesting and challenging and to my mind really lives up to its name ‘La Belle Dune’ indeed.The silly houses round the lake are silly but it does not really affect the course. I would play it ahead of the Harelot courses and put it up with Le Touquet Mer but prettier.The clubhouse is a bit French !David Laird

This is where I learnt to play golf (if one ever learns) I have not played ti now for many years but from what I read not much has changed. Polllok is normally in really good condition, not too busy, not too long, not too exacting and with a comfortable clubhouse. You can enjoy your golf here but it may not be memorable although I can remember enjoying many rounds here.David Laird 2018

Basel is a good golf course but reallydoes not have anything very special to offer. The course is generally in good condition but you must play it in the summer as in spring and autumn it gets very wet.It’s an undulating parkland course with almost every fairway treelined right and left. There is an interesting very short par 3 steeply downhill so getting the right club is not so easy.The clubhouse has recently been redone and is well equipped. They are not terribly Green Fee friendly.David Laird 2018

This course is really something special. I have played it perhaps 100 times and it still inspires me. It is one of the most beautiful courses that I have ever played. Every hole is a vista with a mountain or the clubhouse or a tree fromation or something at the end behind the green. The course is very under played and you never need to book a Tee time. You turn up pay for your buggy and off you go. Playing from the blues, the course is long enough and from the blacks it is really long particularly the par 3’s. The condition is good though depending on the weather it can get a bit burnt up. Strangely in the write up no mention is made of the par 5 2nd hole. This is one of the hardest par 5’s that I have ever played. You must place your drive on the right of the fairway but too far right and you are in the water hazard. Everything slopes left to right so tends to push your second shot (if you got your drive in play) to the right and then you are blocked by palm trees. The green is undulating and difficult to read. All along the left side is very high rough (it could also be called jungle) in which you lose your ball. The hardest par 4’s are the 12th and 13th, both of which require a well placed long drive and then a second shot over a scrubby water hazard. The 12th green is small, narrow and slopey.The 15th is a gorgeous par 5 down hill to start with, over a burn and then to a well protected green. It’s not hard if you hit a good drive.Both the 9th and 18th are long par 4 ‘s going uphill requiring long drives and long second shots.All the par 3’s are long possibly too long but both the 8th and 10th are par 5’s where even I can get up in 2.The holes are lined with a marvellous assortment of trees and lots of very high rough so if you are wild you will suffer although the fairways are relatively wide. You will see Macaques and sometimes Dusky Leaf monkeys, hornbills, monitor lizards and many different colourful birds.Come and play it and enjoy it. Spend some time in paradise.Gunung Raya is harder than the Ele Datai course and almost as pretty only lacking the holes along the sea.David Laird May 2018

I have only played a few Nicklaus courses and I am not a fan. It is all rather predictable with lots of bukers up one side or the other of the fairway. I have played Mission Hills twice once some years ago and the course condition and service were fantastic. Having played it again recently I was really disappointed, the course is not in such good condition and there is clearly a maintenance problem with both the course and the clubhouse. For the price one expects something better. Nevertheless it still lies on the waters edge and some of the holes are spectacular but many are rather banal. UnlessI hear that there has been a chnage of ownership I will not return.