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AND SO on to Chiang Mai, our penultimate stop. It didn't disappoint.
The second city of Thailand is a major tourist attraction, a bustling place full of colour, character and vibrant movement, enhanced at night when the main thoroughfare is closed to traffic and becomes a mile-long street market illuminated by lanterns. Perfect for those who can resist anything but temptation!
You'll want to linger there, but not for too long: greener pastures await no more than 40 minutes away in what could be another world. There's a choice of four clubs, one of them the focal point of a resort par excellence. This is the Royal Chiang Mai Golf Club & Resort, a splendiferous establishment full of good things for the travelling golfer.
The accommodation comes in a low profile hotel of elegant lines and sumptuous standards, all white marble and cool as a cucumber on ice. One side overlooks a swimming pool, the other a golf course that will leave you spellbound and with senses soothed. When you learn that the architect is Peter Thomson you'll doubtless nod in approval, sight unseen.
The course, fitting perfectly into a compact site, offers a design of great subtlety, as you would expect of such a cerebral traditionalist. It's not over-long on the card (6,900 yards from the back) although it plays rather longer than that. Naturally, there's a choice of tees, according to ability and ambition, and a scratch man would have a solid test from the tips in even the most benign conditions. Let him play it when it's toughened and tightened for professional play, which occasionally it is, and he'll wonder what's hit him.
The fairways are relatively narrow, although marginally extended by the first cut of light rough, but squeezed in the landing areas by some clever lateral bunkering. It's a course that offers a challenge from every tee.
Thomson believes that golf is a game played along the ground and that getting to the green is what it's all about. Amen to that. Once on the green you'll have fun deciphering the subtle breaks and rolls in greens of often beguiling configuration.
He asks all the questions you'd expect but he's never penal: there are options at every turn. Imagination is a prerequisite here, plus a deft touch on and around the greens.
This is a jewel, a joy to see and play. It has a lovely symmetry and harmony, with comparable variety. A bonus: one can walk down the hotel steps straight onto the course, stopping en route in the clubhouse for breakfast. Order lunch whilst there: you'll want to play 36 holes a day here, and spend a week doing so.
A group of friends would have a ball, as would the family because the golf is one of many recreational attractions. The swimming complex aside, there's a sports and fitness centre, there's sauna and massage and indoor games, including snooker. The place has a buzz at night. Wouldn't take much to get lit up...
In the unlikely event that boredom enters your equation, or if you fancy a two centre stay with a few nights in the city of Chiang Mai, then look no further than our next combination, the Westin Hotel and the Chiang Mai Lamphun Golf Club.
Now I'm not a great fan of international hotel chains: the standards are good, to be sure, but they tend to be a bit impersonal. At some of them it's akin to sleeping in a bed factory with dining to match and a bar with all the atmosphere of a morgue where the rush hour has just ended.
But I was mightily impressed with the Chiang Mai Westin. It was first class in every respect: comfort, service, facilities, cuisine -- there are several alternatives, all appealing. They know how to take care of a chap. And the location is a bonus. It's only a few minutes from the airport and convenient for the golf.
If you want to visit the region, which I highly recommend, then you should fly into Chiang Mai en route to the aforementioned Royal Chiang Mai. That being the case, the Westin is the ideal spot for your final night, before the flight back to Bangkok and home. Investigating the Lamphun course during the day and taking a city stroll in the evening would be a perfect finale to your adventure in Thailand.
The course, quite simply, is another jewel. It's from the drawing board of the man who designed Majestic Creek, an equally impressive lay-out, full of visual delight and technical challenge. It lies in a wooded valley at an elevation of about 1,000 feet with mountains on three sides and criss-crossed by streams that feed a series of lakes. It's a blaze of colour, a photographer's dream and a joy to play, although don't expect to finish without losing a ball or two.
The clubhouse facilities are first class and like all Thai courses there are several "pit stops" for drinks, snacks and toilets, all invaluable in this climate. The course offers easy walking and enjoyment enhanced by highly competent female caddies for whom a 100 baht tip will bring even wider smiles.
Ask them nicely and they'll pose for a photograph, a warming memento of a land they justifiably call Amazing Thailand.
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