Thailand Golf Travel Newsletter Winter 2007 Welcome to…

              Thailand Golf Travel Newsletter Winter 2007
Welcome to the Winter 2007 newsletter of Golfasian. Since this is the first newsletter for 2007, I
would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. It has been a three months since I last wrote to
you and there is much golf news to report as well as significant developments regarding Thailand
and golfing here.

New golf courses continue to open at a rate of around one per month. The new nine holes at Loch
Palm in Phuket is said to be the best on the island. In Bangkok, Cascata Golf Club opened in
November and it is already receiving good reviews. All of the three Gassan courses in Chiang Mai
are open for play and together with the 7 other championship courses make Chiang Mai a great
golfing destination to consider. The next few months will see the re-opening of the Siam Country
Club, renamed the old course along with a brand new 18 holes, thus adding to the golfing selection
in Pattaya. Hua Hin has also seen its share of new courses this year, with all 27 holes open for play
at Springfield and an additional 9 holes (the desert course) open at Imperial Lake View. Add these
new courses together with Black Mountain (a Green Valley Group Course) due to be announced
soon and you get another great golfing hot spot in Thailand.

Some informative reviews and updates on all of the new courses are covered on the web site and in
my Thailand golf report.


As for Golfasian, we continue to expand our services. This season has seen our first groups visit
and play golf in neighboring Cambodia and Vietnam. While these countries are still in their golfing
infancy compared to Thailand, they do represent good side trips for those looking to combine multi-
countries and multi-cultures into one holiday. Feel free to drop me an e-mail if you might have
interest in these areas as we have yet to neither announce nor open our tours to the general
public.

In addition to new destinations, we have hired a full time golf professional who is now providing
both range and playing lessons to our golfing visitors. Golfer feedback has been very positive as
both beginners have been able to successfully pick up the sport and intermediate golfers have
been able to cut their handicaps due to the golf tuition they've received while on holiday in
Thailand. More golf instruction package information is available here.


Please remember if you want to be certain to get regular updates on the Thailand golf scene, then
you can sign-up for uninterrupted email delivery of this newsletter. In addition, all persons signing
up will automatically enrolled to win a chance for a free sleeve of Titleist Pro V1x golf balls, plus a
special Golfasian exclusive member's only gift.

Have a great winter and if your plans allow, I hope to welcome as many of you as possible to
Thailand this season. In the meantime, think positive and YOU WILL SHOOT PAR.

Mark Siegel
Managing Director
   Featured Golf Course

Best Ocean Golf Club is located only 17km from Bangkok's city center,
making it one of the easiest courses to travel to if staying in Bangkok.
The course designed by Schmidt-Curley Design from the USA is unique
among all Thailand golf courses as it is built in a "links-style". Couple this
to the use of Sea Isle Paspalum 2000 grass (very rare in South East
Asia) in both fairways and on greens and you have the makings of one of
the most interesting and challenging layouts in Thailand.

Opened in 2005, the 7059 yard par 72 course has not been publicized, nor played, much as it
practically hidden from public view to date. This, is sure to change as the word gets out on the
course. In the meantime, I am recommending that every golfer visiting Bangkok plays this course
now while tee times are readily available and course maintenance is in top order.

There is water on every hole with most holes even having water left and right, and sometimes
center, i.e. island fairways'! This demands straight and accurate drives; else golfers should be
warned to bring lots of extra balls. The greens are for the most part elevated and well guarded by
deep bunkers. Therefore, approach shot planning is a must and one has to be careful when hitting
into the greens to avoid these deep sand traps. Oftentimes a lay up with an easy chip is much
preferable to a deep bunker shot. Putting surfaces, while undulating and almost in perfect
conditions, are slower than other top courses making this the one weak point in the otherwise
excellent course conditions.

The course is near the sea, so constant breezy weather lends itself to nice playing conditions. The
club house has been fully completed and opened in June 2006 and has an excellent Thai seafood
restaurant. However the driving facility, still under construction, will only be available for use from
March 2007.

For those looking for a new course to add to their regular stable of venues or for visitors just
wanting to try something a little out of the ordinary, I can highly recommend Best Ocean. All
weekday and weekend tee times are available to the public as the course has yet to commence
membership sales.



   Best of the Blog www.thailandgolfzone.com

Thailand Golf Secrets




The As an expatriate living and working in Thailand, there are a number of advantages that we
have as golfers over someone visiting from outside the country.In this article I would like to share
some of these insider golf playing `secrets'.

Obviously, both as a frequent golfer, and by socializing regularly with fellow golfers, you soon learn
the `secrets' of many aspects of better golf in Thailand. This could be simple things as which golf
courses are the best values for money, and which are most convenient and enjoyable to play.

For example, some courses may be particularly busy during certain periods; others may be a bit
quieter. Some courses are renowned for having excellent caddies; others may have issues with the
management of the course, which can inevitably lead to many problems. All of these factors are
important to both expatriates living in Thailand who wants to enjoy their golf, and to the visiting
tourist who wants value for money during their Thailand golf holiday.

Continue reading about "Thailand Golf Secrets" plus take a look at all the other articles at the only
blog on the internet dealing exclusively with golf travel in Thailand.



     Special Playing Tip

Posture and Path Match For Best Putts




Most golfers don't consider posture a key element in putting. In fact, they usually ignore it unless
their back is bothering them. But matching posture to stroke type is one of the secrets to
consistently putting well. How you stand to the ball determines how you stroke it.

Your shoulders move perpendicular to your spine when putting. If your posture is upright, your
shoulders move "around" the spine, promoting an open-to-square stroke. If your putting posture is
bent over, your shoulders move "up and down", promoting a pendulum-like stroke.

Below are the four possible posture-swing path scenarios.

·   Match: Upright spine angle/ "around" open-to-square stroke
·   Match: Bent over spine angle/up-and-down pendulum stroke
·   Mismatch: Upright spine angle/ up-and-down pendulum stroke
·   Mismatch: Bent over spine angle/ "around" open-to-square stroke

If your posture is too upright for your square-to-square stroke, it will force you to pick up the
putter in an attempt to keep the face from opening. The tendency with this mismatch is to pull the
ball. Another sign of a mismatch of this type is too many lip-outs.

If your posture is too bent over for your open-to-square stroke, it will force you to open the putter
face at impact, resulting in a push. If you're pushing or jerking your putts, it's a sign that your
stroke and posture don't match.

If you want to improve your putting, keep the above in mind and match posture with stroke. Once
you master this you will have more putting consistency and those three putts and lip-outs will
become a thing of the past.
   Free Titleist Pro V1x Golf Ball Winner Register Here!

The winner of a sleeve of Titleist Pro V1x golf balls is Mr. Jimmy Pang,
from Singapore. Congratulations Jimmy! I will be contacting you
shortly to arrange delivery. If you recieve this newsletter first, please
contact me by e-mail.




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