Hua Hin Golf Gossip

[heartofmidlothian]

Yes we are lucky to live here. Plenty of good golf courses to choose from and only really from Xmas until end of Feb is really busy with tourists. Lakeview, Springfield, Palm Hills and Majestic do all offer reasonably priced memberships. If you are a regular golfer, then you really do need to buy one of these. The golf festival and the excellent Dragon Hills and Royal Ratchaburi courses are great options if you do not buy a membership. Kaeng Krachan is also a good option as well.
I can understand non members not wanting to pay 2500 baht green fees. It is a lot of money to pay. The golf courses do need to make more of an effort to get more golfers during May to July, when often the courses are very quiet. Any sort of deal that gets the course busier, improves sales in the pro shop and restaurant and keeps the caddies busier, would be good for all involved.
Good to see that Springfield and Lakeview are making more of an effort to improve their maintenance this year. Banyan and Black Mountain are miles ahead of all the rest in this area, hence the reason why people are willing to pay more to play their golf courses. Most would agree that Springfield, Lakeview and Majestic are better designs than Black Mountain and Banyan, but are ranked lower.
It really is a shame that Majestic made such a mess of their greens renovations because the course has such potential. There really are so many people moving to Hua Hin that are looking to buy memberships at a good course and Majestic would be the obvious choice, when they get their greens sorted.
Overall we are pretty lucky but still some room for improvement in Hua Hin area.

[JW]

Some news from Majestic - its a rumour at present but hopefully its correct - Gavin the real master of course maintenace in the area is supposed to have been eployed by Majestic to fix their problems, he was involved in Black Mountain from the start, has recently been working with Springfield so hopefully he can sort out Majestic!

Krang Kachan is rumoured to have closed for a year for major overhaul, been bought out by some investment group.

Anyone knows more on either would be good to know.

[heartofmidlothian]

Good to hear that Gavin has been employed by Majestic - hope it is true. He has been working at Springfield for almost a year now and they are on the way to getting better. He was dropped by Black Mountain last summer because the owner wasn't happy with him helping Springfield.
Interesting about Kaeng Krachan. The new 9 holes was always in pretty good shape and is an excellent design. Everytime I went, it seemed like they completely over watered their new 9.

[Majestic Creek]

Yes, I can confirm that Gavin has been taken on as a consultant at Majestic, to help to improve the greens. He did an inspection last week, took core samples of the affected areas on the greens on both A and B course, which he was pleased to tell us that the problem isn't as bad as we feared ! We thought we were going to have to relay many greens on A course, but he has told us he feels the problems can be cured in a couple of months.
He is going to be working with our new green keeper, who joined us a short time ago, and who he knows very well and is highly commended by Gavin.
Gavin will give the green keeper a weekly routine of work and preparation, listing the work and the chemicals to be used. He is specific about the make and strength of the chemicals, as he doesn't want inferior brands used.
The greens have now been deep cored, and a specific grade of sand used as the start of the remedial
work. We have done half of each green, allowing relief from 'ground under repair' of the cored area.
We are confident that a couple of months of work, overseen by Gavin, will get our greens back to the condition the members and visitors expect.
The rest of the course looks in excellent condition, our twice weekly competitions have 50 plus members and guests playing, and we look forward to a full recovery of the greens with all the work planned, and thank the members for their support during this process.

[heartofmidlothian]

That is really good to hear Majestic. Hiring someone like Gavan is what you should have done from the start. The whole process is expensive but the only way to have quality maintenance. It will take a few months but will be worth it.

[JW]

Good job to take hold of the problem, Hua Hin golf courses should all use Gavin.. keep us all very happy wherever we play... little selfish but hey why not!

[Frank Hovis]

Krang Kachan is rumoured to have closed for a year for major overhaul, been bought out by some investment group.

I phoned KKCC today and the golf course is closed to the public for at least the next three months, golf is still being played there but only for Korean tourists, that would fit with it being bought out, probably by Koreans.

[cookmanchef]

Back in Hua Hin after 6 months in UK and concerned to hear about the poor condition of the greens at Majestic Creek as I am a member there. I posted my concerns that they were deteriorating about 9-10 months ago and that the greenkeeper didn't seem to know what he was doing, glad to see action has been taken and will see at first hand next week.

Personally I think courses should reduce green fees by 50% for all, members and non-members, while work such as hollow tining is carried out.

[Awu]

Back in Hua Hin after 6 months in UK and concerned to hear about the poor condition of the greens at Majestic Creek as I am a member there. I posted my concerns that they were deteriorating about 9-10 months ago and that the greenkeeper didn't seem to know what he was doing, glad to see action has been taken and will see at first hand next week.

Personally I think courses should reduce green fees by 50% for all, members and non-members, while work such as hollow tining is carried out.

I belive you will be disapointed next week..

[heartofmidlothian]

Played Lakeview and Banyan recently for the first time in ages. Banyan looking very good and greens slower than I recalled, although I must say it made them easier due to the severe slopes. Fairways a bit wet in places but has always been that way. Caddies on our 3 rounds were much better than they used to be.
Lakeviews greens are in good shape but fairways very poor and very wet in spots. Looks like the sprinklers are not spreading the water evenly. Some of the putts are crazy - playing 6 foot of borrow on some 10 foot putts! I heard from one of the staff that they plan to renovate the a and b nines. It certainly needs it and I hope they flatten the greens out a bit as well. Really is a lovely lay out.
Very happy to play Springfield because it is the only course with sensibly shaped greens. I have played golf all over the world and have never seen such slopey greens anywhere else as in this area.

[cookmanchef]

I agree about the greens at Lake View being too severe, undulations on greens should be subtle in my opinion and a good approach to within 10-12 feet should result in a good birdie chance, not a 6' borrow and potentially a 6' return putt!

Played Majestic on Wednesday and it was not as bad as I had been prepared for, fairways and 'rough' areas are very good, not a single bad lie all round. 'A' greens are patchy but very puttable and running quite well, 'B' greens have had a massive dose of sand on half the putting area, (strangely one side rather than front or back), but look like they are on the road to recovery. 'C' course is due to reopen this month but couldn't get any information about its condition, playing again Wednesday and will update any news.

[heartofmidlothian]

Just heard a rumour that Majestic are not employing Gavan as their maintenance consultant. Their reason being that they couldnt afford it. But can they afford to have poor greens? I heard that the course was relatively quiet compared to the other courses. I am sure Majestic can confirm if this rumour is true or not. Will be a shame if they dont get the place in great condition.
I also heard that Springfield are considering renovating their A 9 this low season. Redoing all the greens with more modern grass and making the greens bigger again, since they have got smaller over the years.
Good to see Springfield getting their act together. They really do need to make a few changes to the C course though, which is very unpopular with most members. A totally new green complex on 9 would be a good place to start and making holes 3 and 6 easier. Have always felt that hole 6 would be a great par 5 if the tee was taken back 40 yards. Just removing the bunker on right side of hole 3 and making it an area where you could chip and run it onto the green. Other than those 3 holes, the C 9 is not actually that difficult. Just moving the members tees forward a bit would make it much more playable.
Springfield are now working out what Black Mountain and Banyan already know, that maintenance is all important in golf.

[JW]

3 and 6 would both benefit from long waster style bunkers running from say 40 yards short of the green on the water side.. not so many balls would end up wet! I think they are both awesome holes.. but definitley too tough for us amateurs!
Do something with C9 green also.. or put the pin in the bottom!

[Majestic Creek]

I can confirm that the 'rumour' about Gavin not being employed by Majestic Creek is totally innaccurate.
Our agreement with Gavin was to start with a six month contract, where he would attend the course with hiqqs staff and instruct the Majestic green's staff on what procedures would be required to bring the greens back to condition.
This he has been doing for the last two months with great success. The temporary greens are now no longer in use and all18 greens are openand very playable.
There has been an excellent improvement in such a short time, especially as we were warned by Gavin that the process could be much longer before decent improvement could be seen.
We are delighted at the results he has achieved so far, and we are confident we will see them get better and better.
Khun Thanachai, the owner of Majestic, met with Gavin last weekend, to do an inspection and get an update on the progress, and he was very happy how things are developing.
Whilst the initial contract is for six months, this will be reviewed when that time is finished, to see if further advice and input from Gavin will be needed.
Gavin and his team have produced a great result at Majestic, given the task and condition they started with, and we are extremely pleased with his progress.
So, the rumour mongers have got it wrong again, so don't be put off by Hua Hin 'bar gossip'!
Come and play the course and make your own mind up on how much it has improved and the high standard Majestic has achieved.

[lomuamart]

Played Sea Pines yesterday and it's in great condition.
God, some of those holes are really difficult - the long par 4s and the pin positions (especially the 14th). Well the course must have thought that we were pros. Not quite!!
Good to hear about Majestic. I'll get up there next month. I've always enjoyed the layout.