1st round of Golf in Chiang Mai at Mae Jo Country Club

Today, the birds singing outside got me up before my alarm clock went off. A lovely start to the day. After the heavy late afternoon rain and midnight showers, the sun was shining brightly.
It was only a short drive into the country, passing lotus flowers and cows and ending up on roads that got a bit bumpy, leading to this course set in midst of mango, lychee trees and beautiful flowers.

The highlight today: a birdie on hole five with a chip in from the fringe of the green. I have not seen such tiny little greens with so much break in a while. There were not many straight puts today, sometimes had to aim one putter length to the side of the cup to get in the hole. Very special also are the tee boxes... it is like walking on thickest American style carpeting. So soft to a point where it almost disturbs the set up routine ;-) ... oh yes and there were a lot of "maa" on the course. But they were not a distraction at all, as they are just taking it easy.

4pm and like clockwork, the rain showers started. So I took cover at the Juice Box and met some lovely golfers from Hong Kong: Yvette and Niki who spontaneously shared their big plate of mango with me and some golf stories. They have played on the three courses I am yet to play here together with Tobias who joins me on Sunday night. Looking forward to the Highlands course and its hole 5(?) with its 11(?) bunkers (will have to confirm the count and take pictures).

At on end of this rainbow is a temple... so the other end then must be where the pot of gold is!

My first day in Chiang Mai: visit to the Doi Suthep Temple and walking the streets of the city

Lovely clouds on my 1h flight
to Chiang Mai

I was very impressed by the tranquility and the local northern Thai street life today. Beautiful and very different from the busy streets of Sukhumvit in Bangkok (which is of course very nice in its own way too). Just around lunch time, I was picked up by Vichit for a tour of Doi Suthep Temple, which sits on a mountain of 3500 feet and is one of the most famous temples in Thailand.

Monks on the stairs to Doi Suthep Temple

Ring the bells for the spirits and souls

School girls getting ready for their performance

Mountain people girls posing on the stairs to the temple

 Mango selling lady getting her hair colored

Thai Country Club on Coronation Day: advertised as a real Bangkok highlight

 

Today I had a midday tee time as it is a holiday here "Coronation Day" and only members can tee off in the morning. No problem though, I liked my extra time in the morning... only it promised to be again a very hot day. 

My caddie Nok was not only very pretty, but the best caddie so far. She sees every grass on the green and is very accurate. As my putting (35 putts) again was not so good, it became my standard to say to her: "the caddie is very good, the player not so good".

It started off very hot, but then there were some clouds coming in, it got darker and then we even got a bit of a sprinkle for a couple holes.

Playing from the back tees, I managed to just keep it under a hundred. A good day out on the fairways! Such a pretty course :) and then ending it real Thai style with a spicy lunch in the club house. Perfect!

Round 3 in Bangkok: Suwan Golf & Country Club

My caddie Lech at Suwan Golf & Country Club was a real highlight and her expertise and reading the green was way beyond my putting skill today (35 puts...). She had my club distances down by hole 3 or so :).

I will not post a score (it is a good triple digit)... there was only one par and I must have been in the bunker on every hole but maybe 3 or so.  Better to just post some pictures of the beautiful course.

Getting out of the bunker every now and then, the fringe was a real monster type rough where even the strongest hitting on the ball would sometimes not move it more than a couple inches (where of course there still was more rough to deal with). So, I could - with a very good drive, and of those I had a few - be a bit unlucky with a bounce into a bunker, getting caught in the fringe on the way out of it and then add 1-2 more strokes to get to the green... no where near bogey golf as a result. And all day the ball seemed to bounce into trouble... oh what a day.

... and here I lost a new ball that I had just used on hole 16 par 3 for my par and put it right into the lovely pond before dropping and struggling onto the green and then saving bogey on this hole.

My driver and today's playing partner Montri at lunch after our stellar round.

After golf program: Thai Massage at Health Land

  

Impression on my way to Health Land: the streets are full of improvised kitchens and most every load is hauled around by biking Thais.

Every house has its spirit and Health Center has one too... in a nice little "villa" in front of it.

The beautiful Frangipani flowers that are in bloom everywhere (also on the golf courses) are called: "Lee Laa Wadee"... the name of the red flowers that grow to big trees (also everywhere and so beautiful) in Thai is "Hon Nok You"... my caddy Da'a had to repeat that to me for 15 holes before I could memorize it...

After the 2 hour Thai Massage (450 THB plus tip = 18 CHF), the night has settled in and the streets in Sukhumvit get busy!

Royal Golf Club: shot a happy 88 today incl. 1 birdie

My caddie Da'a and I had good fun out today and passed 3 flights of Japanese and ended up playing hole 9 before hole 8 to pass yet another flight. Thus, it was a very enjoyable round in under 3 hours to beat the humidity and heat with a breeze on the speedy golf cart. 

Golfing highlights: 46 on the back nine (where I started), with a birdie on hole 17 (171y, 5 wood) and a 42 on the front nine, where I had 3 pars and 6 bogeys :D

In Thailand it was "compensation day", for me it was: "Best of Bangkok tour day"

Impressions at the Grand Palace

 strong monkeys

 the emerald Buddha in summer gear

birdies lining up for me (I would like to think so anyways... :))

Vanna my super guide for the day!

Impressions from the river boat tour (1)

Impressions from the river boat tour (2)

Impressions from the river boat tour (3)

enjoying the river boat

Impressions from the river boat tour (4)

Korean lunch at Myeong Ga (recommended by playing partners Sarah & Brian). Just across the hotel in Sukhumvit Plaza. Delicious beef BBQ... but a lot of food for a light lunch...

Flowers given to me by Vanna and used to please my golf spirit

Birdie counter: 1 in Thailand (almost an Eagle...)

Thai Airways (Dubai to Bangkok): very nice service, but uncomfortable seats... did not get any sleep and that is what I look like after a couple hours of trying anyhow.

Rain on arrival at Bangkok

After my round of golf: happy but exhausted

Here is my drive to the green at hole 16 (213y) and my chance for an Eagle... but sadly, I missed my put by about 2 inches (on the looser side...) - very happy though with a birdie on my first round in Thailand!

My Korean flight partners Sarah and Brian, who treated me to my first dim sum on a golf course and inspired me to a great game of golf (after just 1 hour of sleep at the hotel)