Bangpakong Riverside Golf Club

Chachoengsao is a province the lies between Bangkok and  Chonburi (Pattaya).  Mostly an industrial area, one of its characteristics is the large river (Bangpakong) that runs through the area.  Its about an hour's drive from the center of Bangkok along either the Chonburi Motorway or via the Bangna Trad Expressway.  Anyway, on the invitation from my police general friend, I had a chance to play a nice golf course in the province yesterday.  Situated right along the river, its appropriately called Bangpakong Riverside Golf Club.

Like many other courses, this is a resort type course with the developers hoping to sell land for homes, etc.  Its has full restaurant and clubhouse facilities and the course was well maintained.  This time of the year with the rains, many golf courses are partially flooded in some spots and the fairways very muddy.  At Bangprakong, the course was dry and very firm, with excellent greens that rolled very true.  Unfortunately, there is no actual view of the Bangpakong River at any point on the golf course except at the clubhouse area and on the way into the facility.

As far as layout is concerned, this course is very mild with slight doglegs and bunkers being the main challenges.  Water comes into play on a couple of holes, and unless one is really wild off the tee, the generous fairways offer a lot of forgiveness.  The course's primary defense is its length, which at 6700 yards off the whites and over 7100 yards off the tips offers all but the longest hitters a bit of a challenge.  It was windy yesterday and on some holes with a strong headwind, it made getting to the greens in regulation impossible for the average golfer.  There are four par 4 holes longer than 400 yards, and the par 3's were playing 170, 185, 200, 208 yards yesterday.

They are running sports day promotions on Monday and Thursday for 750 baht.  Also there is another special that runs Tues to Thursday that offers the green fee, caddie, and golf cart for 900 baht.  We got our round done in under 4 hours yesterday, just in time to duck a tournament of the Thai Golfer Society which started at noon.   Didn't have a great round, but considering my knee problems which has been flaring up lately, it wasn't too bad for such a long course.   No excuses though, it was a fun outing.  

The restaurant where we had lunch was fair.  Not exceptional in any way except that it had a sweeping view of the course from the dinning room.  Overall, the course was a decent experience and great for a fun day out with good friends.

Score Card Here: