Mountain Creek Golf Resort and Residences

I had a chance to play at Mountain Creek Golf Resort & Residences this week.  The resort is located about two hours northeast of Bangkok on Route 1 AH2 and is in Nakorn Ratchasima province.  A large sign in bold white letters announces the entrance to the property from the highway.  From there, its about another two kilometers before you reach the guarded entrance gate to the resort.  Follow the guard's directions or you might end up back on the highway like I did and have to re-enter the main gate again.

As for the golf course itself, it's a superbly designed with 27 holes over three courses (Hillside, Valley, and Creek).   Designed by Seve Ballesteros, the fairways are narrow with specific landing areas for tee shots.  The design incorporates the generous use of doglegs, and elevated greens are on most holes.  It's also quite long at the tips (3781, 3834, and 3671) but there are five sets of Tees which makes the course as challenging as one is willing to bear on a given day.  This is a straight ball hitter's course and with the thick trees, brush, and grass lining the fairways, bring plenty of balls otherwise.  

Bridge to the Island Green #7 on Valley Course

The Seve signature hole with the "S" shaped bunker

The greens were not in great shape on the day I played.  It looked like many had been recently sanded.  Some of the greens are tired and sloping, making it a challenge for a close approach shot.  

I would rate this facility among the top 10 most difficult courses in Thailand.  You need your A game to score well and need to be on your A game throughout the round as there are no 'easy' holes to recover.  It's a golf aficionado dream for learning how to play a tactical round as shot placement is critical for many holes.  My male caddie was helpful and experienced.  Big numbers lurk everywhere so listen to the caddie and so don't take it too seriously if you play here for the first time.  

There are some downsides for having this kind of course however.  Its location is odd.  Its a bit far from Bangkok, not really close to Khao Yai, and in an area where there are other golf courses and resorts with equal or better amenities.  As a result, I think the number of rounds being played is really low as I did not see any other golfer in the resort except myself that morning.  It was as if I had the entire place to myself.  The staff was friendly and helpful.

Maybe it was mid-week, but even the drink and snack concessions on the golf course was closed.  That meant no drinks or food for the round except for a trip back to one of the clubhouse restaurants.  I was unprepared for this and needless to say, by the second nine I was starting to feel the effects of dehydration.  Chose not to eat at the resort after my round.  My father once told me something that I have verified to be true almost all of the time.  Never eat at a large, but empty restaurant.  Find the one that is the most crowded as that is the place with the best food.  If I am their only customer for the day, how long have they had the ingredients around waiting for customers?  

To sum up the trip.  Great golf course and well-executed resort construction and design.  A real jewel.  Unfortunately, its location and venue has resulted in a low number of rounds and golfers and the golf facilities like the clubhouse are showing some age.  Maybe better operations management and marketing would help, but I think its simply that the resort is just too technically good to be appreciated for this area, and if it were located in some place like Pattaya or Bangkok, it would get more traffic from strong golfers who are seeking a golf course with some 'teeth' to play.  But its present venue is too punishing for casual golfers and they won't drive so far out of their way just to play this course when there are so many others in the area to choose from.