Gimme Golfers
Some trips get planned months in advance with spreadsheets and shared folders. This one got planned in a breakfast chat and confirmed by Thursday evening. By Friday at 3:45am, the four of us were touching down at Bangkok, bleary-eyed, clubs in tow, with two days of golf already booked through GolfAsian and absolutely no idea how tired we'd be by Sunday night.
Day One: Laem Chabang, and golf under the floodlights
The GolfAsian transfer had us at Laem Chabang's Golf Lodge by 6am — early enough that the sensible plan was to collapse for a few hours before doing anything else. Breakfast at the clubhouse more than made up for the jet lag: tables overlooking the fairways, coffee that actually worked, and a view that made the 3:45am landing feel worth it already.
Breakfast with a view — the clubhouse restaurant at Laem Chabang.
After a proper rest, we found out we'd landed on the day of the Singha night golf tournament — a shotgun start with 18 teams, group photos before anyone had hit a ball, and absolutely no idea what we were in for. None of us had played night golf before, and it turned out to be one of those "why doesn't every course do this" experiences.
Eighteen teams, one shotgun start, and somewhere around hole 14 the sun just quietly gave up and the floodlights took over.
The carts were sharp, the caddies were an absolute pleasure, and the only mild grumble of the day was the rental clubs from GolfAsian — perfectly playable, just not going to win anyone a coaching contract. Play started at 3pm, so the front nine went off in full daylight with the beers flowing steadily, and then came the halfway break: darts, lucky draws, food and goodies as prizes, and the kind of competitive nonsense that happens when four golfers have had a few beers and nothing left to prove.
The back nine went off entirely under floodlights — genuinely great fun, though the number of balls we collectively lost to the dark rough does not bear close accounting. Dinner, drinks, and the prize distribution rounded off the night, and one member of our foursome walked away with an actual golf bag from the lucky draw. We slept like the dead.
Day Two: Phoenix Gold, then a villa in Pattaya
Another round booked through GolfAsian, another set of lovely caddies, and genuinely great weather for it. Phoenix Gold turned out to be a properly enjoyable course — nothing about the day felt rushed, the beers kept coming at a reasonable pace, and by the time we finished eighteen holes nobody was in a hurry to be anywhere else.
Phoenix Gold Golf & Country Club — round two of the trip.
From there it was down to Pattaya proper, where we'd booked a villa for the night. After two straight days of 5am energy, the villa felt like an upgrade in every sense — a pool to recover in, enough space to actually spread out the golf bags and laundry, and a low-key evening of dinner nearby and the kind of conversation that only happens after a good round and a few too many beers. No alarms set for once. Everyone still woke up early anyway.
Day Three: Pattana, iguanas, and the long drive home
Sunday was the one day we booked ourselves rather than through GolfAsian, and driving to the course felt like a small victory in itself. Pattana's caddies were a different energy entirely from the first two days — sharp, quick, and more than happy to give as good as they got, which suited the mood of a foursome three rounds deep into a weekend.
Pattana Golf and Sports Resort — closing course of the trip, water hazards and all.
The course itself was beautiful, but the water hazards came with their own local wildlife — several of the ponds had iguanas sunbathing at the edges, entirely unbothered by four grown men debating whether to play it as it lies. We didn't. More beers, a genuinely superb round, and a proper sense that we'd saved a very good course for last.
Dinner was, unexpectedly, at an Indian restaurant in Pattaya — exactly the kind of meal you don't plan for on a Thailand golf trip and end up being grateful for anyway. Then it was the long drive back to Bangkok through the night, a flight home, and the particular tiredness that only three courses in three days can produce. Worth every hour of it.