From the original ‘home of golf’ to one of the most popular destinations for tourists to go and play golf, this is certainly a case of two extremes.
Having played on the windswept links courses in Scotland, which certainly is a real test of your full golfing capabilities, I still find the challenges that the wide variety of excellent courses that Thailand provides, extremely satisfying and most enjoyable.
Sure it can get a bit hot at times, but when I do not need to think about how many sweaters to pack, and if I should take my rain gear, then I soon realize that I am more than happy where I am.
Golf is Scotland is certainly steeped in tradition, and many of the courses and clubhouses reflect this. It is no doubt popular for it’s traditional ‘links’ courses, renowned for their tricky and challenging layouts which are located in the coastal areas. This is where the word ‘links’ derives from, being a Scottish word for an area of land by the sea.
It has many famous courses, with St Andrews being the obvious, but other courses such as Carnoustie, Turnberry, Troon, Muirfield, and Prestwick, have all hosted the British Open Championships.
The challenge of links golf is certainly very different to Thailand, with weather conditions playing a large factor in this. Rarely are 2 days the same in Scotland and with the coastal tides, wind direction varies throughout the day. Have you ever played 18 holes into the wind on the same day on the same course? Trust me, this can happen in Scotland! This is a big factor whilst golfing in these conditions and can be frustrating to say the least. However, it is all part of the game as they say!
Links golf has very little in the way of man-made hazards, such as the many water features you will find on most of the courses in Thailand. However, the natural terrain of the land, together with the many strategically placed bunkers, and hard running fairways more than make up for this.
On Monday I will finish this post including more about golf in both countries, the caddies, the costs, and a final conclusion.
Have a great week end!
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