A Golf Holiday in Phuket

It’s not hard to visualise how it all started. Behind the green of the signature hole at the Aquella Golf Club, the aquamarine waters of Andaman Sea lapping at your feet, the sandy crescent of  Phuket island arcs along the horizon to the south. At the jetty in the distance, watching old fishing boats thrash and long for the tug of open waters Phuket still bears resemblance to what the island must have looked like to medieval seafarers.

And they’ve all been here: the Portuguese, the French, the British, the Dutch—to name a few. Traders sailing from China in the 17th century docked their boats in Phuket and waited for the northeast monsoon to take them westward to Arabia, and India. In the late 19th century, on the back of a major tin mining boom, Phuket attracted fortune seekers from around the world. In the modern era, an airport opened the island to the world in the 1970s and catalysed Phuket’s modern iteration into a tropical vacation paradise.

The first to come were the backpackers, followed, eventually by luxury travellers. The trickle became a flood and set into motion a comprehensive shift to tourism for the island’s economy. Today, Phuket has a slew of standalone spa resorts, tony hotels, and, as is wont to be the case, world-class golf courses.

That, however, is no reflection on the quality of golf on offer. For the record, the five or so golf courses in Phuket—the calibre of which is well established—are, in ridiculously good shape. Two of these—Laguna Phuket GC and Blue Canyon GC—have hosted Asian Tour events in recent months.

The jewels in the crown—Red Mountain GC, and Blue Canyon GC—are consistently ranked amongst the top courses in our part of the world—and are must-play layouts on any golfer’s itinerary here. Both these courses reward strategy and ball placement over length and are best played once you’ve got into your groove.

Start with the newest layout in the region—Aquella GC—that isn’t on the island, but on the adjoining province of Phang Na on the mainland. This course is much closer to the airport than Phuket’s popular beaches and towns (where you’re likely to be staying) and is best played first, (or last) on your trip. Mission Hills GC, another pretty layout, has the most spectacular views of the ocean. As is usually the smartest way to go on championship layouts, teeing it up from the white tees is the best way—as cliched as it sounds—to enjoy not just the golf, but the whole experience of teeing it up.

But the thing about cliches is, that, now and then, you’ll find yourself smack dab in the middle of one. You’ve heard the oft-repeated maxim to ‘enjoy the walk,’ appreciate the views,’ on the golf course. I proffer that anyone who says he or she isn’t consumed by his quality of play (or lack of it thereof) is being plain disingenuous. In fact, nothing matters—neither the weather nor how pretty the landscape is—when your game deserts you. Golf, when you’re not playing well, can be mirthless.

And yet, there I was, playing well below par (no pun intended), at some of the finest layouts in Asia, and still grinning. Not even the prospect of losing enough Baht to pay for my opponents’ post-round brew, dampened the spirits. And that’s when it struck me—I was revelling in the momentousness of the occasion. Standing on the tee of the gorgeous signature par-3 13th hole at the Blue Canyon GC on a warm March day of 2024, a small gallery in attendance, I duffed a wedge that didn’t reach the green but didn’t end up in the drink either.

I’ll take that gladly: at least I’m there, club in hand, on a gorgeous golf course, thousands of miles from home, within a six-iron distance of the ocean, on a pretty summer day. In, with a chance, so to speak. This is post-COVID wisdom: you have to count your blessings.

And so it went; one day spilling into the next. Before we knew it we were back in a Thai Airways flight (with a generous allowance of 30 kgs—enough to cover baggage and the golf set, it’s the airline of choice for golfers). In any case, as far as I’m concerned, Thailand is by far my favourite golf destination in this part of the world, and probably the only place that I would not mind warming the cheap seats for a golf trip. For a golfer, the country’s surfeit and diversity of championship layouts, top-notch hospitality, and value-for-money appeal is just too overwhelming to resist. I’d go back in a heartbeat.