Northern Thailand Golf & Culture Holiday

The Royal Chiang Mai Golf Club & Resort, built in 1996 and around 40 minutes north of town, is one of the original modern-day Chiang Mai golf courses. The layout is well-suited for the amateur and professional golfer alike. The most striking feature if the golf course itself is the abundance of greenery and mature trees while still keeping in harmony with the natural scenery and rolling countryside.

The Alpine Golf Resort Chiang Mai comprises some 450 rai of land nestles in a valley between the mountain ranges in the heart of the San Kamphaeng natural forests. It is undoubtedly one of the best golf courses in Chiang Mai. Alpine hosted the Asian Tour 2013 and 2014 Chiang Mai Classic and was put on the professional circuit and further recognized for its world-class layout. 

The Chiang Mai Highlands Golf Club opened in 2005 and significantly added to the quality of Chiang Mai golf courses. The drive to Highlands from Chiang Mai leads through the stunning landscape, in an eastern direction passing rice fields and plantations into the mountains. 

Set in the Wiang Chai Hills Waterford Valley Golf Course is 40 minutes from the city of Chiang Rai in one of Thailand’s most attractive and most cooling areas. The Waterford golf course is mostly flat as it is built upon a plateau, surrounded by lush valleys and mountains. The beautiful mountains of the North provide a pleasant distraction to a day on the fairways, which trees, shrubs, and bushes surround themselves and make this par 72 layout one of the most scenic in Thailand.

Designed in 1994 by Rather International, the natural beauty, incredible vistas & views, and refreshing climate makes Waterford Valley an excellent choice for a day of golf in Chiang Rai. Waterford Valley is a good, though at times hilly course. Three holes on each side have severe elevation changes, making correct club selection critical. The flatter holes are relatively straightforward, with wide fairways.

The 9th, a 390-yard par 4, is particularly challenging. The tee box is set back off to the side corner of a hill with the fairway playing a dog-leg left. A straight hit with a driver will run out of fairway and into water; a well-controlled draw around the hill to a landing area is the best bet or else a shorter 3-wood is a safer play. The approach is over a steep, water-filled ravine to a raised green sloping severely from back to front, with bunkers left and right. Avoid landing above the hole or face a downhill putt.

The 10th, a 505-yard par 5, requires an exacting drive over water to the fairway below. Trees right and left flank a narrow fairway guarded by a substantial bunker right and out of bounds all along left. It’s quite severely downhill so a good tee shot will run a long way down the fairway, setting up for a fairway wood onto the green in two.

The 18th, a 368-yard par 4, is a decent finishing with elevation change and birdie opportunity.  A 3-wood off the tee sets up nice for hitting it close to the uphill green. Overall Waterford is a fun Chiang Rai golf course with predominantly open parkland holes and a few decidedly tricky ones mixed in as well.

Apres golf players have a good view of the surroundings and suburbs of Chiang Rai from the outdoor clubhouse. The food is basic Thai cuisine including a few spicy northern specialties with the usual beverages. There is also an onsite golf resort which consists of a 20 room golf lodge as well as 30 dormitory style rooms. Local Thais and large groups of visiting Asian golfers enjoy the lodge, whereas most other Chiang Rai golfers prefer to overnight at better lodging in or near Chiang Rai city center.

Golfers living in Thailand will tell you that Santiburi in Chiang Mai is one of their favorite golf courses in Thailand, and this is no small compliment! Santiburi Country Club was the first Chiang Rai golf course. The Chiang Rai Robert Trent Jones Jr designed Santiburi Country Club covers vast fields with excellent placement of holes and an abundance of water hazards and bunkers. The golf course is widely regarded as one of the best conceived and maintained golf courses in Asia.

Set into the contours of a valley, Santiburi offers a landscaped golf course that winds beneath a canopy of magnificent shade trees. The layout crosses lakes and streams and lush green foothills, and the mountains of Chiang Rai. The golf course is championship caliber, yet it is playable and enjoyable for golfers on every skill level.

Santiburi Chiang Rai Country Club features great holes with undulating fairways and fast greens. Four different tees appeal to every level of golfer, and eleven long par-4's make Santiburi particularly challenging for better golfers. Most holes have rolling greens guarded by countless sand and grass bunkers, trees, and substantial water hazards. There are varied options for longer holes, including conservative approaches for the novice and challenging routes over danger for the more experienced golfers.

As the course weaves its way around natural rolling hills and lakes, the first nine plays up and downhill while the back nine holes sweep through steep valleys and a chain of 3 lakes.

The Santiburi fairways have a wide range of sloping lies, are long, and are lined with natural hazards. At holes 2, 3, and 4, you have to play alongside a large lake that runs the holes' length. Bunkers protect most greens, and there are several dogleg holes. The par-5 finishing hole is particularly impressive as water protects the left side from the tee and again on the right side of the fairway on the approach shot.

The Santiburi Chiang Rai course is kept in excellent condition year-round, as the Singha Beer family owners continue to invest in good maintenance practices. If coming to Thailand, like to golf, and part of the time will be in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, then every golfer should make time to play this course.

The beautiful and fully functional clubhouse dominates the highest point of the club area. It is first-class in every way, including clean locker rooms, a well-stocked pro shop, and a lovely restaurant serving a range of local and international dishes, and of course, cold Singha beer!