Royal Bang Pa

Royal Bang Pa

Royal Bang Pa-In Golf Club located just North of Bangkok, in Ayutthaya Province is in the heart of Bangkok's new golfing epi centre.  This 7,052-yard Schmidt-Curley designed course is managed like a country club member's course.

The 18-holes at Royal Bang Pa-In are spread out over 100 hectares. The design team and construction company had flat marshland and rice paddy fields to work with and have turned the area into an impressive modern golf course. Its unique features include some of the largest greens in Asia, planted with the latest variety of Champion dwarf Bermuda grass. The fast speeds and severe undulations make for very interesting putts which require excellent green reading and good putting ability just to 2-putt.

The fairways and rough are grassed with Paspalum turf. The fairways are, for the most part hard, which provides a good run out, on low and draw shots. The rough is thick and sticky, which makes it that much more important to keep balls on the fairways.

Royal Bang Pa-In includes many risk-reward holes. A fine example of this, is the opening hole, which is a dogleg right, with water down the whole right-hand side. A long drive to carry the water, will land you on the fairway, giving you an easy shot into the green or a more conservative play is to go Left to take the water out of play. However, this will require a long iron or hybrid to make the green in two.

The finishing Nine holes are also very memorable. The par-5 Ninth hole requires a long drive to clear the stream, which crosses the fairway, which will leave around 100 yards to the green, with waste area off to the left, waiting for a poor second shot. Once you have played the second and landed safely, it is an easy shot into the green to set up a birdie opportunity.  

The long par-4 final hole is a hole to remember. It plays directly back towards the clubhouse, and the green is shared with the ninth. A well-positioned drive to an elevated fairway is a must, to cut off the dogleg and set up for an excellent second shot into the green. Misplaced shots to the left will find the fairway hazards and rough, and those to the right will be in the water. 

 Royal Bang Pa-In includes square tee boxes and square rescue bunkers that are positioned to catch misplaced shots between the fairways and water hazards, a large variety of distances on thePar-4’s which range from 320 to 498 yards, with well-placed large mounds flanking each hole, and many blinds shots into bunker-protected greens. 

The ultra-modern clubhouse is designed in an elliptical shape where no two walls are parallel. The entrance to the Club House is huge and even has of a heliport for arriving dignitaries. The large rock waterfall spans the entire rear of the clubhouse, with water raging down from the second level to the golf courses. Extensive locker rooms are provided, with lighting using small opaque glass panes that allow natural light into the rooms, but still offering privacy. The 360-degree views of the course from the dining room makes full use of the floor-to-ceiling restaurant windows. The food selections, fine service, and layout are all first-class.