8 hours ago, eyup said:

Golf in Phuket has never been cheaper All clubs doing "specials" OK it was very expensive before but now it's just soo good. Championship courses for Baht 2000 inc buggy, green fee, caddy.food pack and voucher for pro shop 2-500 baht!

 

Get in!!!

Sounds good, so how much is that for all year golf vs back home?

1 hour ago, Victornoir said:

This kind of remark explains why the caddies fight to serve the Koreans and Japanese, and drag their feet when the farang arrives.

 

Especially if he's British...

Koreans and Japanese are the biggest 2 week millionaires, being an expat is different

57 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

to use the general term 'asians' in this context is ill informed. fr example, the japanese dont have a culture of tipping and would be less likely to tip, however the chinese do have a culture of tipping so would be more likely to.

Not at all, in this context we all know to what it refers.  Chinese rarely seen on Thai golf courses, matching pyjamas sets and flip-flops not allowed.  Japanese the most polite you'll ever meet at the opposite end of the K spectrum.  And we all know who are the thaitest.

9 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Sounds good, so how much is that for all year golf vs back home?

Depends where your home is! But I think to play on a championship course with buggy and caddy and food and vouchers for about £40 quid is a deal you would not get at "home"

On 7/21/2020 at 2:06 AM, Shuya said:

Honestly, 90% of the caddies have no clue what they do and worsen your game-play. 

Don’t know where you play but my experience is the opposite.  90 percent know a lot about the greens, yardage, locating balls etc.   the other 10 percent are so gorgeous who cares what they know about golf as long as they drive the cart with one hand and rest the other hand on my leg. ????????️‍

Edited July 22, 20205 yr by Wake Up

29 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

Don’t know where you play but my experience is the opposite.  90 percent know a lot about the greens, yardage, locating balls etc.   the other 10 percent are so gorgeous who cares what they know about golf as long as they drive the cart with one hand and rest the other hand on my leg. ????????️‍

Finally, the voice of reason.  Gnarly golf expert that will help you win or cute clueless bunny so you don't care, cold beer every four holes and people want to argue...

Play RBSC and they'll even dive in the lakes to get your ball back, beat that.

1 hour ago, eyup said:

Depends where your home is! But I think to play on a championship course with buggy and caddy and food and vouchers for about £40 quid is a deal you would not get at "home"

the point is it's not a one off, it's usually 3 times a week vs farangland where often membership is unlimited golf and inexpensive, most people don't do the sums

On 7/22/2020 at 7:33 AM, Mavrix said:

I would rather play without caddies and save 600bht......do usually have a good laugh with them though.....find that some of them, especially if they have worked at the course you are playing on for many years, are very good at reading putts.

According to Thongchai Jaidee Caddies are the secret weapon for the Thai Golf Industry and many golf vactioners love to have the luxury of a femail caddie on their bag. That said with pensions shrinking, maybe the courses can allow retirees the choice at off peak hours of a fixed fee and tip of say THB40 a hole. They do this after 4pm at Pheonix Gold in Pattaya.

3 hours ago, Thaivisa Golf said:

According to Thongchai Jaidee Caddies are the secret weapon for the Thai Golf Industry and many golf vactioners love to have the luxury of a femail caddie on their bag. That said with pensions shrinking, maybe the courses can allow retirees the choice at off peak hours of a fixed fee and tip of say THB40 a hole. They do this after 4pm at Pheonix Gold in Pattaya.

I never used a caddie back home (USA), so my first rounds in Thailand, I felt like a PGA tour pro with a caddie in tow.  I've since gotten used to it.  It cost a bit extra, but it's not like we're giving money to the government.  We're paying hard working women who are struggling to pay the bills.  I have no problem with that.   

5 hours ago, Thaivisa Golf said:

According to Thongchai Jaidee Caddies are the secret weapon for the Thai Golf Industry and many golf vactioners love to have the luxury of a femail caddie on their bag. That said with pensions shrinking, maybe the courses can allow retirees the choice at off peak hours of a fixed fee and tip of say THB40 a hole. They do this after 4pm at Pheonix Gold in Pattaya.

tip of 40 baht a hole is 720 baht a round, only a very small minority would want to pay that much

1 hour ago, Berkshire said:

I never used a caddie back home (USA), so my first rounds in Thailand, I felt like a PGA tour pro with a caddie in tow.  I've since gotten used to it.  It cost a bit extra, but it's not like we're giving money to the government.  We're paying hard working women who are struggling to pay the bills.  I have no problem with that.   

Why only have compulsory caddies, maybe also compulsory cleaners, compulsory cook, compulsory knob holder when going to the toilet

11 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Why only have compulsory caddies, maybe also compulsory cleaners, compulsory cook, compulsory knob holder when going to the toilet

Complaining about compulsory caddies in Thailand is essentially like barking at the moon.  It's not going to change anything.  Like Bruce Springsteen said once...."you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above."  Or something like that.

Do them caddies clean your balls?

4 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Complaining about compulsory caddies in Thailand is essentially like barking at the moon.  It's not going to change anything.  Like Bruce Springsteen said once...."you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above."  Or something like that.

i know but it makes me feel better. What makes me feel even better is opting out of caddy golf. I now play 9 hole courses, still good

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Do them caddies clean your balls?

Of course that's part of the fun, but we have the whole of Thailand for that

On 7/22/2020 at 8:31 PM, scubascuba3 said:

the point is it's not a one off, it's usually 3 times a week vs farangland where often membership is unlimited golf and inexpensive, most people don't do the sums

The OP was about golf in Thailand I believe and i was just pointing out the current deals in Phuket Yearly/life membership here can be quite expensive but my club in the UK charges £1600 for full year membership You can of course pay and play at other courses in the UK, probably cheaper than being a member somewhere (which is currently the case in Phuket with all the deals going on!)  Similarly, other areas of Thailand (Pattaya and environs for example) are a lot cheaper than Phuket! So, I don't know what your point is with relevance to the topic and the fact that this is a Thailand forum for people in Thailand mainly. When I am in Farangland I cut my cloth accordingly ref golf. Ref the OP subject heading, courses in Thailand are suffering but surprisingly some of the courses in Phuket are understanding the economics of generating cash flow and revenue via "bums on seats" versus the previous norm of raising prices when business was slow. 

my heart bleeds  not

On 7/22/2020 at 10:56 AM, AgMech Cowboy said:

A huge exaggeration you've made. All because you can't putt.

Not that huge an exaggeration. As a retired pro tour caddy I know the basics I want from a course caddy. An experienced caddy should be able to club you fairly accurately after 2 holes. They should be able to read putts accurately and know their distances to reach and carry bunkers, water etc. From my experience here ( 6 years ) playing in Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Bangkok, Chiang Rai & Chiang Mai I've only ever encountered about 12 caddies ( 3 in Chiang Mai that I use regularly when I play their courses ) who I consider to be a good caddy. Most are lazy, make no effort to read greens for you, they don't volunteer any information unless you ask for it. The only time they leave the cart is to walk onto the green or if they need to rake a bunker. The courses that stipulate a minimum caddy tip have no idea how bad most of their caddies are, and that's mostly down to the caddy master not ensuring they are properly trained. Yesterday I had an old caddy who had been at the course since it originally opened in the mid 90's and she was so bad I had to go and let the caddy master know how bad she was. She certainly wasn't worth the minimum tip that the course stipulates. Now before any of the nay sayers on TVF have their obligatory whinge & whine, I'm an average golfer, by no means a single figure handicap player anymore, and I know what I want from a caddy on course. Most do not deliver. yesterday even the Thai guys I played with were complaining about their caddies because they were utterly useless. The course I played yesterday I've played 7 times now and I've yet to have a caddy there that is worth the minimum tip required by the course.

37 minutes ago, whiteman said:

my heart bleeds  not

your point is?? 

6 hours ago, eyup said:

I don't know what your point is with relevance to the topic

I thought that was obvious, Thailand golf courses suffering big loss in revenue. Golfers are quiting playing in Thailand, as it's expensive compared to back home and just not worth it for many, but like i said most people don't do the sums

12 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

The courses that stipulate a minimum caddy tip

I have not come across this playing around Pattaya and Hua Hin. Where does this happen - I am guessing some upmarket Bangkok courses?

It would be interesting to know where and how much.