Eastern Star G.C. Membership wanted.

[bartpix]

Hi, If anybody has  an Eastern Star G.C. membership for sale, please let me know details.

[TroubleandGrumpy]

We play there a lot - asked about membership and the girl in Pro shop said 100K for lifetime membership. When I asked what that included, she was not sure (WTF?) I asked if it meant free green fees, caddy and cart, she said she did not know. I then asked about annual membership and she said - 'no hab'. Also she did not have any documents or paperwork. I absolutely guaranatee that is what she said because the Thai wife asked the questions too.  Nothing on the website either.  IMO there is something very wrong with that, and I would never pay money to join a club that does not manage things liker that professionally.

Regarding the course - I have never seen anyone remotely looking like a Pro in the House or a Greenkeeper on the course (they have lots of gardeners). We have played there for over 6 months and the practice green has always been either sanded and awful, or closed under repair (most of the time). There are 3-4 different speeds and hardness on the greens - hard to remember which ones are hard and fast - often changes week by week.  The greens have been sanded 3 times in 6 months and that plus all the other things I see, tell me they dont have a professional greenkeeper running things (just gardeners). However, the course is extremely well maintained and they organise the bookings, tee-offs and caddies extremely well - and every caddie we have used is friendly and good (but not many speak English). I sometimes get annoyed about the random gardeners who arrive from nowhere (on bike) and start cutting grass with a noisey petrol whipper snipper near you - while you are trying to tee-off and/or play a shot. The wife and caddies just laugh - and I try to do the same - TiT 🙂 

[TroubleandGrumpy]

1 hour ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

We play there a lot - asked about membership and the girl in Pro shop said 100K for lifetime membership. When I asked what that included, she was not sure (WTF?) I asked if it meant free green fees, caddy and cart, she said she did not know. I then asked about annual membership and she said - 'no hab'. Also she did not have any documents or paperwork. I absolutely guaranatee that is what she said because the Thai wife asked the questions too.  Nothing on the website either.  IMO there is something very wrong with that, and I would never pay money to join a club that does not manage things liker that professionally.

Regarding the course - I have never seen anyone remotely looking like a Pro in the House or a Greenkeeper on the course (they have lots of gardeners). We have played there for over 6 months and the practice green has always been either sanded and awful, or closed under repair (most of the time). There are 3-4 different speeds and hardness on the greens - hard to remember which ones are hard and fast - often changes week by week.  The greens have been sanded 3 times in 6 months and that plus all the other things I see, tell me they dont have a professional greenkeeper running things (just gardeners). However, the course is extremely well maintained and they organise the bookings, tee-offs and caddies extremely well - and every caddie we have used is friendly and good (but not many speak English). I sometimes get annoyed about the random gardeners who arrive from nowhere (on bike) and start cutting grass with a noisey petrol whipper snipper near you - while you are trying to tee-off and/or play a shot. The wife and caddies just laugh - and I try to do the same - TiT 🙂 

Plus - they recently changed their prices for non-Thais.  I now pay 350 Baht more than the Thai wife and she gets a 100 Baht voucher (I get zero). Not impressed - the wife told them that I am not a tourist and that I live here full time etc. but they refused to 'listen'.  Reminds me of the mentality that says Expats must pay income taxes on their own money brought into the country from overseas. I wish Chiang Mai did not have those annual smoke problems - we would be living back there for sure - much more 'civilised' up there.   

[Lacessit]

I find the sanding of greens here very annoying, because the greenkeepers don't know how to do it correctly.

Greens should be cored thoroughly prior to sanding. The process is intended to break up any root mat, and promote better drainage with sand getting into the core holes.

Sanding without coring is useless, and moreover kills greens when dry sand desiccates the grass.

 

T&G's comment about random gardeners reminds me of a Jack Nicklaus story.

 

Nicklaus was teeing off when a dog ran across the tee in front of him, in the middle of his backswing.

Nicklaus hit his drive 300 yards straight down the middle of the fairway.

As he walked to his ball, a spectator asked him " Didn't that dog running across the tee put you off?"

Nicklaus replied "What dog?"

[scubascuba3]

3 hours ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

We play there a lot - asked about membership and the girl in Pro shop said 100K for lifetime membership. When I asked what that included, she was not sure (WTF?) I asked if it meant free green fees, caddy and cart, she said she did not know. I then asked about annual membership and she said - 'no hab'. Also she did not have any documents or paperwork. I absolutely guaranatee that is what she said because the Thai wife asked the questions too.  Nothing on the website either.  IMO there is something very wrong with that, and I would never pay money to join a club that does not manage things liker that professionally.

Regarding the course - I have never seen anyone remotely looking like a Pro in the House or a Greenkeeper on the course (they have lots of gardeners). We have played there for over 6 months and the practice green has always been either sanded and awful, or closed under repair (most of the time). There are 3-4 different speeds and hardness on the greens - hard to remember which ones are hard and fast - often changes week by week.  The greens have been sanded 3 times in 6 months and that plus all the other things I see, tell me they dont have a professional greenkeeper running things (just gardeners). However, the course is extremely well maintained and they organise the bookings, tee-offs and caddies extremely well - and every caddie we have used is friendly and good (but not many speak English). I sometimes get annoyed about the random gardeners who arrive from nowhere (on bike) and start cutting grass with a noisey petrol whipper snipper near you - while you are trying to tee-off and/or play a shot. The wife and caddies just laugh - and I try to do the same - TiT 🙂 

I always thought Eastern Star was average but it's one of the nearest to Pattaya so semi popular 

[TroubleandGrumpy]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I always thought Eastern Star was average but it's one of the nearest to Pattaya so semi popular 

Unfortunately it has become popular since mid/late January - lots of Koreans playing here now. It is only a short drive away so very handy - but we are going on a trip soon and after returning we will start trying other courses in the region.  We prefer playing the same course many times - that way you can learn the course/greens.  We played The Emerald some weeks ago and besides the abysmal organising of tee-off times, the course was extremely 'confusing'. Lots of shots are 'blind' and the caddies we had were less than useful - they did not enjoy doing their jobs and were pretty useless at it. 

[scubascuba3]

18 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Unfortunately it has become popular since mid/late January - lots of Koreans playing here now. It is only a short drive away so very handy - but we are going on a trip soon and after returning we will start trying other courses in the region.  We prefer playing the same course many times - that way you can learn the course/greens.  We played The Emerald some weeks ago and besides the abysmal organising of tee-off times, the course was extremely 'confusing'. Lots of shots are 'blind' and the caddies we had were less than useful - they did not enjoy doing their jobs and were pretty useless at it. 

Green Valley is the best "members" course in the area, not far away

[TroubleandGrumpy]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Green Valley is the best "members" course in the area, not far away

Cheers - that and Silky Oaks is next on our list.