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A dogleg to the right. A forgiving, wide fairway beckons a bid drive but
a pond on the right side comes into play fro long hitters. The green is
deep & narrow, elevated, and protected by 3 bunkers. |
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A long par 3 over water. The deep & narrow green is sloping from back
to front. A bunker in front of the green is in play. A par is good score
here. |
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A dogleg to the right, short par 4. The tee shot is downhill and the fairways
slopes from the right to the left, so a bunker on the right corner 250 yards
form the tee will come into play. The second shot is over a stream. The
green is smallish sloping from back to front. |
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| A slight dogleg to the right. The second is over a creek and
uphill. Four bunkers are strategically placed onto the landing area of the
second shots. The wide green wide is double-tiered with the higher left.
The green is not deep, so an accurate wedge shot is required on the third
shot. |
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| A slight dogleg to the right, difficult hole. The tee shot
is over trees & bushes and the second shot is uphill. The green is wide
and slopes from back to front. A bunker protecting the left side of the
green is deep. |
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| A slightly dogleg to the right, short & neat par 4. A
stream crosses the fairway 300 yards from the tee. The green is double-tiered
and slope to the right. |
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| A signature hole. The hole is not far nor difficult offer
you with picturesque views of the spectacular ocean to your left and valley & mountains to your right and. From the elevated tee you will slightly
hit down onto the narrow & wide green. When the pin position is on the
left, the difficulty level will increase as the green become narrower toward
to the left, like only 10 some yards in depth, and the banker in front of
the green is in play. |
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| A slightly downhill & straight par 4. The longer you hit,
the narrower the fairway becomes. The deep & narrow green is protected
by a stream and two bunkers on the right. Pay also attention to the green
sloping slightly from front to back. |
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A slightly uphill, tough & long par 3. The green is placed at the foothill
of a small mountain. It features the green that is as much as 60 yards long
in depth. |
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It is a 20-minute drive from the center of Hua Hin. I stayed at the Banyan
Resort in the same company this time, a 15-minutes drive away from the
golf course. Villas are spacious & comfortable with free WIFI connectivity
all though the resort and testy meals are available.
The black tees, the longest, are usually open to pro tounaments. However,
players should negotiate with the starters when their handicaps are 3
or below. If they are lucky, they can play from the pro tees.
When I had a dinner at a restaurant in the resort on the day I played
the course, I was deeply impressed by the fact that a Thai could design
such a great course. Accidentally, Mr. Namartra was sitting the next table
and I was able to talk with him about many topics of golf course designs.
He is a nice guy with full of talents.
According to the top100golfcourses.co.uk
site, The Banyan GC was ranked 5th out of the 270 (as of 2015) courses
in all of Thailand during its 2015 evaluation.
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(Based on my personal feedback from the perspective of overall rating
on 1-5 scale) 4.00 or above of my evaluation are good courses I would
like to play again while 5.00 or above are such great courses that could
represent a country. I have played many reputable gold courses in Asia.
Almost all courses which I have ranked 5.00 or above are designed by foreigners.
The exceptions are very few such as Oarai
GC in Japan designed by Seiichi Inoue and this Banyan GC Hua Hin,
both of which are designed by a local in each country. Blue
Canyon CC – Canyon Course in Thailand made by Yoshikazu Kato is in
the similar case. The same Asian designed it but not from local country.
The other Pirapon Namatra designed courses in Thailand are Bangsai CC,
Singha Park Khonkaen GC, Nikanti GC, Santiburi Samui CC, etc., and renovated
Chtrium GR Soidao・Chantahburi.
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1st Par 4 423 yards (2)