| Wake turbulence made me slice
April 2002
Sandwiched between the two runways at (the old) Bangkok International
Airport is one of the most unreal golf courses in the world. My colleague
and I were there last Friday !
The course is called Kantarat Golf Course. It is owned by the Royal Thai Air
Force. It is 6,500 yards off the men's tees and par is 72.
 
It is also one of the worlds great golfing bargains - the course is open to
the public and on a weekday green fees including caddy fee are Baht 450
(US$10).
This is not a course for anyone with a severe slice - out of bounds in on
the right of holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15 and 16 ! Other
important local rules are that no weapons are allowed on the course - and
there is no photography - they are very strict about this !
How to get there - well - its not easy ! The road to the course runs on the
south side of the airport; south of the cargo terminals. Best thing to do -
ASK !!! Or find a friendly taxi !
Holes 1, 2, 3 and 4 take you out from the clubhouse in a straight line next
to the shorter runway, 21L. This is generally used for landings in the day
and you will play with the prevailing southerly wind. 21L is close - about a
sand wedge from you as you play these holes ! You will also be looking out
over the air force base on the eastern side of the airfield - now it is
clearer why photography is not welcome.
Holes 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 come back to the clubhouse alongside 21R. 21R is
further away but an EVA 747-400 was still my excuse for a bad three-put !
Hole 10 brings you back to 21L - now on your left hand side before the short
11th takes you back to 21R. After the 11th you have to cross the taxiway
that takes landing planes from 21L across the much longer 21R to the
taxiways and the pax and cargo terminals. There is no speed exit on 21L so
all landing planes taxi to the runway end. Red lights will flash and
barriers fall to warn you not to cross in front of a turning plane !
Holes 12 and 13 run alongside 21R. Planes should be well airborne by this
point! But it can be noisy ! If they were landing on 03L this would be a
great spot - though a runway 03 approach seems to be very rare at BKK.
Hole 14 runs you along the airport perimeter ! Then hole 15 brings you back
past the approach lights to 03R. This would be the hole that Qantas remember
so fondly after overshooting a wet landing on 21L. I wasted a great drive
here and pushed a poor 8 iron on the Qantas approach !! (Picture from
Reuters).
Hole 16 runs back next to 21L. Then a very good par three crosses you back
to 21R for the long closing par 5 18th.
Now what can you see there - we played the course on a Friday morning !
Some of the traffic included -
A State of Qatar A340
Qatar Airlines A320
Bangladesh Biman 310
Eva 747-400
Yunnan Airlines 767
Bangkok Airlines 717s - Samui and Angkor
Lufthansa 747-400
China Airlines 747-400 and 340
Singapore Air 777 and 747-400
China Airlines 747 Freighter
Cathay Pacific 340 and 777s
Thai Airlines - just about everything - including the A330 painted as the
Royal Barge
Emirates 777
A DC8 freighter - carrier unknown !
Assorted military - fighters, trainers and cargo. Sorry I dont recognise
them !
Qantas 747-400
South African - 747SP
SAS A340
Finnair MD 11
Gulfair 340 (I think)
Malaysian 777
Indian Airlines 320
An Air France Cargo 747 (white fuselage and tailplane - groupe air france
sticker on the side).
Sorry - thats about it from memory. I was trying to play golf - and was not
writing down the details.
For the golfers - the course is flat - there is water - and there are some
bunkers. The course has no sprinker system and it is dry in BKK at the
moment so the course is not as green as it might be. No its not in great
condition - but you are really not there for serious golf !
The club house is friendly - a little old ! The pro shop has a good range of
second hand clubs - sadly no souvenir shirts ! There is food and drink at
the clubhouse and at various points on the course. It is very local. I did
not see any other foreigners on the course - but we were made genuinely
welcome.
Your caddy will be wearing ear plugs. You might want to do the same - but I
think you would be missing out on half of the fun !
It is a great experience and a huge amount of fun ! Enjoy it while you can!!
Hitting the ball straight will help - you cannot go across the ditches onto
the airport to collect your stray drives ! And for the record I went out in
39 and back in 44 ! It was getting very hot !!
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