Krakow Old Timers Golf Group Blog

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Mike Clark in Thailand: Chapter 23

After a short 40 minutes drive by Bangkok traffic standards it brings us to an absolute GEM of a course today in Ban Rakat, a Gil Hanse design.

We pull up to the unpretentious sleek modern clubhouse and as I gaze beyond the waiting carts and caddies I see a sprawling links style golf course similar to ones I played in Scotland, highlighted by rolling sandy dunes and clumps of decorative ornamental grass. This place is a tight ship right from the start.

In a flash, “FERN” my caddie of the day has the clubs securely fastened onto the cart and lets me know she will be waiting for me as soon as I get out of the pro shop. Once checked in Fern ushers me to the tightly clipped and well appointed range for a warm up. Thru google translate on the phone I relay to Fern that I’ve got to swing easy peasy today, as those ribs are still tender from the bathroom slip and slide.

Thinking of my friend Dave Dister back home, I vow to keep that smooth swing tempo in mind, dedicated to avoid further injury and just hit the center of the clubface. No rushing, no extra effort…just easy. As it turns out there is merit in swinging under control and only aiming for the center of the greens.

Go figure. Miss Fern is delighted when I make Eagle on the downwind par 5 second hole as my 7 wood second shot bounces up onto the green. With the help of Fern’s diligent read the putt goes in and it’s a great start. She’s jumping around like she’s stepped onto a fire ant mound and you just have to admire the unbridled enthusiasm. I can only assume she does not see many eagles made.

We make another birdie and a darn 3 putt bogey to turn at 2 under. I’m not sure who’s happier Fern or I, but it makes for great fun. The back nine goes about as well with 3 more birdies but a darn double bogey in the mix when I hit a wayward drive thru the fairway and it requires a couple hacks to extricate myself from the ornamental grass.

But a -3 today on the card swinging extra easy combined with some decent putting makes Fern and I a happy team.

"Fern" great gal & caddie of the day

Front of the clubhouse

Note to players & the speed is accurate

On the range

Team Fern

Course view

Fern always smiling & probably elatedshe doesn't have to look for golf balls all day

Course view

On the tee

Like all caddies, they LOVE to line up the ball, Fern is better than most

More jumping around

Fern showing me where to land a delicate downhill chip

Fern gave me her ball marker as an unsolicited gift & I gave haer a 1921 Morgan silver dollar. As far as I am concerned, I got the better end of the deal.

Best pad Thai meal that I have had in Thailand to end the day.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Tuesday, February 24th: Johnson Leads with a Plus 2!!

Note: NEW MEMBER: Les Adams joined us last week. Les is a new neighbor of Charlie Johnson and has moved back to Washington from Scottsdale Arizona. He will become a full member beginning in March.

NOTE: Closest to the holes for February are #3 & #14.

Individual Winners: Eggert, Hall & Johnson tie the front (€). Curran & Johnson tied the back (+2). Johnson took the total (+2).

Even/Plus Points Club: Johnson (+2), Curran & Hall (+1) and Dunlavy & Eggert (€).

75 & Below Score Club: None

Closest to the Hole: Eggert won #3 and Johnson took #14.

Quota Increases: All (+1): Johnson

Quota Decreases: All (-1): Dunlavy & Moosman

Quotas: Adams 24 * Aholt 32 * Baer 29 * Blackwell 31 * Clark 36 * Christiansen 34 * Coleman 30 * Cozzo, Jeff 27 * Crow 33 * Curran 28 * Curtis 31 (White Tees) * Dister 29 * Dunlavy 27 * Eckelkamp 36 * Eggert 30 (Gold Tees) * Eichelberger 31 (White Tees) * Elcan 32 (White Tees) * Fortner 29 (White Tees) * Gildehaus 31 * Hall 30 * Herrick 24 * Johnson 27 * Kavanaugh 28 * Kossmann 27 * Marquart 27 * Miller 22 (Gold Tees) * Moosman 28 * Meyer 27 * Nealis 22 * Purschke 20 * Scheidegger 29 * Sharma, Ray 26 * Sharma, Raymond 21 * Stapp 33 * Voss, Chas 26 * Voss, Dean 34 * Weinhold 28 * Zastrow, Josh 34 * Zastrow, Owen 27

Mike Clark in Thailand: Chapter 22

After driving well over an hour out of the city morning traffic and into an industrial warehousing and logistics area of Bangkok, we finally arrive at Royal Lakeside Golf Club.

I certainly have my doubts as to what this place is going to be like as the area we came thru is not the best. What you might expect from a third world industrial area, lots of plastic trash, make shift food stalls to service quick meals for workers, truck after truck loaded with sea containers and assorted repair shops of various types. Nothing about the area would lead you to believe there is golf of any kind here.

Yet between all this industrial mess lies the gated entrance to Lakeside and behind which are perfectly manicured fairways, a stunning clubhouse and firm very fast greens.

My caddie today is “Eye” and she’s smartly dressed in her lavender outfit and ready to go to work.

My tee time today is later than usual and I’m darn glad of it. After yesterday’s golf, I stepped out of the shower in my hotel room and off the terry mat on the floor slipping on the wet marble tile and hit the ground hard, but not before I badly bruised the ribs on my right side smacking the tub on the way down. I’m darn lucky I didn’t split my head open or worse. Of course as I’m laying there in a puddle, my first thought is….”can I still swing.” Turns out I can at about 60% with some pain.

Play On.

As luck would have it, we are not paired with anyone and the course is not crowded as has been the case with so many others I’ve played.

That works out splendidly as it’s a trial and error affair with what I can and can’t do with the golf club. Taking two clubs more on most shots gets us around and it’s actually a fun challenge. Together we made a bunch of pars and 3 birdies with some bogeys mixed in. Much…much better than I expected. “Eye” was great and other than teeing up the ball, she took care of all things golf.

Lakeside was a pleasant surprise to be sure and I’ll definitely give it another crack hopefully on a future trip.