Day 15: Mike Clark in Thailand

I wake up today knowing full well I’m going to ruin someone’s day….yes it’s a fact…. Today someone has to reach into the black bag of death, that is my laundry bag and gingerly separate….“hopefully with rubber gloves”…. The pile of sweat soaked underwear, socks etc that’s been fermenting, for a week, like Tennessee sour mash.  It will not be an enviable task.  Whoever does it at the Hilton ….I’d like to put them up for “Employee of the Month” with a personal letter of reference.

I’m on the move to Bangkok today for six nights here and some great courses in the upcoming days.  In route today, we detoured to Royal Ratchuburi and I’m ever so glad we did.  This great course is set in the foothills of small mountains and the climate has gone from the extremely dry conditions in Hua Hin to wet and lush with a much more tropical feel.  The air is heavy and damp as I unpack my gear.  The clubhouse is not as impressive as others that I have played and it is showing its age from years of high humidity and heat.

I meet my smiling caddie… Lann who is wearing her Mizzou black and gold and appears to not speak any English….but that’s an obstacle that I can certainly overcome.  I pay up my 50 baht for range balls that are spray painted and look like a tray of Easter eggs and head to the practice tee.  It’s not impressive and I’m beginning to think I would have been better served to have just headed on to Bangkok to get settled in.

However……Once I step onto the first tee box, it’s a revelation for certain. It’s all Bermuda tees, fairways and greens and it’s nice….. really nice.  Each carefully manicured hole has character and plays around the contour of the land.  There are tropical trees and colorful flowers and it’s lush and damp. I’m playing the blue tees and it’s about the maximum I can handle at 6,600 yards.

Three birdies and three bogeys on the front and we turn in even…Lann is doing a lot of smiling and nodding and I’m sure she is relieved that she’s not been knee deep in the wet jungle looking for my Maxfli.  Lann has also been instrumental in protecting both my and her personal belongs in the cart from thieving monkeys.  That is honestly a first for me.

All pars on the back despite a couple really good birdie looks….until the par 5, 17th hole.  After two nice shots, I’ve got 115 uphill with my wedge to a front pin. It’s an easy shot which of course I pull directly into the bunker left of the green.  It’s my first trip into the wet sand today and it’s just been raked. After a lackluster shot that takes too much sand coming out in an explosion of disappointment…I’m still short of the green… and above the hole. My chip runs 8 foot by and another missed putt coming back….which yields a big fat double. Please refer to the pic of the laughing monkey at my misfortune. A par on 18 gives me a 74 for the day and other than the disaster on 17 it’s been great. Of all the courses that I have played in Thailand…. This is one that I could play over and over again.

Also ….Shout out to Ed, as he might be interested in the state of the art greens roller pictured.
On the road to Bangkok, my driver is anxious to show off his state of the art custom sound system in the van…. I connect my Bluetooth Pandora and Nelly is hammering out “Ride Wit Me…” at a level that will make my ears ring into the night.

It’s been a good day!