Day 19: Mike Clark in Thailand

Well my indiscriminate night market dining choices finally caught up with me in the early morning hours.  No throwing up, but a mid section that’s telling me something is seriously wrong, gets me quickly out of bed.  I think it was the peeled mango, probably washed in a bucket of dirty water before it got to me.  I’ll never know for sure.

By the time my driver picks me up for the near 2 hour drive to Nikanti golf club… I’m feeling better but have only had liquids.

As usual he loads the sticks and I jump in the back of his Camry and away we go.  He’s a master at weaving in and out of the city traffic and when we clear downtown…… traffic becomes light.  We are on a similar route as yesterday and I recognize some landmarks we passed but need to travel about 20 minutes further to get to Nikanti.

Thats when 2 serious things happen. Traffic bottles down to a crawl, pinched in by road construction and makeshift concrete barriers framing on both sides of the highway….. and secondly my stomach starts rumbling again. We pass gas station after station and even a McDonalds, but there will be no opportunity for stopping or access as we are trapped in a concrete and traffic prison.  After what seems like an eternity, we mercifully enter the Nikanti parking lot and clubhouse access….. and mind you, not a moment too soon. I’m out of the car in a flash and headed to the locker room before my driver can even open the trunk to unload the clubs and check me in.

Nikanti is a first class operation and on par with Thai CC.  It has a sleek modern clubhouse and your round of golf includes an ample buffet brunch before and after your round.

I’m not eating a thing before I play, and make my way downstairs to meet SU, my caddie. She’s surprisingly tall for a Thai gal and she’s all smiles. For a facility this nice, I’m surprised to learn there is no driving range, but the putting green is spacious and perfect.

I elect to roll some putts and no sooner do I start with the Odyssey, then here comes SU with her umbrella. The sun is blazing hot and she’s absolutely intent on holding the umbrella over me to keep me shaded. I try to insist to her that in America…. Gentlemen hold the umbrella for the ladies…. But she’s having none of it.

It’s a day to be humble and swing easy and of course we lip out a six footer for an opening birdie on the par five first hole. The layout is an unusual design of 6 par fives, 6 par fours and 6 par threes. The fairways and greens are near perfect and it’s a shot makers course with elevation changes and bunkers everywhere.

I can’t go a round without being above the pin in a near impossible position and included a pic that doesn’t do the slope justice.

Things go well today with a few nice birdies to balance out a few senseless bogeys, but a heartbreaking 3 putt on 16 leaves SU and I at plus one with 2 to play. We manage a par on 17 and after 3 good shots we are looking at a slippery 10ft downhill birdie putt on 18 to go even on the day.

We give it our best effort only to watch it slide by on the exact line of our choosing. We both wince in disappointment and she exclaims “Almost!”
If she only knew.