Well lads, the Thailand adventure is underway and I’m writing this as I am nestled into a comfy overstuffed booth in the Hilton lounge sipping on a frothy handmade cappuccino. After 25 hours sitting on planes, I arrived last night in Bangkok after midnight actually so completely out of sorts time wise I had trouble going to sleep. By the time I got my things unpacked and a degree of order to the room that will by my home for the next 12 days, it was well into the early morning hours. I had instructions from “Nueng” my assigned driver, to be downstairs at 830 am sharp and ready to roll, thus any rest and much needed recharge time was short lived.
Today’s course was Royal Gems City…. A course I had played before featuring a front nine composed of 9 of the most famous holes in golf, including the church pews of Oakmont, the Road Hole, 17 at TPC and others. The second nine is a pretty darn close replica of the back 9 of Augusta National, complete with slick firm greens and elevation changes. There are no pine trees here, but they have replaced those with eucalyptus trees, and as the course matures, it will really be something. I was paired with a very nice gentleman from Japan today who was nothing but smiles. He struggled a bit off the tee but compensated his game by being a great chipper off some very tight lies and he managed several nice up and downs. As luck would have it I drew a wonderful caddie named “Mew”. Aside from being very attractive and having the appearance of a 20 year old, despite her 36 years, she had her yardages down to the number. A couple holes into the round and she had my club selection down pat. Before I left I took a chance and purchased an AI language translator. It consists of 2 ear pieces and you can set the accompanying app to conversation mode. This allows me to speak in English and the wearer of the second ear piece hears the translation in Thai and vice versa. It’s not perfect, but it certainly allowed Mew and I to converse with each other as well as share a bunch of laughs for those phases that were “lost in translation.”
Despite running on fumes, I played well today to the delight of Mew and myself and shot +2 on a tough track. Tonight I’ll get a good nights rest and head for Thai Country Club tomorrow. It’s going to be a great day.
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| Mew & I |
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| Mr. Up & Down from Japan |
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My crew today
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| Mew and I on the 12th of the National |
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| The Girls & I |
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| Royal Gems clubhouse |
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| A look at the 12th |
