The 2011 Amateur Golf Series: A new reason to plan a Thailand golf holiday

There are a lot of great competitions worth traveling for throughout the United States for Amateur golfers, whether it’s in Las Vegas, Florida, Myrtle Beach or in many states with Golf Channel’s Am Tour.

If you’re looking to get exotic with your golf competition, consider this event from leading Asian golf packager, GolfAsian.com: the 2011 Amateur Golf Series in Thailand.

There will be eight separate events in the series, held in varying regions of Thailand at different times of year, between Hua Hin, Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai. Each event has four rounds of action at different courses, and the first event for 2011 is January 23rd-29th in Chiang Mai. The format is a club handicapped Stableford, but the final day’s action in each event will be decided by a shootout, where the winner receives a six-night, four-round package to return for the finals in Chiang Mai in October. Click here to learn more about the tournaments at GolfAsian.com.

I visited Malaysia during the time of a similar event, the World Amateur Inter-Team Championships, which is a team event staged by the country’s tourist office in various destinations throughout the country. It’s very popular among countries on that side of the world like Australia, Indonesia and even South Africa.

Click here for info on the Malaysia’s WAITGC.

This new Thailand event seems to be aiming at the same demographic, and like the World Am, this event invites winners back for a free championship trip. Thailand is one place I’d have a very hard time turing down a golf holiday if my friends invited me along to compete in such an event, especially one with the chance of returning on someone else’s dime.

Between well-conditioned and serviced golf clubs, the value and the culture, there is no place in this hemisphere quite like Thailand. The cheerful (usually) female caddies are a lot of fun, and eating roadside or street vendor Thai food is a delight. Service levels and graciousness are off the charts good, which is probably why Golf Asian says so much of their business is repeat business.

Massages are an integral part of the Thai culture, and when our group played in Thailand, we didn’t have any official competition. Instead, we played each other for $7, 90-minute foot massages throughout the week. It’s pretty tough to get too tense in competition when you’re enjoying spicy Thai food, Tiger beer and a rub down 90 minutes every night.