Seapine Golf Course

To be honest, I was scared coming here after hearing people speaking negatively about this place. But the price was very reasonable and I wanted to give a shot. In the end, I had lots of fun! Windy and lots of sand bunkers but a good challenge for me! Luckily I got the caddie that plays golf herself and she knew the greens. This place won’t suit to anyone who is expecting PGA level or Palm Springs level but is looking for a good overall golf. I would say it is close to city good quality and it doesn’t me.

1. The reviews online suggest the course is in poor condition. Actually, I thought it was fine... a little dry in parts of the fairway but certainly not sodden. Let me also say that I played appallingly for the six holes we managed so I can't comment much on the greens but they looked good to me. 2. We arrived and could see just a sea of buggies and groups of four ahead. Understandable, it is high season and when we asked whether we could change dates the pro shop, initially, seemed amenable. However when they said 'just go out 30 minutes later' I was fooled into trusting the said folks and we (me playing alone) set off on time. 3. After approaching two hours, we made it to the eighth tee. I'd walked most of the previous holes and all of the seventh - see below - and not spent long on the green (as per above and below). We arrived to watch a group of four take around 14 minutes - I timed them - to drive off. There were four groups stuck here and it was immediately apparent that there was no course management or marshalling going on. It was, to put it bluntly, chaos. 4. I'll be circumspect on this next point but it was clearly frustrating for all but I was very disconcerted by the group behind us who had decided to tee off from the blues when I was just leaving the yellows. There are big distances between these boxes on this course but it was dangerous. The ball landed 20 yards in front of me, bounced on in a straight line and stopped. We were at the tee on 7, 11 is parallel in the opposite direction and it is at the far end of the course so no other holes aligned due W-E. 5. AT THIS POINT we'd expect the caddy to intervene and they are supposed to have strict rules about this kind of thing. I'm not able to go into full details but it was patently clear that a) there was no marshalling or control on the course b) the behaviour of the caddies was at best dodgy and in reality a complete farce and c) that the supposed 'pro' shop was as interested in the clients and their customers as well as if they had been shut. It was a shambles. I've learned two lessons from this experience that was heading towards 4,000 baht for six holes of golf (green fee, caddie fee, cart, walking companion, caddie tip and other bits). The first is that Sea Pines isn't fully under control and the reviews should point out that the overall experience is at best poor and potentially downright dangerous. We eventually found someone - K. Kate - who was a manager and she was the only person who acted courteously and considerately. I don't know here role - there were some suggestions about two separate operating companies? - but she did offer us a refund of some of the other fees. As noted above, the entirely innocent booking company has also been kind enough to refund our fee immediately - kudos - so we are less impacted. BUT Here's what you should also watch out for at Sea Pines, it's the second problem . I'd read reviews that suggested that there were problems with the caddies there. We'd experienced none of that on the previous visits we'd had, they'd all been angels, they even laughed at my jokes. The caddie we had this time was... appalling. She twice walked up to my ball and picked it up and moved it onto the fairway in an effort, would you believe, to hurry us up! It felt wrong from the moment she walked down from the caddie area - you just know these things - and it was the most uncomfortable experience. She didn't actually have a clue where the ball was heading - to be fair it was appallingly random but my wife found more balls than her - but as soon as the ball landed from behind, she should have done something. She didn't and it was only as I spoke to the relevant group with K. Kate that I realised what the biggest problem is with Sea Pines. Our caddy and the caddies of the group behind us - who also put a ball through the group in front of them on 9 after we walked off at 7 - were all of the 'low number' brigade. IMHO they've been there far too long and have been allowed to take over the course without any customer management or on course supervision. You don't have a choice about a caddie in Thailand but I've never had this experience before. Play at Sea Pines with these cautions then: it really is a lovely course and a stunning location but it has almost zero regard for the golfer and seems designed for the benefit of the employees, not the customers. Same applies to the restaurant btw. Incidentally, if you want to know... we tipped the said lady the full amount (500 baht) for her exceptional service for the six holes. It's a terrible job and I'm sure that there are as many bad customers as there are bad caddies - we've seen some of the former - but until they sort this aspect of the course out, along with proper flow management, it is well worth avoiding. It's cheap at 1,200 baht. There is a reason it is that price... and it is not a positive one.

We decided on the 1st hole to play preferred lies as the cover was not the best. A good layout that had an interesting feature. About every 6 holes have a tree in the middle of the fairway to aim at off the tee. But sometimes you might be playing to the green from behind that tree. Will definitely come back.

The course is in good to very good condition. Good caddies 😊👍There was a lot of wind today😳 I play it again.

Fairways and greens in poor condition. Maintenance of the course needs to be improved. Greens very slow. Caddies not good.