Blue Canyon Country Club, Phuket: The Canyon Course

The signature 14th hole at the Blue Canyon CC’s Canyon Course. Photo courtesy: phuketgolfcourse.com 

Course review

By Rahul Banerji

As part of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) India contingent to TGTM 2018, some of us took the opportunity to play the Canyon Course at the Blue Canyon Country Club barely an hour after landing in Phuket.

Jet-lagged or not, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Back in 1998, Tiger Woods scripted one of his greatest comebacks as a professional, overcoming a nine-shot deficit on the final day to first catch Ernie Els and then beat him in the playoff at the Johnnie Walker Classic.

At the 1991 JWC as a 16 year old amateur, Tiger – whose mother Tilda is Thai — hit a course record 71.

So we were literally treading on history.

Having hacked and slashed our way through the first 12 holes, it was time to face the 13^th, called the Tiger Hole. To reach the green almost 400 yards away, you need to cross first a lake and then high cliffs on the other side before the fairway flattens out.

At the 1998 JWC, Tiger was on the green with his drive. According to local legend, only one other golfer has done so since. Twenty years later, it is no longer possible to drive the green as it is now surrounded by tall trees.

Back then though, Tiger went for broke, and made it. We opted for the wimp’s route, hitting across water to the nearest piece of land and then going for the green.

The signature hole here though, is the par three 14^th. It is a little lollipop of land stuck into the lake and course designer Yoshikazu Kato must have taken great delight over the years at the degree of difficulty presented for those taking on the challenge.

From the blue tee about a hundred feet above the green, the flag is 170 yards. I was lucky to make it in one with a six iron. It was my only par on this testing course. The others lost balls left, right and centre.

With that one par in the pocket, the last four holes were a breeze.

Overall, the par-72 Blue Canyon Course layout is a testing one and measures 6,664 yards from the blue tees (7,179 from the black and 5,943 from the red). Well-maintained fairways and friendly caddies make it a pleasure to tackle.

Playing at Blue Canyon (bluecanyonphuket.com) is however, not cheap. Deals are available and it makes sense to stay onsite as there are two courses to choose from. It is also close to the airport and using it a base – just for the golf – is lighter on the pocket.

Post-golf, Patong is where much of the action is and the beautiful beach, washed by the Andaman Sea, is a delight by itself, Phuket prides itself on the local cuisine which is toothsome and fresh and is on offer almost everywhere, in restaurants, on the sidewalks or from the ever-present carts.

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