Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm

I realized I haven't had much to post lately, so I figured I'd throw a few pictures up from a few of the courses I played a few weeks ago.  I took advantage of the long Australia Day weekend to head down to Tasmania to play some golf.  I've been trying to play all of the golf courses that I can that are on the Top 100 lists that come out nightly.  The course I played this time were in the north eastern part of Tasmania, right on the coast.

Barnbougle Duens (34th in GOLF Magazine's top 100 for 2013) is a pure links course where weather plays just as much of a factor as the layout.  And while it can be very difficult at times, the scenery is always amazing.  And, being in Tasmania, I hardly saw another golfer in my way.

This was #10 which was a false front.  At 440 yard par 4 with a significant up hill second shot, I was pretty impressed with a missed 15 foot birdie putt.

The other nice part about Tassie is that it's also home to the #72 best course, Lost Farm.  Equally challenging, yet remarkably different (and at 20 holes, par 78) a different type of challenge.  

There were pretty much Wallabies on each tee having a bite to eat.  A bit of natural, grass control.  There were some good holes, really good holes and some horrible.

A few months ago I also played Kingston Heath in Melbourne which ranked in at #28.  Unfortunately I can't find any of those pictures.  So, guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

Not too shabby

Well, I moved from the beach and booked a hotel in the mountains up north. Initially I wished I booked something more central, until I sat at the pool.


Good thing cabs are cheap.

From the Islands to the Mountains

I moved yesterday from Phuket to Chiang Mai. I realized with my propensity to burn it was best to not stay near the beach for too long. So I headed up north to the mountains and to see a different Thai culture.

The one thing I haven't mentioned so far is the driving. There people are crazy. There is certainly no legislation or few laws, just common practices. Scooters are all over the place and at least half the people don't wear helmets. You'll see three people on a scooter, a parent with a three year old on the back, even younger kids being held close in the front. I even say two parents with helmets and a toddler sandwiched between them without a helmet. You'll see workers on their way to work with 15 crammed in the back of a pickup plat bed, you'll see tuk tuk school busses with kids crammed inside and some hanging off the back (San Francisco trolley style) and some holding on for dear life on the roof. Just trying to get an education.









I didn't have my camera out for a lot of my taxi rides but did have it out for the eventful trip to the airport.

Two other things I noticed. Phuket has a Premium Outlet mall with the same stores and a Sizzler. I didn't know those existed any more.

When I got to my hotel, I rested up a bit and then headed to Tiger Kingdom. I had a bit of a moral dilemma on if I should go given lax laws and uncertainty around conditions, but I figured when in Rome. Most, if not all, we're bread in captivity and they were trying to raise awareness so I took that as the positive and went with it. I got to play with some 2 month olds and 4-5 month olds.














You couldn't use a flash and I didn't have time to find the right settings so most came out a bit blurry. But I got a cd with me and the cats that should have some better ones on it. Pretty cute, huh?

Then, it was time for the big cats. The ones that can kill you. 16 month to 3 year olds. They were all tame and you had a guide with you at all times. Granted, they only had a bamboo stick with them for protection. They were definitely enclosed animals, but their eyes seemed alert and based on what started to unfold, they didn't appear drugged or anything to have humans around.







The photographer and guide were leading me around and I got in one spit with two tigers. With great urgency they told me to get close, lay on tiger, pet tiger so I did. Hopefully there's at least one picture with my eyes open of that shot. But not soon after they two cats started playing. You know, biting ears and pulling each other into the pool.












Everyone kind of backed away (there were probably 15 people inside) forgetting there were 4 other tigers somewhere in the pen. I figured at that point I had my pictures and didn't need to risk my life anymore.

Not 15 minutes after I got out, it started to rain and this happened.















Full on fight. Growling and hissing and everything That's when I figured they weren't drugged and also got a quick reminder they're still wild animals.

Location:Chiang Mai,Thailand

Well, that was interesting

I had my hotel book a snorkeling tour for me the other day. And as soon as we picked up the second person, I wasn't sure what was going on.

I was picked up at 6:30am and got to the dock around 8. Now, as I sat there I didn't hear a lot of English. Like none. The the guides starting giving instructions in Russian. I started to panic thinking it was going to be a loooong day if that was the case. Finally, one of the interpreters noticed me without a sticker and came over to at least point me in the right direction.

I got to the boat and sat down only to be moved to the English speaking part. All 6 of us. It was a big relief.



The trip went to the Similan Islands which is a national park 80 miles from the Thai coast. I was thinking it would be less crowded, but I was wrong. At least the beaches made up for all the Russian I didn't understand.















The highlight of the day was definitely snorkeling with sea turtles. There were a few that came up to the boat a few times. Unfortunately I had the zoom in my camera for most and didn't get the best pictures, but I managed a few.








The third one actually didn't have any zoom. He was just curious I guess.

Despite being 80 miles from the coast on an island only open for 4 months, when we sat down for lunch it was nice to see they were still able to get scenes from the 2013 Victorias Secret fashion show on the TV. Tourism, huh.

All in all, it's a good day. And despite applying SPF 50 constantly throughout the day, I still managed to burn a bit.






The weirdest part was probably seeing all the girls take their glamour shots at the waters edge. Most of them seemed to have their dad take the pictures as well. Comical, to say the least.

Location:Similan Islands

The Bar Doesn't Open Till 6?!?!?!?

So, I landed in Bangkok last night after booking my hotels yesterday. Needless to say I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. I had some idea of what to do but couldn't settle on anything. So, I landed in Bangkok at 2am and caught an 8am flight to Phuket where I went straight to the golf course.





This trip was pretty much planned through Instagram. I searched for a few things and found hotels and golf courses and restaurants.





Back to the golf course, I saw Dustin Johnson was playing a few weeks ago so figured it must be good. Turns out Greg Norman and Fred Couples hold the professional course record and Tiger holds the amateur record.





Not bad company, but overtaking didn't challenge them. Though if my putting we're a bit better I might have a shot (or at least not embarrass myself.)

Despite my putting it was a very entertaining round. The course requires caddies. Since I caddied growing up, that was my only idea of what a caddie is. Needless to say I was a bit surprised to get a 51 year old grandma helping me out today.

She was great and the trio of caddies in the group was nothing short of amazing. I played with a German couple in their late 60s. Any time one of them his a good shot all three caddies would cheer, "good shot mama" or "good shot papa." When I hit a good shot, "good shot young man." They would just hoot and holler at the good shots. And it was amazing. I just wish I got a picture at the end with the three of them. But seeing as though it was 90+ and 90% humidity I needed to get out of the sun. And based on my epic sunburn from day one, it could prove to be a long week. Or at least uncomfortable. But screw it, nothing will slow me down.

I had a few other Tiger moments as well. I took the Tiger Line on a hole directly over the canyon and succeeded.


On 18 I also nailed my drive right past the Tiger longest driver marker.



My caddie, by the way.

So I finished golf and headed to the hotel to check in. And I must say, there's not a big difference between "pool villa" and "honeymoon suite."



Yeah, it's going to be a relaxing few days in Phuket. Staying in the pool villa gets me an open bar (which is now empty as I went for an afternoon swim) and cocktails nightly at the Regent Club. But apparently I can't ra slate military time since I got here at 5:30 only to find out it's not till 6:00. Oh well, it's tough to beat the view.





Oh yeah, and everywhere so far has free wifi. So expect updates around 6:00pm but please forgive the typos. The mini bar includes local rum. By the bottle.

Location:4129,อ.เมืองภูเก็ต,Thailand