Golf, a popular sport in Thailand
In addition to the many possibilities that Thailand offers, there are also opportunities to play golf in many places. In a radius of 30 kilometers around Pattaya there are at least 29 places where golf can be played on beautifully landscaped courses.
However, for Thailand the handicap (world) system will cause a number of problems. First, about 99% of all Thai golfers and expats in Thailand do not belong to a golf club. This creates the problem of how Thai nationals and foreign expatriates who do not belong to a club want to achieve and maintain their handicaps, as they must join golf clubs in order to have the chance to have officially recognized handicaps worldwide. This could negatively affect the state of golf in the country and affect many golfers and clubs.
Second and perhaps the most concerning part of golf is the need to have a Thai organization to implement the handicap system and ensure the integrity and application of the system within the country
The only organization in Thailand that can currently operate any form of official handicap is the Thai Golf Association (TGA), so that would be an obvious choice for the responsibility of this organization, but this leads to further problems.
The Thai Golf Association lacks the modernization and for that there are three important facts, which can jeopardize the implementation of this system.
- The Thai Golf Association is an open association that anyone can join, but it is mainly aimed at Thai nationals, so the majority of the information is only available in Thai, which means that foreign expatriates will be limited as to the information they can obtain.
- Currently, the Thai Golf Association uses a software system that is outdated and they are reluctant to upgrade this system to one that would facilitate a smooth transition to the new universal system.
- The TGA only updates handicaps once a month, which must be changed to maintain the integrity of the universal system. All these obstacles lead to the idea that the universal handicap system would be difficult to integrate into the Thai golf culture, so that certain requirements cannot be met here in Thailand.
The golf culture in Thailand just won't change or notice how the universal handicap system works in the world.
Source: Livv Aug 2017
Bit of nonsense, story is about pattaya, well there you can become a member of pattayasportsclub that keeps track of your Hcp and you get a discount on the green fee on most courses. Works fine