Golf course design firm Schmidt-Curley Design announces that 18 holes at the 27-hole Plantation Course at Siam Country Club in Pattaya, Thailand, are now open for play.
Two nines, the par-36, 3,759-yard Tapioca and par-36, 3,645-yard Pineapple, feature Asia's first triple green. The Tapioca's seventh hole and the Pineapple's fourth and ninth holes play to a single green measuring more than 20,000 square feet (1,916 square meters).
"The triple green feature at the Plantation Course evolved as we worked out the routing for the three nines," says Lee Schmidt, founding partner and industry veteran for more than 35 years. "We had a large open area that abutted the clubhouse and thought that a triple green would make a unique focal point so long as it could be played without endangering fellow golfers."
The green's meandering putting surface is contiguous and is divided into three distinct sections by large swales. Number seven on the Tapioca is a par-3 of 178 yards, while numbers four and nine on the Pineapple are lengthy par-4s of 490 and 469 yards, respectively.
The Sugarcane, the property's par-36, 3,736-yard third nine, is scheduled to open on April 1.
Formerly a tapioca and pineapple plantation, the property's geological and natural characteristics include rugged ravines bisecting its Paspalum fairways and mature trees augmented by landscape ground cover and plantings. The Plantation Course also features significant elevation changes that result in several breathtaking views of the beaches of Pattaya and the Gulf of Thailand approximately seven miles away.
Siam Country Club's Old Course, a Schmidt-Curley renovation project completed in Fall 2007 and host of last October's Honda LPGA Thailand, lies little more than one mile away. The Old Course's high-flashed bunkering was eschewed in favor of a minimally-flashed and lower-lipped style at the Plantation Course.
"We wanted to differentiate the two courses as much as possible and felt the vastly different bunkering, in tandem with the Plantation Course's undulating terrain, would accomplish this goal," Schmidt says. "Members and their guests will now be able to enjoy two dissimilar, yet equally pleasurable, playing experiences."
The project took 14 months to complete and was significantly aided by Flagstick Golf Course Construction Management, Schmidt-Curley Design's in-house construction arm headed by industry veteran, Martin Moore.
"Flagstick was a vital partner in the endeavor," says Schmidt. "We know that when Martin and his team are on the job we aren't going to have to worry about budgeting, staffing or scheduling. This in turn allows us to concentrate our full attention on the more specialized aspects of the assignment."
Flagstick, in conjunction with the firm's recently-opened office on China's Hainan Island, will enable Schmidt-Curley to optimally service their clients in the region.