Honest Golf: The Reality for 99.9% of Golfers

A round of golf at another cheap course in Bangkok, Thailand (EVERY SHOT)
Mueang Ake golf course - Front 9.
An every shot golf course vlog from Bangkok, Thailand.
Green fees: 650 baht
Caddie fee: 350 baht
Caddie tip (compulsory): 350 baht +
Total: 1350 baht / £32 / US $39
I'm James, a golfer with a dodgy swing now playing off a 12 handicap. I am in Thailand for the winter where I will be playing golf and posting rounds from the cheaper courses.
To contact me about anything (email): [e-mail]

[@thomasnicotra7583]

Can we all take a moment to appreciate how this man’s driving got so good I remember watching when every drive went everywhere except the fairway. Great job James!

[@briangray00]

+1

[@sovereignsaint]

"I think something went wrong with the grass". Love it. I'm writing that one down for next time I duff one (which is every other shot usually).

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Dufftown city mate 👍 👍

[@tjm5492]

While you're in Thailand, are you going play 18 with Matt, Golf Sidekick? That would be fun to watch!

[@David-jq2ez]

Just goes to show how pitching and putting is so much more important than driving well! You were fantastic off the tee but lost countless shots on and around the green, it looks very much like I play! Once you get your putter going again you’ll be fine! Love you videos, enjoy your break!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers David, yeah usually I take the short game for granted but it went AWOL on this morning haha 👍 👍

[@osian007]

These videos have inspired me to start a golf KZbin channel!! Not released any videos yet but will be soon!! Keep up the amazing videos James 🔥👍🏼!!

[@rjt4020]

Thanks for sharing James. What a beautiful course and amazing value for money. Definitely on my bucket list to play golf in Thailand. Have a good Christmas mate look forward to many more uploads. ATB Rob

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers ATB Rob, have a great festive season yourself! 👍 👍

[@riprock31]

Ouch....that certainly was a rough front 9, but your composure is admirable! I'm looking forward to seeing you get redemption on the back 9. Merry Christmas!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

+18 is my worst 9 of the year I think. At least I get to watch it back to see where I went wrong! 👍 👍

[@baldwinbonney]

Hoping to see you meet up with the Playa himself on an upcoming vid. Thank you for sharing, it just shows we all have those days.

[@debtel007]

Kudos to James for showing the bad rounds as well and you’re right we do all have bad days..but better a bad day on the golf course than a good day in work 😂👍🏻🎄🇪🇸

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Just keeping it real Terry. Everything balances out in the end mate 👍👍

[@Unitedfan461]

I think you may have been suffering from the Sangsom whiskey the night before on the 1st green 😂 Cracking round with the driver! 👏

[@stefanrogge8155]

Always a pleasure to watch your videos.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Stefan, thanks for watching man 👍👍👍

[@jamiewatkins5870]

Doing a good job for the Bangkok tourist board 😉👍

[@mannyo4231]

I've had the pleasure of blowing up on beautiful courses, while on vacation around the world. It hurts to watch a brand new ball out of the box, being struck for the first time, as it sails into the forest. And yes it is a funny ol game. But it's the game we all love... Still enjoyed watching as usual...Keep at it mate!.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Manny, I have changed to cheaper Inesis Soft 500 balls purely on price. So much water on the courses in Thailand haha 👍👍

[@teslaplaid3375]

Well done for uploading this, conditions will take a while to get used to, keep your head up

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Yeah, those greens were lightening. The greenside pitch on the first hole I was really surprised it rolled 25 ft past!

[@BeneTyVLOGS]

You should also try the Philippines for golf, good courses, cheap, caddies are also mandatory but they will help you a lot in your game, anyway love the videos keep em coming

[@Golfofftheyellows]

Great video James pretty consistent with your driver there looking forward to seeing the back 9. Have a good Christmas.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Les, the driver was the one shining light from this front 9. Have a great festive season yourself mate 👍👍

[@pa1562]

Meet up w golf sidekick it’s be a banging collab!

[@paulgreen8228]

Great day off the tee, some great hits with the driver and 6 iron

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Paul, yeah there were some good shots in there somewhere! haha 👍👍

[@davegregory2809]

Great video and a very honest round of golf. Played my local course yesterday and shot 20 over my handicap so do feel your pain 😂

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Happens to the best of us 👍👍⛳️

[@jt-qs5en]

Its crazy how different the sounds are from English courses to Thai ones Thanks for the videos

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Josh, I turned the sound up a bit on this video to hear the caddie and the natural sounds on the course 👍👍

[@JmackDaddyFunk]

What’s your current handicap? 12? The results are somewhat telling as to how your game measures up on a longer course compared to those shorter courses back home.

[@jameslovering9158]

Very encouraging caddie 👌keep em coming, agree thats a very nice course and wow beautiful early in the morning. Lucky its not the hot season so should be bearable to walk it but in the hot season you need a cart mate 100% just too hot to walk it.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Yeah, she was a great caddie Som. She's worked at this club for 20 years straight and really loves golf! I'm not looking forward to playing in the hot season, I already check for the cloudier days to play right now! 👍👍

[@mikkeltaylor1]

Good to play different courses / settings as will no doubt help your game. You’ll be playing like a pro by the end of your trip 💪

[@andrewportman2575]

Shows how difficult it is to play on different courses in different environments, great experience for you mate

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

It's good experience no matter what happens to the scorecard 👍👍

[@karlapps2231]

Interesting to see you play with a caddy, I wonder how you would do without the caddy. Looks lovely out there very jealous!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

The caddy definitely helps my bad back as I don't have to haul the clubs around. If they give accurate yardages on the first couple of holes I'll pay attention. But sometimes they give the back edge yardage on approach shots to account for a heavy shot. 👍👍

[@paulthomson2288]

looks like a post "night in soi cowboy" round.

[@Keyevns89]

The conditions and environment look amazing. An unfortunate round there James but you can’t play well every time. Looks like it takes a lot of getting used to compared to the UK. You’ll be a master by the end of your visit.

[@andrewmartin808]

Great video, keep them coming!!!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Andrew, back 9 will be posted this Friday 👍👍

[@briangray00]

Oh mate! Your bread and butter short game deserted you here. It took until hole 8 for you get the pace of the green right Hope you pick up on the next 9. Had to larf when you found yourself behind the solitary palm and the desperate hack out - directly into the welcoming embrace of the bunker nemesis. Form = temporary and I love how good humoured and philosophical you appear to remain.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Brian, this was an interesting day on the course for sure. I'm not too bothered about the scoring right now as the conditions are so different to back home 👍👍

[@briangray00]

@@notaperfectgolfer3489 I'm certain things can only get better for you in Thailand - enjoy the journey and keep making videos!! Best wishes.

[@sizenineelm]

North Wales is looking better every day...

[@stederby83]

Not playing with a caddie so you can edit is looking better everyday...

[@tylergolf9532]

@@stederby83 lol

[@michaelbledsoe1060]

Tough day this time, we all have them. Best wishes and Merry Christmas. Cheers from Texas. ⛳🤠🏌️

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Michael, have a great festive season! 👍 👍

[@davidwalters313]

Looks great value. Your getting reasonable distance on your drives now

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers David, the TM Burner driver seems a little straighter than my Ping G10 👍👍

[@mrkipling3841]

Great stuff mate.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

👍👍👍

[@davecarlson6836]

Rough day at work, James. I think a lot of us can relate. Do you like having the caddie? It seems a little too intrusive and distracting to me.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Hey Dave, getting used to caddies was very weird at first. But now I do like having one as it saves me from hauling the clubs around. They don't distract me too much and I don't mind the advice given. You can always choose to ignore what they say in the end. I haven't had a bad caddie so far and they've all been nice to chat to walking around the course. Thanks for watching 👍 👍

[@robertwilson9658]

Change the GPS from yards to meters

[@humblequest7905]

Oh dear James. A 7 4 7 start can easily lead to a jumbo score. Hope the back nine was better 🙂

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Yeah, Spoiler alert I shot better than +18 on the back 9 :-) Sometimes it's good to have a really bad run of holes to keep the ego in check 👍👍

[@Iversonwings1]

Is James going the way of the playa? Please do a collab with Golf Sidekick, he lives in Thailand

[@martinrussell8580]

James I've been playing Thailand courses for 20 odd years on many holidays I've been as low as 12 at home shot 54 for 9 holes then 45 for the other 9 . I've often wondered why its so hard and so difficult and different to back home. watching you play there reminds me of so many rounds. I definitely find if your there for a while you get used to it after about 4/5 rounds but I couldn't tell you why or how . It must be just practice 👍

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Martin, this is only my second Thai course played so far. The greens were like glass on the downslopes and it totally threw me off making me play really defensively around the greens. The same thing happened when I played Bang Na Navy course on my first visit. I felt like it was a totally different game and I couldn't play my normal shots. I lost 4 balls in 9 holes (3 in the water, 1 over the fence) but after 2 or 3 visits settled down. Thanks for watching 👍👍

[@martinrussell8580]

@@notaperfectgolfer3489 I think where we go wrong is when we duff a shot it leads to other duff shots like the par 4 you had 8 on . Also the hole with the tree in the middle ive played so many courses like that in Thailand and you always end up behind it. If you're looking for golf courses to play ive played all of them in and around pattaya and chaing mai. leam chabang is probably the best the 18th is a par 5 with a big oak like tree in front of the green. If you want to travel about there is a really nice course about 1& 1/2 hours away from Bangkok called kabin buri sport club.👍

[@steveshaw6560]

Great to see golf somewhere different and great value for money. Does having a caddie put you off as I would of thought it breaks the rhythm of how you usually play?

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Steve, having a caddie was very strange for the first round or 2. But now I'm totally used to it and am starting to prefer having one than not 👍👍

[@ptdavidson87]

Enjoying the videos!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers mate, thanks for watching 👍 👍

[@chrisedwards6614]

You drove well but shows how much harder the short game is abroad keep going

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Chris, I normally take the short game for granted but it definitely went missing this day lol 👍👍

[@yookaylee723]

Shall we bring our own golf clubs or better to rent club in Thailand.

[@baljaffrayboy]

Think you're just a bit rushed with a caddy with the putting. In Wales you'd have holed many more 🏌️

[@wallabybob3020]

Don't take this the wrong way James, but I'm secretly quite chuffed when you triple bogey. It makes you a 'normal' golfer like the rest of us and you're right - that grass definitely looked a bit dodgy to me! Looking forward to a bogey free back nine.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Bob, I also secretly root for other KZbinrs to have blowup holes on their course vlogs! haha 👍👍

[@brucehanna9473]

When is new content coming out?

[@BarBQedIguana]

Enjoy your videos. I have 2 questions. 1. Is your shot tracer yardage ball flight only or ball flight and roll. 2. Have you ever tried putting without your glove.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers, the tracer is yardage for ball flight and roll (it's hard to do the graphics for the rollout). I always putt with a glove on by habit, I have tried without it and there is no difference. On this day the greens were lightening fast and different grass to what I'm used to 👍👍

[@Big_J]

Would be normal bad round for me. Towards new adventures...

[@dominickfiorello3603]

They’re all not works of art, are they? Keep your head up (or is it down?) 😊

[@DavidHarris-pp5yq]

It's golf Jim but not as we know it 😂 with 6 balls,dogs, gimmie zones etc but seriously looks a great place to play. I would imagine it puts you in a different mindset ? Wouldn't get hung up about the score as your game is defo on the up with some nice driving today.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers David, I'm finding it weird playing so early in the morning. Getting taxis to the course at 5:30am when it's pitch black outside. Every round feels like an adventure! 👍👍

[@wadefite]

No seaside courses then? I've never seen that circle around the hole (but I've never seen a dog sleeping in a bunker in Scotland} Looks really interesting.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

I'm in the big city now but I'll definitely try a couple of seaside courses next year 👍 👍

[@chassis1651]

@@notaperfectgolfer3489 if you're still in Thailand give Golf Sidekick a shout!

[@rangerofthenorth2850]

Deffo good value. I'm not sure about the "gimme zone" 🤔 what do you think? I think it would encourage me to put to the zone rather than go for the hole? And also I would not be guaranteed to knock in every 2.5 footer. But if thems the rules?!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

It was weird for me this is the first time I've seen it. They have it to speed up the play I think? I'm probably just going to hole out as normal from now on unless it's ridiculously close 👍👍

[@rangerofthenorth2850]

@@notaperfectgolfer3489 yeah I think I would. I know when you're playing with your mates they always say "dustbin lid" but when it's drawn out for you on the green that would mess with my head lol.

[@lucasabrams9451]

Will you play the golf course between two runaways by an airport?That would make for a dope video

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

That is Kantarat golf course at Don Mueang airport. I'd like to film there but apparently there is strictly no photography allowed at that course. One weird thing someone told me is you need to show your passport to play there 👍👍

[@peterkelly9655]

Great work james. What golf Ball do you play these days?

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Peter, I like the Srixon Soft Feel ball but I’m transitioning to the Inesis Soft 500. Reason is it’s cheaper and is amazing for chipping around the green 👍👍

[@peterkelly9655]

Thanks James. To be honest I’m not sure what I should be playing. I have a mix of the pro v1, pro v1x and the tour soft (all titliest obviously) as I won all in comps over years. But that stock is running low now so I’m in the market for new balls. I have been watching a few videos over the Xmas break but often get mixed messages from the videos. I’m tempted to move away from the Premium balls. I play of 9/10 and hit it 230yards with my driver so not super long so think a sod ball with low spin might suit my game. I think most balls are decent enough around the greens but I would like something that gives me an extra few yards of tee and irons. Perhaps the Callaway ERC as they seem a combo of both worlds.

[@peterkelly9655]

Soft ball that should say. I might try the ERC or even the Supersoft (Callaway or Srixon) and see how they work

[@edwardsroba]

Are you working whilst out there?

[@steveash656]

James please don't ever change your golf "apparel" totally anti-hero. Thoroughly enjoying your content 😉

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Steve, my golf wear is a mish-mash of random gear. Totally opposite to what most people wear & I missed a another belt buckle again on this day! Next month I'm going to try a Titleist bucket hat so I'm probably going to look even worse haha 👍 👍👍

[@ian_y]

Nice video 👍Can clubs be hired? If so, any idea of the cost?

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Yes, you can hire everything from shoes to clubs. Not sure of the price exactly it's probably in the region of 1000 baht.

[@Mike-tl6xk]

How long are you there for? Enjoy the content!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Until the spring hopefully 👍 👍

[@Brainlesscheesy]

Did you check if your GPS measures in metres?

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

It's definitely yards. Unfortunately, I might have to sack off using the Golfshot app out here if it's the same for other courses.

[@steveh2027]

Is it possible that you are confusing yards and meters in your gps?

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

I double checked and it was still in yards. I think the GPS mapping is not so good at some courses in Thailand. I might have to sack off the Golfshot app if it keeps happening. Time to get a rangefinder 👍👍

[@jackbailey7184]

We all have days like that,

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Every real golfer knows the score 👍👍

[@frankhernandez6883]

Did you use your own clubs or rentals? thanks 🙂

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

I took my own clubs. You can rent at most courses if you don't have any 👍👍

[@danepercy6511]

Hey James, just one of those days. We all have them. Put it behind you and move on. Your head didn’t seem to be in the round. And don’t I hate waiting as well!!

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

It's true was a little sleep deprived for this round. That's what I'm going to blame it on haha 👍👍 :-)

[@molsi01]

Another good video mate. Looks like an interesting country to play golf in 👍🏻

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Cheers Simon, I'm enjoying playing golf in Thailand. Some very 'interesting' sights on the courses here 👍 👍

[@stevenwalmsley3468]

I’m a little gutted there for you. To many mistakes . But you’re a good player and understand what you’re doing wrong. Hopefully back 9 goes better. ⛳️⛳️

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

I was thinking of maybe not posting this video as there was so much bad play. The driver was excellent but the approach play was all over the shop. The greens were running like glass on some holes which was very unnerving. I've been ill recently so haven't played in 7 days and don't have any other content to post! 👍 👍

[@stevenwalmsley3468]

@@notaperfectgolfer3489 you are trying. Like you say the lay of the grass and the grass is different to the uk. It’s definitely showing how difficult it is to play over seas. I know I struggled in America… but you’re doing something different which is good. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@benhopson8]

4 putt you want to see that on golf videos

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

Real golf mate. Even the pros 4-putt from time to time 👍 👍

[@jameslovering9158]

He is an honest man, I think many would edit those out ?

[@steviekeane]

Man who turn sideways through airport turnstile is going to Bangkok .

[@bernardprice8316]

i have seen a lot a lot of golf vids from Thailand now and i have to say it is not for me, being forced to have a caddy is one thing but then 6 balls and the like will not make for a relaxing round

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

I think it's just the public courses they allow 5 and 6 balls on. The private golf clubs are better managed but you pay much more to play there.

[@cottlad]

$40 for everything with arrow pointing to caddy.......Is that an intentional joke or just my warped mind? haha

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

It's a lame thumbnail effort to try and attract new viewers. I think I might change it later today 👍👍

[@joncarter9041]

Ohhh! Haven't unpacked your 'golf-head' yet??? Was it delayed in transit? 🤣 Being serious...I know that it takes 3 or 4 rounds to get your game and body up to speed with conditions.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

It was like I was trying to sandbag my handicap 👍 👍

[@jettjones9889]

This video won’t play for me !!

[@jbudgie]

Biggest peak i've ever seen.😁

[@mikewalker1885]

I think I' pay the caddie just to stay on the 1st tee then meet me on the 18th. I play golf to get away from women not to have one following me around rabbitting all the time, crazy.

[@notaperfectgolfer3489]

You can tell them to be quiet if you prefer. I like the banter and back and forth 👍👍

[@peterhood6747]

What a shame those duffs and puts...ok try again... 👌