Schmidt-Curley Design’s award-winning Plantation Course at Siam Country Club will make a welcome return to the international spotlight when it hosts next month’s Thailand Open.
The 45th staging of one of the region’s most revered golf tournaments – from June 11-14 – will boast prize money of US$1 million and be jointly sanctioned by OneAsia and the Japan Golf Tour Organisation.
Sculpted by Schmidt-Curley Design, and opened in April 2008, the Plantation Course has frequently been ranked among the leading courses in Thailand.
Brian Curley, Principal at Schmidt-Curley Design, said: “The course is a great test of golf with strong winds regularly adding to the degree of difficulty. I’m sure the players taking part in the Thailand Open there will thoroughly enjoy the experience … and the challenge.”
Previously, the Plantation Course hosted the Honda LPGA Thailand in 2009 and the Thailand Ladies Open in 2013.
Dr Phornthep Phornprapha, Chairman, Siam Country Club, said: “Having staged many world class events, Siam Country Club will bring a wealth of experience to the table and we are confident of being able to add enormous value to the Singha Corporation Thailand Open.”
The Thailand Open will be the fifth high-profile Schmidt-Curley Design course to have hosted a major professional event in 2015.
The sequence began in the last week of February when Korean Amy Yang held off Stacy Lewis and Tseng Ya-ni to win the LPGA Tour’s Honda LPGA Thailand. That event was held over the Siam Country Club’s Pattaya Old Course, close by to the Plantation Course.
Two weeks later, the LPGA Tour returned Stateside with the Faldo Course at the Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa playing host to the JTBC Founders Cup. Featuring generous fairways, large greens and 108 deep pot bunkers, the course was sculpted in conjunction with Schmidt-Curley Design.
Back in Asia in late March, the Blackstone Course at China’s Mission Hills Hainan was the scene of Korean Ryu So-yeon’s triumph in the World Ladies Championship.
Meanwhile, in the first week of April the venue’s Sandbelt Trails Course had the honour of hosting the Buick Open, the opening leg of the 2015 PGA Tour China Series won by New Zealander Josh Geary.
Curley said: “We are honoured that so many of our courses continue to be selected as venues for top-level professional tournaments.”
Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, Schmidt-Curley Design has two fully-staffed China offices (in Haikou and Kunming) to promote quicker mobilisation, lower travel costs and other valuable advantages over competitors. Among its many accolades, Schmidt-Curley Design has been honoured as GOLF Magazine’s ‘Architect of the Year’ and Asian Golf Monthly’s ‘Best Golf Course Architects’ for the past four years in succession.
Schmidt-Curley Design www.schmidt-curley.com
Siam Country Club www.siamcountryclub.com
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