Kirimaya Golf Resort & Spa

Kirimaya Golf Resort & Spa: Set in the beautiful foothills of the Khao Yai National Park, this is the best quality golf resort in the area and one of the most natural courses you will find anywhere in Thailand. The backdrop of wooded hills and lush jungle provides a wonderful glimpse of Thailand's countryside that you will not see in and around the Bangkok metropolis. Should you journey out to the Khao Yai region you'll also experience cooler breezes and less humidity than in the city.

Nicklaus's excellent, well-maintained, out-and-back layout blends effortlessly with its gently undulating surroundings, producing one memorable hole after another. Beyond the good-width fairways and light semi-rough lies thick impenetrable vegetation, so some tee-shots are going to feel dauntingly tight during your first round here. On a second or third visit you'll begin to discover where the space is, and where it isn't.

Wetland areas boldly intrude across some fairways and also protect the front of several greens. Small lakes and and lily covered ponds further enhance the naturalness of this layout, and all the while the jungle-clad Khao Yai hills look down onto the course.

Here is a layout where you can feel at one with Khao Yai's beautiful countryside, forget the trials and tribulations of the modern world, and concentrate on one of Nicklaus's best and toughest Asian challenges.

Pick of the holes: the signature par-4 16th, which doglegs left-to-right past a large tree and down to a water-protected green, must be one of the most beautiful holes Nicklaus has ever fashioned, although surely nature played the biggest part in its creation.

Stay&Play at Kirimaya Resort: luxury onsite accommodation available, see Where2Stay section below.