While it is the players who make a tournament, it is often the venue that elevates events beyond the ordinary. Story by Jonathan Ponniah.

Laguna Golf Phuket is one such venue. Located on the sunny southern Thai island of Phuket, the golf course forms part of the multi-faceted Laguna Phuket Resort and is one of the most popular destinations on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) as the home of the Singha Laguna Phuket Open, which starts on Thursday.

The event is co-sanctioned with the All Thailand Golf Tour. It boasts a prize fund of THB4 million (approx. US$122,000), and is the fourth stop on the 2025 ADT schedule.

The tournament will bring an exciting mix of the region’s rising talents and globe-trotting journeymen to the sprawling beachside resort, located on a pristine site on the western coast of Phuket bordering the Andaman Sea. While the serious business of competitive golf understandably takes centre stage, the players will also enjoy a five-star experience at the 1,000-acre complex which offers six world-class hotels and a host of leisure activities and dining options.

“We are extremely excited to welcome some of the best professional golfers in the world to test themselves at Laguna Golf Phuket. The golf course preparations have gone well, and we expect conditions to be pristine for the tournament. Off the course, we have also been investing in our facilities, which includes upgrades to our PGA Golf Academy,” said Paul Wilson, Managing Director of Laguna Phuket.

“Aside from our golf course and facilities, there is so much for everyone to enjoy. In my opinion, Laguna Phuket is an unrivalled destination, having multiple hotel resorts, numerous dining options and recreational facilities, all interconnected with our complimentary shuttle buses and boats,” he added.

Wilson stressed that hosting the tournament helps elevate the international profile of Laguna Phuket, especially since the ADT first co-sanctioned the event in 2017. The resort is also one of 13 Asian Tour Destinations venues, an exclusive network of world-class golf facilities with connections to the Asian Tour.

“Hosting the Singha Laguna Phuket Open is extremely important for the overall destination marketing of Laguna Phuket. We are honoured to have partnered with the All Thailand Golf Tour and Singha Corporation for the past nine years with this tournament. Having the event co-sanctioned with Asian Development Tour further enhances the player field and global awareness through the Asian Tour’s extensive network,” noted Wilson.

Ken Kudo, General Manager of the ADT, noted that the players always look forward to the Laguna Phuket experience,

“The players are always excited to play at Laguna Golf Phuket as it offers the complete experience, from a beautiful high-risk, high-reward golf course, to incredible hotels on-site with more dining options than anyone can handle! The resort experience and nearby town reflect what the ADT is about; a small family-like community with friendly faces all around,” said Kudo.

While the course first opened for play in 1993 as the Banyan Tree Golf Club, it underwent an extensive renovation and redesign in 2014 helmed by Canadian architect Paul Jansen. The result is a world-class and memorable layout that not only challenges all levels of players, but is also a visual wonder with scenic waterways, pretty coconut groves and tantalising glimpses of the ocean.

Jansen noted that they added a lot of contours and water hazards to increase the strategic element. “The course can be played both easy and hard, depending on pin and tee locations. Our main goal was to make the course more environmentally sustainable, which we achieved by reducing the maintenance scope and giving the course a greater sense of place,” he said.

Wilson concurred, noting that strategy and decision-making are critical at Laguna Golf Phuket. “There are some exciting risk-reward holes that can offer low scoring opportunities; however, they are closely guarded by various hazards and have well-shaped greens.

“There is a tough start and finish to the course, so players need to be cautious and choose when to be aggressive. In the middle part of the round, holes seven through to 14, there are numerous opportunities to make birdies and eagles – players need to take advantage of this stretch if they want to see their names on the leaderboard,” Wilson advised.

It was Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert who managed the course best last April en route to winning the Singha Laguna Phuket Open by one shot, claiming an unprecedented eighth ADT title. His 72-hole aggregate was 15-under-par, which Wilson expects players to better this year.

“If we experience some showers prior to the event, I expect lower scores as the greens will be slightly softer and easier for the players to hit it close. I think the winning score will be around 18-under-par,” said Wilson.

A par-71 tract for normal play, the Laguna Golf Phuket course will be set up as a par-70 layout of around 7,000 yards for the tournament, with the par-five 7^th hole beefed up to a long par-four.

Laguna Phuket’s Director of Golf, Darren Robson, also expects lower scores this year. “I expect some low scoring with the rough not being as high and the greens in great condition. The greens are expected to run between 10.5 and 11 with a height of cut of 3.9mm, while the fairways will range from 22 to 25 yards wide,” shared Robson.

Whatever the winning score, the Laguna Phuket experience is bound to be a memorable one.