Dragon Hills Golf Country Club - Thailand

Dragon Hills Golf and Country Club is in Rachaburi in western Thailand, not far from Kanchanaburi and the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai, where there is a war cemetery and War Museum. Dragon Hills, set in the remote jade green Rachaburi hills, has three resplendently serene courses-Dragon Pearl, Dragon Green, and Dragon Lakes. The courses were designed by North Dakotan Jim Engh, Jack Nicklaus, and Nicklaus's rival at the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol, Isao Aoki. Dragon Pearl, which opened in 1994, was Engh's first solo design. With features sculpted from the rugged terrain and man-made ponds, the course is a noteworthy precursor of the courses Engh went on to design on severe sites in the American West.

Blue Canyon Country Club - Thailand

Blue Canyon Country Club, considered Thailand's premier course, is located on the northern end of Phuket Island, Thailand's ultimate tropical getaway set in the Andaman Sea. Strangely shaped, sheer stalks of limestone sprout out of the aquamarine waters of Phang Nga Bay, including James Bond Island, which was featured in The Man With the Golden Gun, and Koh Pannyi with its floating fishing village. Blue Canyon, opened in 1991, was once an abandoned tin mine and rubber estate. Designed by Yoshikazo Kato, the course hosted the 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic, won by Tiger Woods in a playoff with Ernie Els. The best-known hole, the par-three 14th, plays to a tadpole-shaped island green set in the large lagoon.