Red Mountain Golf Club

Golf in the bones of a tin mine.

Red Mountain sits in Kathu, the green valley between Patong and Phuket Town, on land that was mined for tin for decades. What the miners left behind gives the course its character: exposed red clay walls, flooded pits that now serve as water hazards and enough elevation to make it Phuket’s highest course. It is the island’s hilliest course and, by common consent among the people who sell Phuket golf for a living, its most demanding. If you only have time for one round with a view, this is the one most golfers choose.

Red Mountain Golf Club green fees and tee times.

Red Mountain is run by MBK Golf, which also owns neighbouring Loch Palm, and it takes visitors every day. You can request a tee time through the club’s own booking link, by phone on +66 (0)76 322 001, or through Phuket golf operators that package transfers. The club does not publish visitor rates online, so prices come through the booking channel you use. Carts are compulsory because the gaps between greens and tees are long and steep, and every golfer takes a caddie. Groups are capped at four, and the club plans for rounds of about four and a quarter hours with a marshal out all day.

The round, in perspective.

The course opened in 2007 and was the first full 18-hole design of Jonathan Morrow, working with Al Tikkanen. It measures 6,781 yards from the championship tees and about 5,900 from the whites, at par 72. Seashore paspalum covers the fairways and tees, with Bermuda greens. The closing six holes are the most dramatic stretch. The 16th tee is the highest point on any Phuket course, and the short par-three 17th plays more than 40 metres downhill to a green framed by jungle and red rock. The 18th is a downhill par five that rewards placement rather than power. Landing areas are narrower than the scale of the views suggests, so a reliable 200-yard club off the tee is worth more here than a long driver.

Know before you go.

Carts

Compulsory; the course is not walkable for most people

Caddie

Mandatory

Group size

Up to 4 golfers

Pace of play

About 4¼ hours, with a marshal on course

Dress code

Collared shirt and golf footwear; no jeans or T-shirts

Rain

Rain checks under the club’s current policy

Make the trip work.

Book the earliest tee time you can. Morning starts beat the heat and the afternoon storms that build over the hills. Dress rules are strict: a collared shirt is required, and jeans and T-shirts are refused. The club suggests carrying an umbrella and a rain cover for your bag. Rain checks are issued for rain-affected rounds under the club’s current policy, so ask how it works when you check in. Rental sets are available, but reviewers have found them basic, so serious players should bring their own clubs.

Phuket International Airport (HKT) is on the north of the island, and the club puts the drive at about an hour, depending on traffic through Thalang. From Patong and Karon it is roughly 15 minutes over the hill road. The address is 119 Moo 4, Vichitsongklam Road, Kathu. Taxis and hotel cars run here every morning, and most packages include transfers.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Loch Palm Golf Club (1 km) · 2. Phuket Country Club (3 km) · 3. Laguna Golf Phuket (10 km) · 4. Blue Canyon Country Club (21 km) · Compare all Phuket tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

Patong is the closest base, with hundreds of hotels and the island’s busiest nightlife, which suits groups but not everyone. Karon and Kata, a little further south, are quieter beach towns with family resorts and an equally short run to the first tee. If you want to combine Red Mountain with the northern courses, staying around Bang Tao and the Laguna complex splits the difference: about 30 minutes from Kathu and close to Laguna Golf.

Make a trip of it.

Loch Palm, Red Mountain’s immediate neighbour, is gentler and wraps around a large lake on the front nine before climbing into the hills; the two make an easy back-to-back day. Phuket Country Club is also in the Kathu valley. In the north, Blue Canyon’s Canyon Course and Laguna Golf Phuket complete a four-course week. Off the course, Phang Nga Bay and its limestone islands make a good rest-day boat trip, and Phuket Old Town’s Sino-Portuguese shophouses are 20 minutes away.

Find your season.

Phuket’s golf season runs from November to April, when the north-east monsoon brings drier, less humid air. From May to October the south-west monsoon brings heavy showers, usually in the afternoon. Rates and demand drop sharply then, but greens can be slower and the clay hazards turn slick after heavy rain.