Flat is the default condition of Bangkok golf. The city sits on a river delta with roughly the topography of a billiard table, which is what makes Riverdale Golf Club worth knowing about: a course half an hour or so north of the centre where the tees sit high, the fairways genuinely roll, and shots play noticeably uphill and down. Built by MBK — the group behind Red Mountain and Loch Palm in Phuket — and host of the Thailand Open every year since 2021, it is one of the most interesting rounds within easy reach of the capital.
This profile covers how the course was built and what it plays like, its national-open pedigree, the holes that decide your score, where it actually is, and the practical details that shape a visit.
The course itself
Riverdale opened in 2010 in Bang Kadi, Mueang Pathum Thani, on land the club describes as carved into a valley in the historic Chao Phraya River Delta. The design is credited to Welsh architect Jonathan “Jon” Morrow — the same architect behind Red Mountain in Phuket — working with Al Tikkanen, a veteran shaper — and the shaping is the story here. None of Riverdale’s elevation existed before construction; the hills, valleys and elevated tee decks were manufactured on delta flatland, and the result is convincing enough that the club fairly calls itself an exception to Bangkok’s predominantly flat golf landscape. Several holes play from raised tees down to fairways laid out in the valleys below, framed by planted hills and sandy waste areas threaded with native dune grasses.
It is a par 72 measuring just over 7,000 yards from the back markers — published figures vary slightly, between 7,001 and 7,006 yards — with five sets of tees (the front markers are quoted anywhere from about 5,340 to 5,880 yards depending on the card), so the length is honest without being brutal. Hazards do most of the defensive work: sprawling white-faced sand traps, deep sod-walled pits, sandy wastes and pockets of wetland the club maintains as wildlife habitat. The design rewards thinking over bombing, with risk-and-reward options presented on most holes. Surfaces are Salam paspalum on tees and fairways with MiniVerde ultradwarf greens, a combination chosen for year-round playability, and conditioning is a point of pride across the MBK portfolio.
Home of the Thailand Open
The Thailand Open is one of Asia’s oldest national championships, first played in 1965 on the old Far East Circuit and later a fixture on the Asian Tour. Since the event resumed in 2021 after the pandemic, Riverdale has been its home, staging the championship each year on the All Thailand Golf Tour — the 2021 edition, the 49th, carried the Royal Cup of King Rama IX. For the tournament the course is set up as a par 71 at 6,988 yards, per the event’s published records.
| Year | Champion | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thailand) | 261 (−23) |
| 2022 | Kwanchai Tannin (Thailand) | 261 (−23) |
| 2023 | Denwit Boriboonsub (Thailand) | 262 (−22) |
| 2024 | Chayutpol Kittirattanapaiboon (Thailand) | 264 (−20) |
| 2025 | Edven Ying (Malaysia) | 264 (−20) |
Those winning totals — nothing worse than 20 under across five editions — tell you the pros find it gettable from tournament tees. Mortals playing the full bunkering at member pace will find it plays considerably harder than the scoring suggests.
The holes worth knowing
Four moments stand out, all drawn from the club’s own hole-by-hole guide.
The 6th, par 5. A genuine three-shot hole at over 600 yards from the back tees, featuring one of the largest bunkers on a course that collects them. Two plotted shots leave a pitch to an elevated green ringed by deep sand.
The 8th, par 3. Riverdale’s novelty hole, and a good one: two greens, and you choose. The high road is a mid-iron to a difficult upper green where a weak shot finds a deep pot bunker or rolls back down the hill; the low road plays about 50 yards shorter and downhill — to a narrow island green where a miss means playing three from the tee.
The 13th through 16th. The club calls this stretch its answer to Amen Corner: four consecutive holes routed around a huge lake that is in play off every tee. It opens with a par 5 along a bunker nearly 200 yards long, includes a long all-carry par 3 to a green just 20 yards deep, and closes with a par 4 where, in the club’s words, nearly the entire left side is water. This is where a good card goes to die.
The 18th, par 5. A proper finisher from an elevated tee, water down the left and a tree standing sentry in front of the green — bail out right and pitch up the length of the putting surface, or take on the tree.
Location and getting there
Riverdale sits on Tiwanon Road in Bang Kadi, Mueang Pathum Thani district, immediately north of the Bangkok city limits — next door to its sister property, Bangkok Golf Club. The club quotes a 30-minute drive from the city centre, which is realistic outside rush hour; Bangkok traffic can stretch that badly, so build in margin. Don Mueang (DMK) is comfortably the nearer of Bangkok’s two airports — the northern suburbs location makes Riverdale a natural first or last round for anyone flying budget carriers through DMK. From Suvarnabhumi (BKK), on the far side of the city, allow roughly an hour or more depending on traffic (both estimates approximate — check your route on the day). There is no rail access; you will need a taxi, ride-hail or hotel transfer.
Practical notes
- Caddies are compulsory, as at almost every Thai course. If the system is new to you, read our guide to how Thai caddies work, and what to tip before you go.
- Carts are available, and given the manufactured hills most visitors take one. The club does not advertise a walking policy, so ask when booking if you prefer to walk.
- Early starts are a feature. Lights on the opening and closing holes allow 5.30am tee times every day — a genuine advantage in the hot season, and one of the earliest starts in Bangkok golf.
- Book ahead: operator listings advise reserving at least one day in advance on weekdays and two days for weekends and public holidays.
- Dress code is standard golf attire.
- Pricing sits in the upper-middle of the Bangkok market — below the city’s marquee members’ clubs, above the everyday municipal-style layouts. Rates move by season and day of week, so (verify current green fees when booking); our overview of what golf in Thailand actually costs explains the fee structure.
- Stay-and-play is easy: the MBK-owned Tinidee Hotel Bangkok Golf Club connects directly to Bangkok Golf Club and is minutes from Riverdale, and offers guests concessions at both courses — a convenient base for a two-course, no-traffic golf stopover.
- Higher handicappers are fine here: five tee decks, generous fairways in the landing zones, and most of the trouble visible from the tee. The sod-walled bunkers and the 13th–16th water stretch will cost strokes, but nothing about the course is unfair.
Is it right for your trip?
Play Riverdale if you want terrain you cannot get elsewhere in Bangkok, if you like ticking off national-open venues, or if you are staying on the north side — it pairs naturally with Alpine Golf & Sports Club, the other heavyweight in the northern suburbs, for a serious two-day stretch. It is also the obvious pick for a Don Mueang arrival or departure day. Skip it if your base is out east near Suvarnabhumi and you only have one round to spend: Thai Country Club is the stronger course on that side of town, and the cross-city drive would eat your morning. And if it is specifically MBK’s dramatic shaping that appeals, know that the group’s Phuket flagship, Red Mountain, takes the same philosophy much further on real terrain, with Loch Palm as its gentler neighbour.
Riverdale slots into most itineraries as a high-quality change of pace: real hills, a real championship pedigree, and a 5.30am tee sheet, all within half an hour of the capital. For where it fits among the city’s best, see our full Bangkok golf guide — and for building the wider trip around it, start with our Golf in Thailand hub.