Springfield Royal Country Club is the Hua Hin area’s original big-name course: a 27-hole spread in Cha-Am, about half an hour north of town, whose first 18 holes were designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1993 — years before Black Mountain and the modern wave arrived. It is no longer the region’s headline act, but it remains a genuinely enjoyable, well-routed parkland course with a resort attached, and it earns a spot on most Hua Hin itineraries as a strong second or third round.
This profile sorts out the design credit (a detail many booking sites get wrong), explains how the three nines combine, covers the club’s tournament history, the holes worth remembering, and the practicalities of getting there and playing it.
The course itself — and who actually designed what
Here is the fact that trips people up: Springfield is routinely sold as “27 holes by Jack Nicklaus,” and that is not quite true. Nicklaus designed the original 18 — the Mountain (A) and Lake (B) nines, opened in 1993. The third loop, the Valley (C) nine, was added in 2005 and is credited by multiple golf-travel references to Lee Schmidt and Brian Curley of Schmidt-Curley Design, the firm behind Amata Spring near Bangkok. The club’s own marketing still credits all “27 holes of top quality golf” to Nicklaus, but six independent golf-travel references agree on the split — so when you hear “27 by Nicklaus”, read it as 18 by Nicklaus plus a well-matched 2005 addition.
| Nine | Designer | Opened |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain (A) | Jack Nicklaus | 1993 |
| Lake (B) | Jack Nicklaus | 1993 |
| Valley (C) | Schmidt-Curley Design (Lee Schmidt with Brian Curley) | 2005 |
The Mountain and Lake nines form the championship routing: par 72 and 7,043 yards from the back markers, dropping to around 6,285 from the club tees and 5,660 from the red markers — five tee options in all, the forward-most under 5,000. The Valley nine plays as the alternate loop; published figures put it around 3,500–3,675 yards from the tips (sources conflict, so treat it as approximate), and more than one operator notes that regulars consider it the sternest of the three despite its later, non-Nicklaus pedigree.
The setting is classic Nicklaus-era resort parkland: gently rolling ground framed by the rocky hills that separate Cha-Am from the coast, tree-lined in places and open in others, with water threaded through the Lake nine in particular. It is honest, strategic golf — long carries appear from the back tees, but the forward options make the same holes entirely playable for a mid- or high-handicapper.
Tournament pedigree
Springfield has real competitive history, though some of it is now hard to pin down precisely. The best-documented item: the course hosted the Final Stage of the Asian Tour Qualifying School, including the January 2016 edition — by Nicklaus Design’s own account, at least the third time the club had staged it. Golf-travel references also record the Asian Tour’s Thailand Open among past events held here, though none we found names the exact edition, so file that as historical reputation rather than a dated fact.
Springfield has also served as a host venue of the Centara World Masters Golf Championship, the large annual amateur festival played each June across Hua Hin — most recently in the 2025 edition; the 2026 tournament rotated to other courses, with Springfield listed on the optional pre-tour, so check the current year’s roster. Fellow venues have included Black Mountain Golf Club and Pineapple Valley (the former Banyan Golf Club). Nicklaus Design also notes the course was once ranked among Thailand’s top ten by Golf Digest; current independent rankings place it lower — Top100GolfCourses ranks the Mountain and Lake nines around 22nd in the country — which fairly reflects how much stronger Thailand’s course stock has become since 1993.
The holes worth knowing
The Lake nine carries the course’s reputation. Its early stretch — a par-5 3rd, par-4 4th and par-3 5th arranged around the same lake — is the sequence guides single out, and the short par-3 8th is attractively framed by the earthmounding. The finisher is the one everyone remembers: a risk-reward par 5 (the 18th when Mountain and Lake are the routing) that ends on an island green. Lay up and it is a wedge over water to a target with no bail-out; go for it in two and you had better mean it. It is the club’s signature hole and a proper way to settle a match.
The Mountain nine is the quieter half of the Nicklaus 18, playing along the base of the hills with more movement in the fairways, while the Valley nine tightens the corridors and asks for more precise iron play. If you only play 18, ask for Mountain–Lake — it is the routing the course was built around.
Location and getting there
Springfield sits at 208 Moo 2, Sampraya, in Cha-Am district, Phetchaburi province — off the Phetkasem highway corridor north of Hua Hin, roughly 24 km and a 30-minute drive from Hua Hin town. That puts it farther out than the in-town courses, but the road is straightforward and hotels and operators run transfers daily.
From Bangkok, count on around two and a half to three hours by road from Suvarnabhumi (BKK); the resort’s own beach property advertises two hours, which is achievable at dawn but optimistic in traffic. Hua Hin’s small airport (HHQ) is actually only about 13 km from the club — closer to Springfield than to much of Hua Hin itself — but scheduled service in and out of HHQ is limited and changes often, so check current routes before building a trip around it. Most golfers simply drive down from Bangkok.
One genuine convenience: this is a true stay-and-play resort. Springfield Village Golf & Spa sits directly beside the course (about 200 metres from the first tee), with a pool, spa and family activities, and the group also runs Springfield @ Sea Resort & Spa on the Cha-Am beachfront a short drive away. If you want to roll out of bed onto a Nicklaus course, this is the easiest way to do it in the Hua Hin area.
Practical notes
- Caddies are compulsory, as at most Thai courses — read our guide to the Thai caddie system, etiquette and tipping before your first round.
- Carts are available but not required; the terrain is gently undulating and genuinely walkable, which is not something you can say of every Hua Hin course.
- Tees: five sets per hole, so the 7,043-yard championship figure should scare nobody who picks sensibly.
- Price position: mid-market for the Hua Hin area — clearly below the Black Mountain / Pineapple Valley premium tier, above the local municipal-style options. Rates move by season and booking channel, so confirm current green, caddie and cart fees before you book (verify).
- Timing: high season runs November to February; see our guide to the best time to play golf in Thailand. The 27-hole rotation means one nine is often resting, so confirm which combination you will get when booking.
Is it right for your trip?
Play Springfield if you want a classic, spacious Nicklaus resort course, if you are staying north toward Cha-Am, or if the stay-and-play convenience appeals — it is the most complete on-site golf resort setup at this end of the coast. It also makes sense as the value-minded round in a week built around the marquee names. Skip it if your Hua Hin window is short and you can only fit two rounds: Black Mountain and Pineapple Valley are simply better-conditioned, more dramatic modern courses, and a heritage round at Royal Hua Hin offers more character per hour. Springfield’s natural comparison is Palm Hills Golf Resort — both are 1990s-era resort layouts north of town — and Springfield is the stronger design of the pair.
For the wider picture, our Hua Hin golf guide ranks every course on this coast and shows how a Springfield round fits a five- or seven-day schedule, and the Golf in Thailand hub covers everything else — seasons, costs, caddies and route planning — for the rest of the country.