Red Mountain Golf Club: It's not difficult to see why this exciting 2006 arrival in Phuket was named Red Mountain. Harder to imagine how such a dramatic landscape, where soft red rock and dense jungle are the principal ingredients, could be transformed into a challenging, yet playable layout.

Particularly on the closing stretch the red rocky cliffs, dense tropical vegetation and significant elevation changes, combine to create some of the most spectacular and testing holes in Thailand.

A truly breathtaking panorama awaits at the back of the 16th green. The short par-3 17th is a dramatically plunging downhiller ... hitting a postage stamp in the jungle-filled depths below has never been more fun! The closing downhill par-5 requires strategic placement from tee-to-green, and can easily add double-figures to an otherwise respectable scorecard.

Prior to the magnificent closing six, the rest of the course contains its fair share of undulations, rocky outcrops, risk-reward holes and a liberal array of water hazards. To avoid your round at scenic Red Mountain turning into a rocky horror show, the advice is simple - carefully consult your caddie on club selection, take dead aim and trust your swing.

It's not too often that golf designers get such dramatic terrain to work with, rarer still that it comes along as their first design project. So hats off to Jon Morrow and Al Tikkanen for creating what the club literature describes as "the most exciting golf course in Phuket" ....... perhaps "in Thailand" also warrants consideration.

Stay & Play at Red Mountain onsite accommodation available at Red Mountain's adjoining sister course Loch Palm, see Where2Stay section below.