Claus Wann, a 35 year old Dane, opened in june 2006 the first Scandinavian owned golf shop in Hua Hin. With the rising number of Scandinavian coming to Thailand to play Golf, the competition in the golf business doesn’t worry him at all.
“I really don’t care about the competition, we are happy with our shop and what we are doing,” says Claus who opens the shop with his wife, Naeng.
“There’re a lot of golf agents in Hua Hin, but we don’t want to compete with anyone. Some golf agents only think of how much they will make, we see our customers as our friends. We’re trying to make everything very personal, custom made for the customers,” he says
Destiny worked its way around when Naeng, who’s been in the golf business for some years met Claus Wann in 2005. She had been then working at AGP.Golf & Tours for the past four years.
Claus’ first time in Thailand was in 1999 down at Phuket. He was working as an officer on privately owned yacht and later he came back, traveling with his golf clubs for eight years here and everywhere from Malaysia and the USA, Europe, the Caribbean over the Mediterranean to the Maldives.
When Claus met Naeng, he wanted to turn his hobby into a business together with her. He talked to the owner of AGP Golf & Tours and in June 2006 he allowed them to take over the business. They share a dream of building up the business to be better, but not necessarily bigger.
“We don’t have to be the biggest tour company in Hua Hin. We are doing it because we love it. Golf is my hobby, having a shop is just an extension of my hobby,” he says.
“When you come into the shop, we can always help you with whatever you need. We never leave our customers,”says Naeng
“We have a strong service mind and we believe in an efficient service. If the customers believe in us they will come back. Sometime we didn’t gain any profits back but we are happy because we have gained more friends.”
“I like making contacts with people, and the golf business is an excellent way in the working area where you can go out and spend four hours with the customers and just have a good time. It doesn’t feel like a job, it’s a pleasure,” he starts telling.
The Dane says that the golf business in Thailand is booming for the moment. More and more Thais play golf and more Scandinavians come to Thailand to play golf because it’s expensive to go to Spain or Portugal .
The flight might be cheaper and shorter but the time you play golf for ten days there; you can get two weeks cheaper in Thailand .
Inspired by the increasing number of Scandinavians coming, Naeng and Claus opened the Pro Shop
“A lot of Scandinavians come here and fall in love with Hua Hin because Thai people are nice and friendly, plus the food is great and the price is right, so they buy properties, along with a golf membership. In that way they don’t need a golf agent for doing a golf tour, they can just buy original equipments from us. So the property business and the golf business go together in this sense,” he says
“Another reason why tourists love Hua Hin is that they feel safe when they walk around,” Naeng adds
“They know it’s the King’s town. The beach here can’t be compared to Phuket but Tourists love to come here and some also settle down in Hua Hin because they feel comfortable living here.”
At AGP.Golf & Tours, they arrange sight seeing tours, hotel and accommodation booking, golf lessons and tuition and transportation service.
In Hua Hin, there are so many options for golfers since there are seven world class golf courses within one hour drive. Many golf Pros from across the world come here to enjoy the golf holidays all year round.
