Thailand’s Chonlatit Chuenboonngam has history at the stunning Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, but he’s not expecting that to count in his favour as he prepares for this week’s Black Mountain Championship, the fifth tournament on The International Series schedule.
Last year at the same venue, Chonlatit lost out to Wade Ormsby in a thrilling play-off, after a missed birdie attempt from eight feet gave the Australian the International Series Thailand title.
However, he’s playing down any expectations on his return to the iconic course as he takes on a strong field that includes The International Series Order of Merit leader John Catlin, the International Series Macau presented by Wynn champion, nearest challenger Ben Campbell, the International Series Morocco winner, and two-time Hong Kong Open winner Ormsby.
The Thai, affectionately known as ‘Nine’ by his peers, is widely considered to be one of the best prospects to emerge from the country recently, after breaking through from the Asian Development Tour with a standout 2022 season.
During that campaign, Nine recorded one win at the Gunung Geulis Invitational, and also earned three second-place and two third-place positions.
He said: “I think the course will suit me well if the fairway is hard, and the greens are fast. Recently I feel I have played better, during the past few weeks, but my putting game still needs to be improved.
“I will put all my effort to win, but my putting games is not perfect at the moment. So for just now, I will just aim to make the cut and then see what position I am in, and I can plan my game.”
Chonlatit sits outside the top 100 of The International Series Rankings but knows that he could ignite his push for that place on the LIV Golf League with a decent display either in Hua Hin this week or at International Series Thailand which takes place at the Thai Country Club in Bangkok next weekend.
He’ll be facing stiff opposition however. As well as Catlin and Campbell, the field also includes International Series England champion and RangeGoats GC star Peter Uihlein plus recent Asian Tour champions Rattanon Wannasrichan, Jbe Kruger, Suteepat Prateeptienchai and Steve Lewton.
His Asian Tour results have been hit and miss this season, with the highlight being another agonising play-off defeat: this time to local hero Hongtaek Kim in the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in Korea after leading by a shot with three still to play.
Despite twice ending up on the losing side of a play-off, he played down any concerns of mental scarring, as he said: “Actually, when the play-off started, I only thought that I need to play my best.
“I wished I could win but deep down inside I knew it was not my time yet. I don’t want to put myself under pressure. I need to accept the outcome.”
The Black Mountain Championship, the fifth of six events on The International Series, takes place from 17-20 October at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, with International Series Thailand following from 23-27 October at Thai Country Club in Bangkok. The Rankings leader at the end of the 10 events will earn an automatic place on the LIV Golf League roster for the 2025 season.
The International Series is the most prized pathway in golf. It consists of 10 elite tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour and offers the year-long Rankings leader promotion to the LIV Golf League
