2026 Chiang Mai Open Champion Clay Edwards celebrates the win. Photos: Kingsley Flett

The 2026 PDGA Asia Tour traveled into the highlands, about 400 miles north of Bangkok, to Chiang Mai for the third leg of the ‘Siam Swing’ of the tour and the fourth of seven stops overall.

Clay Edwards continued his streak of strong finishes by forcing a playoff with the last putt in regulation, then taking out the win over Jakub Semerád. While Thai player Khim Chotchuang put her poor showing in the Samui Swine Classic well behind her with a comfortable win over Margaret Patterson.

Full Results: Chiang Mai Open IV - PDGA Asia Tour Event #4 »

Chiang Mai means ‘new city,' which in 1296 it was. ‘The Rose of the North’ was established as the new capital of the Lan Na Kingdom that spread over a good portion of Northern Thailand in the 13th century. The ancient capital straddles the winding Ping River and still wears its history on the high walls and twisting narrow laneways, with glimpses of centuries old temples and remnants of the ancient moat. It feels like Chiang Mai doesn’t throw itself at you like the other destinations of the Siam Swing: instead, more reserved, the city leaves it up to you choose how you explore. Each country visited by the PDGA Asia Tour clearly has a different culture, yet within each country there are also overlapping kingdoms from past eras. The three tournaments of the Siam Swing present a noticeably different day to day cultural experience shaped by the different ancient histories of the places each event calls home.  

Clay Edwards putts on Hole 18 to force a playoff.

Edwards in Another Playoff, This Time for the Win

116 players from twenty one different countries made their way out to Sand Creek, about twelve miles west of the old city to confront a challenge that upped the ante from both Lakewood in Bangkok and the Samui Disc Golf course. The Aaron Herman designed layout showed itself from round one to be a more pro level test as the two touring pros, in Edwards and Semerád, made an immediate three and four stroke gap over Japi Pistokoski, with Shasta Criss a further three strokes back. 

“We were closer to the field in the first event,” said Edwards. “There, if we were throwing a really good drive and getting close to the basket and someone else is missing a drive they were left with a 200 foot approach. There’s not really making separation. On this course some of the OB was really tight so you get rewarded for staying in bounds but extra punished if you are off your mark a little bit. I thought the course overall was a really good design.”

In round two the travelling pair pulled further way. Edwards and Semerád shot provisional 1070 and 1061rated rounds respectively, with only Shasta Criss able to hang with them on the round. It was clearly down to a battle between two. While Edwards held a two stroke advantage over Semerád, Criss was seven strokes away from second and Pistokoski five strokes further behind.

Standings & Schedule: 2026 PDGA Asia Tour »

At tournament central on Championship Sunday the buzz started going around with the word ‘Jakub’ repeated over and again.  Semerád was on a tear; he was to eventually birdie the first fifteen holes. Edwards two stroke overnight lead was gone after the first hole and Jakub went two strokes up after hole 12. The birdie run eventually broke on hole 16 and Edwards clawed a stroke back. Then a missed mando by Edwards on hole 17 left Jakub standing on the final tee with a two stroke lead, only needing to land somewhere on the green to take out his first win of the tour.

Jakub Semerád drives during the final round of the Chiang Mai Open.

“It was a little bit more windy today,” said Semerad. “I lost my Justice on the first tournament. I would have thrown that for sure on the hole. So, I had to throw a fairway driver. Obviously, that was going to skip a little more than a mid-range so I didn’t want to go OB right. Unfortunately I hung it a little too far left, caught that pole and ended up OB.”

After thinking about using a fairway driver too, Ewards saw Jakub’s result and switched back his Kastaplast Järn, an over-stable approach disc. The disc landed close but skipped outside circle one on the back side of the sloping green. Edwards had been hitting big putts all tour, and he needed to hit another one to force the playoff. His jump putt barely slid over the rim and triggered a roar from the sizeable gallery. 

“I tend to do that in practice a lot. A little bit nose up, hit the cage, and dribbles in,” said Edwards. “The crowd again this week felt almost like a pro tour event. To have everyone right there and to be able to give that sort of emotion to everybody was unbelievable.”

The playoff lasted just one hole. Semerád left an approach wide and missed his partially obscured putt, while Edwards approached to within 20 feet and cashed in for the win. In an interview afterwards, Terry Miller asked Edwards about how it felt to see Jakub playing almost perfect golf to pull away in the front nine. 

“I was conscious of what Jakub was doing,” said Edwards. “But I just focussed on playing my game and hanging with him. It turns out that both of us played among the highest rated rounds of our careers.”

The fireworks from the Siam Swing’s two stars were a fitting finish to their time on the tour.

Khim Chotchuang celebrates the win.

Chotchuang Starts Fast and Holds On

Khim Chotchuang’s comfortable win in FPO was a striking form reversal from two weeks prior on Koh Samui, where she languished in fourth place, 23 strokes behind winner Margaret Patterson. 

“It was my first time competing on Samui and I was slightly ill during the tournament,” said Chotchuang. “But this was my second time competing in Chiang Mai, and I had recovered by then.” 

It was in the first round that Chotchuang put her familiarity with the course and her booming left arm backhand to good effect. After starting with two bogeys, Khim shot 5-under-par for the rest of the round. Creating a six stroke gap that was to mostly hold for the rest of the tournament. Patterson was finding that the extra length required off the tee and her unfamiliarity with the course to be a challenge. 

“I thought going into this that it would be a contest of youth and power versus experience and wisdom,” Patterson said. “Samui is short and technical whereas Sand Creek advantages the long throwers.  That said, I happily found some extra distance here in Chiang Mai and to my surprise did not feel significantly out of my depth on the FPO layout. I actually think the biggest difference for me was the lack of familiarity and practice time at Sand Creek.”

The pair were more evenly matched in the second round as they raced away from the other FPO contenders, Jiraporn Pagangpalang from the northeast of Thailand and local player Jiraporn Eff Autthiya. A two stroke swing on the final hole stretched Khim’s lead to seven. Although improving in the final round, Margaret could not reel Khim in and, with four holes to play, Chotchuang’s lead remained seven strokes. Despite dropping a couple of strokes on the home stretch Khim was able to birdie on hole 18 for a five stroke win.

Chotchuang lines up a shot during the Chiang Mai Open.

“I am very happy and proud to succeed this time.” Khim said. “Samui and Chiang Mai Open gave me more experience in playing disc golf and will help in my goal to become a professional disc golfer.” 

“I would have loved a second win on this tour,” said Patterson. “But I am also pleased to pass the torch on to a very deserving younger player.”

Already the Southeast Asian Games Champion, the story of Chotchuang’s journey into Disc Golf is a remarkable one. Raised in considerable disadvantage in the village of Trat, on the east side of the Gulf of Thailand near the Cambodian border, Khim was taken under the wing of local disc golfer Chatchai Boi Sangwan and has trained to become Thailand’s best female player. 

“I practice and train almost every day,” Khim said. “With Uncle Boi (Sangwan) as my coach and advisor. He has built a disc golf course for me to practice on (The Trat Disc Golf Course).”

Khim’s journey is just one example of how disc golf is changing lives in Asia. This will hopefully happen more as the PDGA Asia Tour helps bring the Asian Disc Golf community together.