Enchanting Vietnam
Vietnam’s beautiful yet challenging Dong Nai golf course is located along the wooded and serene inlets of Cloud River Lake, just north of Ho Chi Minh City.
Americans by the droves are discovering the fantastic golfing experiences – not to mention the friendly people and beautiful scenery – of this exotic country.
It is not surprising Vietnam was one of the earliest Asian countries to promote the rather addictive sport. Due to the country’s elongated shape, there is always an area where weather is absolutely perfect for an enjoyable day on the links.
In 1920, Vietnam’s Emperor Bao Dai started the golf craze with his own private nine-hole course on the palace grounds in the southern city of Dalat.
However, the democratic Republican Government in the north was becoming more popular and the Emperor, prophetically fearing a devastating conflict between the north and the south would ruin his beloved country, abdicated the throne in 1925 and moved to Paris.
Although he no longer had the duties of an emperor, he didn’t exactly die an embittered old man. He departed this world at 83 having had five wives and more than a few concubines.
Final closure to a long, difficult and embattled past was realized in the ‘70s when Hanoi in the north again became the official capital of both North and South Vietnam, and Saigon in the south was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The two regions were formally reunited with the signing of a peace agreement July 2, 1976.
Vietnam’s beautiful 2,140 mile-long coastline curves along the China Sea like a graceful, stylized “S,” with China at the top and Laos, Thailand and Cambodia to the west. In Vietnam, the China Sea usually is called the Eastern Sea (or “Bien Bong,” in Vietnamese) and is actually part of the Pacific Ocean. The country’s tropical climate, scenic countryside and genuinely friendly people have made resurrecting golf, former emperor Bao Dai’s favorite sport, a real winner.
Vietnam also is the only country in Southeast Asia where international arrivals have greatly increased over the past ten years. The country’s growing reputation as one of the world’s safest, most affordable travel destinations, is fueling a surge in tourism. Older hotels are being renovated (there’s never a shortage of lovely places to stay) and a bevy of new hotels and resorts are being developed by prestigious international chains.
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The Sheraton, Sofitel and Renaissance are all excellent. Shopping is great and there are many low cost, high quality goods — particularly handbags and leather goods,” explains Andy Harris of Asian Golf Adventures.
Not surprisingly, Vietnam’s burgeoning tourism market has resulted in the creation of more golf courses and golf-based resorts.
Virginia-based Asian Golf Adventures, founded in 2005 by Harris and Lou Gallipeau, is one of the few U.S. tour operators specializing in golf in Asia. “Golf tours in Asia are special primarily because of the people, who are very warm and welcoming,” says Harris, noting the friendliness of the Vietnam’s local population toward foreigners in general and Americans in particular.
Harris adds, “Hotels are outstanding and golf courses and amenities are among the best in the world. Caddies are usually charming young women who are great fun and really enhance the experience.”
However, he cautions visitors about driving themselves around Vietnam’s cities. “Traffic is very busy — there are thousands of motorbikes — you definitely do not want to drive.”
Another enthusiastic promoter of golf in Vietnam is Scott Resch, a Seattle native and public relations specialist with Mandarin Media, which he and Jim Sullivan founded in 2005. Sullivan is the critically acclaimed author of Over the Moat, a memoir of his time in Vietnam during the 1990s, and is author of National Geographic’s first guidebook to Vietnam, published in 2006. In addition, he has written for various other publications.
Among his other responsibilities, Resch is director of Mandarin Media’s Ho Chi Minh City office. His favorite Vietnamese course is Dalat Palace Golf Club, located in the Central Highlands about 45 minutes by air from Ho Chi Minh City.
Dalat Palace is the country’s oldest club “and still the best,” says Resch. “It has a classic feel with some nice elevation changes, water hazards on just about every hole, and perfect bentgrass greens. Oh, and it’s about a mile above sea level, so the air is crisper and cleaner and the ball flies farther!”
Hal Phillips, with Mandarin Media’s New Gloucester office in Maine, shares Resch’s appreciation of the Dalat Palace course. While Vietnam and Southeast Asia brim with relatively new courses of high quality, Phillips observes that because the Dalat course was first laid out in the 1930s it feels old fashioned and classic, as does so much of Dalat. Weekends are sometimes reserved for members only, so be sure to check in advance.
Through four consecutive surveys (2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007), Golf Digest has hailed the Dalat Palace Golf Club as Vietnam’s top course in its world renowned Planet Golf Survey. Moreover, Asian Golf Monthly, in its 2007 survey, recognized the course as one of the top ten in all of Asia.
Phillips also has high praise for Dalat itself. “The city has a fascinating past, stable present and a bright future,” he says. The French-founded and planned city was totally untouched by war, so the French influence is stronger here than perhaps anywhere in the country.”
At a mile-high elevation, Dalat also has a cooler climate, “a nice respite from Ho Chi Minh City’s tropical heat and the rest of southern Vietnam,” comments Phillips. “The cooler climate also allows the course to maintain pristine bentgrass tee to green, something very unusual in Southeast Asia.”
Vietnam also boasts a variety of other great courses including the beautifully maintained Tam Dao Golf Resort in the highlands north of Hanoi, and King’s Island Golf Resort. The latter is the first golf club with two 18-hole courses in northern Vietnam and is reminiscent of courses in the Blue Ridge Mountains. And Dong Nai Golf Resort in Dong Nai Province offers a 27-hole course that borders the inlets and shores of a natural lake. 
Then there is the Ocean Dunes Golf Club, a “tropical links” course on the shores of the South China Sea. “The (Nick) Faldo design at Ocean Dunes in Phan Thiet is excellent,” notes Scott Resch. “It hosts the Vietnam Open every year and for good reason: it’s quite a test, especially when the wind blows off the sea, which it always does.”
Named the No. 2 golf course in the country by Golf Digest’s 2007 Planet Golf Survey, Ocean Dunes famed 9th hole, a breathtaking par-3 in the dunes, was selected one of “The Best 500 Holes in The World” by Golf Magazine.
Resch predicts all the courses may soon be trumped with the arrival of the $64 million Montgomerie Links Vietnam development.
The golf resort, about midway between Ho Chi Minh City in the south and Hanoi in the north, is just off the famed China Beach along the South China Sea. It also is near Da Nang’s international airport.
Designed by Colin Montgomerie, the Montgomerie Links’ front nine is expected to be playable in July 2008, with the remainder scheduled for the grand opening in 2009. “I’ve walked the site and it has an aura not unlike The National in Australia,” says Resch.
Nearby, golf legend Greg Norman is designing another course, reinforcing Da Nang’s reputation as one of the hottest resort areas in the country.
Summing up, “When you think of golf, I am sure most are not thinking about Vietnam,” says a representative of the Specialty Travel Agents Association. “You may want to reconsider, since Vietnam is becoming the next premier golf destination. The country is undergoing considerable tourism growth and golf is also following this trend. Affordable pricing and the tropical climate are attractive to the golf enthusiast or the traveler just looking for a unique place to visit.”
Joan Gonzalez started her writing career on newspapers in Ohio but now lives in Miami and writes as a freelancer for various publications, including Herald Custom Publishing’s in-flight magazines and hotel books, and Travel World News, a publication designed for travel agents.
