My golfing adventures in Vietnam

Forgot to mention. Taxi fare from HCMC city to Dong Nai will set you back by about VND600,000 - VND700,000. Which is about between SGD$40 - SGD$50 one way.

Song Be would be about VND350,000 ($SGD25) one way.

Not so sure about Long Thanh.

When I play golf I always hitch a ride from my kakis so the taxi fares are only estimates.

Winston,

Very nice course and nice pix taken! looking forward to game there!

Raquel wrote:

Winston,

Very nice course and nice pix taken! looking forward to game there!

Thanks. Just trying to record down my golfing experiences. The latest pics that were uploaded are of Long Thanh Golf course, and I played the Lake Course. Very nice sceneray. They also have another set of 18 holes there called the Hill course. Do be careful when it gets windy. On your back swing, ithe wind can actually blow your clubs of plane....

Have fun with the golf!!!!!!!!!!!! If you need any help / assistance, drop me a PM.......

Just a quick update for all who are planning to play golf in HCMC.

Do not change vietnamese dong in Singapore. Bring SGD$ or USD$ and change a nominal sum at the airport for transport. The remaning can be changed in the city. Just a rough gauge as of this week. SGD$100 = VND1.5 Mil. USD$100 = VND2mil (Pls note rates are subject to fluctuations)

As much as you can, pay everything in Vietnamese dong. At least you don't lose out or get chopped by the shops.

Check with the hotel you are staying in if they can provide airport pick-up. Normal price of taxi from Airport to city is about VND100K - VND150K. The reason I am saying this is that I know of many people who have been scamed by the taxi drivers at the airports. Even thought he airport authorities know about this, they are not doing any thing about it.

IF anyone else need any advise, you can either post here or pm me and I will try my best to answer.....

Hello Bro Winston,

How's the weather in HCMC now?
Is the flood affecting the city?
I'm coming on 17 Nov and playing on 18th and 19th and Song Be and Long Thanh.

Do u have any updates?
Thank you

skybobo wrote:

Hello Bro Winston,

How's the weather in HCMC now?
Is the flood affecting the city?
I'm coming on 17 Nov and playing on 18th and 19th and Song Be and Long Thanh.

Do u have any updates?
Thank you

The weather has been very erratic. IT was very very hot today in the morning and suddenly at 3pm, rain very heavy. SOme days it is overcast the whole day. But the weather should be ok. Flooding shouldnt be a problem. What time you tee-off?

IF you want to meet in the evenings, more than happy to.

Bro, I'm teeing off at 8.30am (Song Be) on 18th and 9.30am (Long Thanh) on 19th.
What time u think I should leave the hotel?

skybobo wrote:

Bro, I'm teeing off at 8.30am (Song Be) on 18th and 9.30am (Long Thanh) on 19th.
What time u think I should leave the hotel?

Song Be - Should leave at before 7am.

Long Thanh - 7.30am

This is because you will be travelling during morning rush hour.

Skybobo,

Forgot to ask, are you hiring a private transport or using taxi service?

Bro, I will be going by private transport
I arrange thru agent
wah it takes so long ah?>

skybobo wrote:

Bro, I will be going by private transport
I arrange thru agent
wah it takes so long ah?>

On a weekday. If I tee off at 7am at Song Be, I leave the house at 5.30am. included is 10 mins for b'fast. After check in, change etc etc, normally have about 10-15mins to spare. You are teeing off at 8.30am. Right smack in the middle of rush hour. better to play safe. Also, the best would be to ask the agent / driver for advise regarding travelling time.

Sky,

It was a pleasure meeting you in HCMC. Hope the golf course was up to your expectations...

Bro Winston,
Thank you so much for your kind hospitality during my stay in HCMC.
Both courses (Song Be and Long Thah) are fantastic. The conditions are around 8/10.

Thank you for bringing my wife and myself around to makan, buy kopi, drink kopi, buy clothes.......etc etc....oh I miss the salon there. If only I can wash my hair, ha ha.

Pls let me know once u are back. Pocketace and myself will play host to you in NSRCC.

Guy and gals, if u happen to be in HCMC, do rem to look for our dear bro Winston.
He is one nice fella

Thanks bro.

I second that. No wonder he's in hospitality biz.

Did u go to pho pasteur? Aah remembering the extra fatty brisket cause spontaneous drooling

Sky,

No worries, always a pleasure to meet new friends. Come up with Pocket ace lah.

Pushslice,

Unfortunatly never had a chance to bring them. Only managed to meet the first night.

i'm trying to arrange lah
but the traffic is a killer there man

hi all, am new here, just got to know this great forum.

My buddy and i planning a game in HCMC on coming Sunday 5-Dec.
Not sure if Song Be or Long Thah allow 2 balls on weekend.

Will take SQ on sunday morning and reach HCM aro 11am, and head straight to tee off.
any guidance or advice on transport and so?

kenkong79 wrote:

hi all, am new here, just got to know this great forum.

My buddy and i planning a game in HCMC on coming Sunday 5-Dec.
Not sure if Song Be or Long Thah allow 2 balls on weekend.

Will take SQ on sunday morning and reach HCM aro 11am, and head straight to tee off.
any guidance or advice on transport and so?

Here goes.......

Base on your arrival time, you will take about 1 hour to clear immigration / customs. which sould than be about 12pm. based on that, I strongly suggest you book Song Be as it is the nearest. which means you should be able to tee-off by 1.30pm. This time of the year, it gets dark at 5.30pm. LOng Thanh is just too far away.

Weekends only allow full flights. What you can do is book for 4 but when you reach there juet tell them the other 2 pull out last minute. Song Be weekend should be about USD$120 per person. This covers Green Fees and COMPULSORY caddy fee. Buggy is Extra charge.

As for transport, go the the AIRPORT "LIMO" Service. They have a counter inside the terminal just after you clear customs declaration. Have the address on hand and show it to them and ask them how much it will cost you to get from the airport to the golf course. If you decide to take the taxis outside. BE very very careful as there are many taxi touts / pirates around. Easy to tell as the minute you come out of glass doors, they will ask you if you want to take their taxis. Try to use either VINASUN or MAi LInh taxi. Easy to indentify as they have the company name printed on the sides of the taxi. as you come out the glass doors, the taxi stand is on the far end on the left side of the terminal. I am surprised you are doing this on such short notice. If you want, I can give you the contact of a local agent that can help in the nbookig/transport for your game. Whether he can meet your time schedule anot, I am not sure.

hi Winston,

i really appreciate for your prompt reply.
Yes, pls pm me the agent contact, jz try my luck.

jz a last question, if i am taking Thursday 1310 flight, do you think i can squeeze in 1 round of 18holes game in Song Be?

kenkong79 wrote:

hi Winston,

i really appreciate for your prompt reply.
Yes, pls pm me the agent contact, jz try my luck.

jz a last question, if i am taking Thursday 1310 flight, do you think i can squeeze in 1 round of 18holes game in Song Be?

depends on how fast you play. I think during this time of year, earliest tee off is 5.30am. I am not sure. earliest tee times changes with the seasons. I suggest you don't play on thursday unless you can change it to a night flight and you play in the morning.

Will pm you the link now.

Winston wrote:

kenkong79 wrote:

hi Winston,

i really appreciate for your prompt reply.
Yes, pls pm me the agent contact, jz try my luck.

jz a last question, if i am taking Thursday 1310 flight, do you think i can squeeze in 1 round of 18holes game in Song Be?

depends on how fast you play. I think during this time of year, earliest tee off is 5.30am. I am not sure. earliest tee times changes with the seasons. I suggest you don't play on thursday unless you can change it to a night flight and you play in the morning.

Will pm you the link now.

Thanks Winston.
My buddy and me manage to join the last tee-off with 2 Korean on 130pm last Sunday. Song Be is just fantastic and really up to the quality. Will go back next time if got chance.

kenkong79 wrote:

Thanks Winston.
My buddy and me manage to join the last tee-off with 2 Korean on 130pm last Sunday. Song Be is just fantastic and really up to the quality. Will go back next time if got chance.

You are welcome. Always more hthan happy to help whenever I can....

Winston wrote:

kenkong79 wrote:

Thanks Winston.
My buddy and me manage to join the last tee-off with 2 Korean on 130pm last Sunday. Song Be is just fantastic and really up to the quality. Will go back next time if got chance.

You are welcome. Always more hthan happy to help whenever I can....

Hi Winston,

I am a newbie in this forum and am unable to pm you directly - due to requirements of the forum that i had to make 5 posts first. Anyway, this is my first post and is related to golfing in HCMC - and you are the one that we seek your assistance with regard to golfing in vietnam.

We are 2 balls going to chiangmai and will proceed to HCMC on the 8th of January 2011 and was planning to play golf there on weekdays - 10th and 11th January ( we are departing on 12th ) Planning to play 36 holes each day.

We would be most grateful if you could recommend us 2 golf courses that is convenient to go to and which have promo rates and have 36 or 27 holes that we can play and have fun. We are beginners so any course is okay for us. We understand that weekend is expensive, so we plan to play weekdays.

Many thanks in advance for your valuable info with regard to the above questions and we are keen to look forward to your reply.

Happy new year to you and to our forum members

JC21

do u guys bring ur own golf clubs there when u play? or rent the clubs?

hoppie wrote:

do u guys bring ur own golf clubs there when u play? or rent the clubs?

We r bringing our own golf sets