My golfing adventures in Vietnam

JC21 wrote:

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

Hi JC21.

I do apologise fot not replying earlier as I have not checked the thread for a very long time. If you still need my help, reply here, I will be online most of the day.....

hi Winston,

I am in ho chi minh now and am actually rushing to song be to play golf

2day they quote the rate at USD58 per ball and the taxi to song be cost 1M dong to and fro from my hotel in district 5

Is there any other golf course nearer to district 5, which we can also play?

I shall return to hotel and check this thread

Many thanks again for your reply

Frostee is also in HCM this week but i doubt she brought her golf set....

JC21 wrote:

hi Winston,

I am in ho chi minh now and am actually rushing to song be to play golf

2day they quote the rate at USD58 per ball and the taxi to song be cost 1M dong to and fro from my hotel in district 5

Is there any other golf course nearer to district 5, which we can also play?

I shall return to hotel and check this thread

Many thanks again for your reply

Monday is Golf Day for Song Be. That price should be for 18 holes. Taxi fare at that price is normal which works out to be about SGD$65.

There are no courses located near district 5. IF you dont mind paying more like USD$100 per game, than you can try Vietnam Golf & Country Club. this is one is about 30mins from District 1. http://vietnamgolfcc.com/golf/en/about.html

If price is a factor, than another option is Twin Doves. I think their golf day is Tuesady & wednesday. THis course is located about another 15-20mins from further up from Song Be. http://www.twindovesgolf.com/02_course/course01.php

PLease note that the prices are for Green fees & caddy Fees (Caddy Compulsory) BUggy is additional / optional.

DGman wrote:

Frostee is also in HCM this week but i doubt she brought her golf set....

IF she is a shopaholic, she will go wild here in HCMC..

Just came back from Song Be, and my comment is the course is not as good, compared to Higlands and Alpine in Chiangmai, which we played 4 days ago HCMC. Cost of green fees about the same.

We enquire VGCC and its not cheap. Compared to Chiangmai, the latter much better in terms of cost of playing, clubhouse facilities, fairway, putting green, scenery, etc. This is our first trip to HCMC, so we have to explore.

Also, weather is really hot and not ideal to play 27 holes in a day. Just my comments.
And now talking about nightlife here, we are still exploring and have been to a few karaoke clubs, and somehow, i find that you had better have a lot of 100k dongs notes ready.

But food and beer here is great, Only if we can speak the lingo, it would be a fantastic trip and we would stay longer. Many thanks Winston for your reply and sharing with us your info on golfing in Vietnam

Winston wrote:

DGman wrote:

Frostee is also in HCM this week but i doubt she brought her golf set....

IF she is a shopaholic, she will go wild here in HCMC..

Bro, OT a bit.

I go wild at your avatar.

Btw, weather good for golf in March?

It took 1.5 hours to travel from hotel in district 5 to Song Be - the traffic here is an awesome scene! We had earlier thought of renting a car since we brought our GPS, but upon arriving at the hotel, we changed our mind!

There is no bus, so that's why there's like a million scooters, bikes on the road, it's a wonder that the flow of traffic here somehow has its own system of moving along. Many times, I have to apply my foot to step on the brake, even though my hands were not on the steering wheel.

Just an hour and the half ago, me and friend were walking along the main street and about to cross the road, when suddenly a scooter weaved into our path and just snatch my friend's pouch bag attached to his belt. We now say good bye to our Fuji 12 mega pixels camera with a 4G memory card and all those images and HD movies that we captured in Song Be Golfcourse!

What a day! Lucky, the pouch bag was a clip on to his belt, if not he would have fallen on the streets. We informed the hotel staff, and they told us that chinese new year just around the corner, so this kind of unpleasantness happens. Its kind of scary, so now we are in the hotel drinking whiskey and staying away from the streets at least for 2nite

JC21 wrote:

Just came back from Song Be, and my comment is the course is not as good, compared to Higlands and Alpine in Chiangmai, which we played 4 days ago HCMC. Cost of green fees about the same.

We enquire VGCC and its not cheap. Compared to Chiangmai, the latter much better in terms of cost of playing, clubhouse facilities, fairway, putting green, scenery, etc. This is our first trip to HCMC, so we have to explore.

Also, weather is really hot and not ideal to play 27 holes in a day. Just my comments.
And now talking about nightlife here, we are still exploring and have been to a few karaoke clubs, and somehow, i find that you had better have a lot of 100k dongs notes ready.

But food and beer here is great, Only if we can speak the lingo, it would be a fantastic trip and we would stay longer. Many thanks Winston for your reply and sharing with us your info on golfing in Vietnam

The weather this month is good. If you come in after april, you will be playing in temp above 30*. Lately, Song Be has been slacking on the maintenance of the course. After the coring, it has gone down the drain.

asahi wrote:

Winston wrote:

DGman wrote:

Frostee is also in HCM this week but i doubt she brought her golf set....

IF she is a shopaholic, she will go wild here in HCMC..

Bro, OT a bit.

I go wild at your avatar.

Btw, weather good for golf in March?

March if yo uplay early morning like 7am, it is still ok....

JC21 wrote:

It took 1.5 hours to travel from hotel in district 5 to Song Be - the traffic here is an awesome scene! We had earlier thought of renting a car since we brought our GPS, but upon arriving at the hotel, we changed our mind!

There is no bus, so that's why there's like a million scooters, bikes on the road, it's a wonder that the flow of traffic here somehow has its own system of moving along. Many times, I have to apply my foot to step on the brake, even though my hands were not on the steering wheel.

Just an hour and the half ago, me and friend were walking along the main street and about to cross the road, when suddenly a scooter weaved into our path and just snatch my friend's pouch bag attached to his belt. We now say good bye to our Fuji 12 mega pixels camera with a 4G memory card and all those images and HD movies that we captured in Song Be Golfcourse!

What a day! Lucky, the pouch bag was a clip on to his belt, if not he would have fallen on the streets. We informed the hotel staff, and they told us that chinese new year just around the corner, so this kind of unpleasantness happens. Its kind of scary, so now we are in the hotel drinking whiskey and staying away from the streets at least for 2nite

Juding from the time of your earlier posting, it is rush hour going into Binh Duong. When I travel from D1, I leave at least 1 hour and that is when I am teeing off at 7am.

There are buses. Public buses operated by "Guilds". They however are the most noturious and reckless drivers in Vietnam. They believe that because they are big, it allows them to drive anyway they like. Bikes are very common now because the locals are becoming more affluent hence have the buying power.

As for other forms of entertainment, District 5 have alot. on Tran Hung Dao street, there are many mandarin / cantonese speaking eeerrrrr...you know lah.....Dont have anything of value hang all over you. Keep it out of sight. Carry a back pack...

we forgot to use our backpack in hcmc.

my friend just ordered a spring chicken from the province for snacks. looks nice and fresh

2 of my friends are still karaoking.later we going for supper, and i repeat the food is great here.

many thanks for your safety info, although a bit late.

great to be posting our golfing adventures in Vietnam. Btw, my score 98 playing in songbe - desert course and the other one, i forgot for now, a bit blur form the whiskey!

Caddy fees we paid 25usd - walking on the fairway, hot and not much wind. caddies better looking than those in chiangmai and they pretty read the green well, caddy placed ball in green and i follow the line and putt and had few pretty good puts. Had 3 on - on a par 5 and 2 putt for par. Also had a 3 on - on a par 4 and 1 putt for a par. But one par 3 got me into 6 strokes - a double par
Just won 500k dong from betting with my friends

JC21 wrote:

we forgot to use our backpack in hcmc.

my friend just ordered a spring chicken from the province for snacks. looks nice and fresh

2 of my friends are still karaoking.later we going for supper, and i repeat the food is great here.

many thanks for your safety info, although a bit late.

great to be posting our golfing adventures in Vietnam. Btw, my score 98 playing in songbe - desert course and the other one, i forgot for now, a bit blur form the whiskey!

Caddy fees we paid 25usd - walking on the fairway, hot and not much wind. caddies better looking than those in chiangmai and they pretty read the green well, caddy placed ball in green and i follow the line and putt and had few pretty good puts. Had 3 on - on a par 5 and 2 putt for par. Also had a 3 on - on a par 4 and 1 putt for a par. But one par 3 got me into 6 strokes - a double par
Just won 500k dong from betting with my friends

Normally if you play dessert, the other course should be Palm. Free range Spring chicken from the village? I prefer mine from the farm.

its 5Million dong small bet and challenge

its palm and desert i now recalled.

free range also quite good. Where's the closest farm? Any recommendation as we r leaving on the 12th.

many thanks

JC21 wrote:

Where's the closest farm?

Looking forward to sequel thread: My Farming Adventures in Vietnam.

JC21 wrote:

its palm and desert i now recalled.

free range also quite good. Where's the closest farm? Any recommendation as we r leaving on the 12th.

many thanks

I prefer the farmed chickens as they are seasoned abit better than free range. The farms are in District 1. Which street are you on in District 5? IF I know the street, can direct you to the nearest one.

b.b.carabanesis wrote:

JC21 wrote:

Where's the closest farm?

Looking forward to sequel thread: My Farming Adventures in Vietnam.

That one is in another forum....

We r going to distrcit 1 near sheraton hotel 2nite

Any landmark there?

Go to Hai Ba Trung St which is located next to Sheraton Hotel, A few intresting places there that allow for take away if you get hungry....

Errr......still talking bout free range chickens right?

Hi brother Winston,

I think i m in love with hcmc!! Forget about the camera been snatched and the hot sunny golf course.

There's so much fun to explore and when I go back home, I will arrange for the next flight back here and if your timing's right we can meet and chit chat.

Many thanks again. Oophs........I think I found your avatar!

thats it.....the next golf challenge will be held at Songbe ( i will call in advance to prepare greens). menu for lunch and dinner will be FR chicken and winner get to chose breast or thigh, losers take leftover.

CCC will be the orguniser.

Wah ... Naughty naughty... Very interesting proposition but I am on vegetarian diet... Sigh...

Good idea!
Day time hunt for birdies, night time hunt for FR chickens.
Damn stim!

Late March perhaps?