from Vietnam Golf Magazine
October 2015
Our annual review to find Vietnam’s Best Golf Course has been in full-swing since 11 September when a handful of panelists from Vietnam Golf Magazine arrived in Dalat. The tour is expected to take 3-weeks, with travel to go take us from the southern island of Phu Quoc courses north of Hanoi.
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| Vietnam Golf Magazine October 2015 |
At the time of this writing we have completed our first week, which included courses in Dalat, Vung Tau and Phu Quoc. We are now in Ho Chi Minh City engaged in reviewing the best courses in the metropolitan area.
As we are actively engaged with an intense playing schedule, I am drawn to parallels to a 61-day golf marathon my parents made in the United States and Canada. Jim & Pat’s odyssey ran from August to November 2005 and covered 61 courses in 61 days. Daily details of their journey was called the CanAmAthon, and can be found at: http://www.canamathon.com/. As this is the 10th year anniversary of their journey, I note some similarities with our current Vietnam course review marathon.
Perhaps the most common similarity between the two golfing marathons is that both required an uncommonly high amount of play in a short period of time. In rating Vietnam’s top courses, we’ll be covering twenty courses in a period of three weeks. Covering a much larger geographical area, Jim & Pat had been toured three times longer, nearly nine weeks (61-days).
Our tour allowed us to stay in each province for several nights without a change of hotel. For instance, we spent 3 nights in Dalat, 2 nights in Vũng Tàu and 5 nights in Ho Chi Minh City. Their CanAmAthon on the other hand required Jim and Pat to play a course in a different state or province each night, so they generally needed to be in a different hotel each night. As tiring as our three week tour is in Vietnam, I gain a higher level of respect for those who can go through a golfing marathon of 61 days.
Daily journals of our course reviews can be found on the Vietnam Golf Magazine website (www.vietnamgolfmagazine.net) or on our blog (http://vietnamsbestgolf.blogspot.com/)
In this installment, I’ll cover our stops in Dalat, VungTau and Phu Quoc.
Đà Lạt:
The three three courses we played in Dalat:
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| Sacom Golf Resort Dalat, Vietnam |
As Dalat is in the highlands, perhaps one common feature about the three courses are their high elevation above sea-level. The city itself is listed as 1500 metres above sea level (the name Dalat at 1200 comes from it’s position at 1200 metres).
Being in close proximity to each other, the three courses share common weather. The average temperature ranges between 14 °C - 23 °C. (The highest temperature ever in Dalat was 31.5 °C, and the lowest was −0.6 °C). Dalat’s moderate weather has led to it being nicknamed as the “City of eternal spring”. It is ideal for golf, making it a popular tourist destination on weekends.
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| Dalat Palace Golf Club |
The differences between the three Dalat courses are due to the age of the property. Opened as Vietnam’s first-ever golf club in the early 1920s, Dalat Palace is a mature course designed in the style of the time. The clubhouse, restaurant and locker facilities date back to a bygone era and should be remodelled and brought up to current standards.
Sacom Tuyen Lam Golf Club on the other hand, was opened in recent years and shows its young age in through newer design. It’s clubhouse is an up to date European-style architecture that radiates elegance. The course is modern and suitable for the terrain and climate of Dalat.
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| Dalat at 1200 |
Dalat at 1200 is still a work in progress. We were able to play part of the course, but the back nine is still under construction. The holes we were able to play and review show that it will be a nice course and resort in the coming years. A new clubhouse for The Dalat at 1200 will be open in the next year or two.
Whereas Dalat Palace is an urban course in the centre of Dalat City, both Sacom Tuyen Lam and Dalat at 1200 require 15-30 minutes go get to travel from the city to the site.
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| The Bluffs The Grand Ho Tram Strip Vung Tau, Vietnam |
The course and the lodging are part of an integrated resort designed more for the adult lifestyle. With a casino, nightclub and leading spa facility, the seaside resort based in Vũng Tàu is a perfect weekend getaway.
The best times to travel to Vung Tau ae in the months of November and December when the area has a nice average temperature. The region’s warmest temperature is in April, the coolest in December which may be part of the reason they’ve selected December to host the inaugural Ho Tram Open golf tournament.
Billed as Vietnam’s richest sports event, the Ho Tram Open will set a new standard by integrating golf and entertainment, framing the Championship with a variety of events and entertainers for sponsors, dignitaries and guests alike. A blend of international artists, performers and designers will come together to showcase the Ho Tram Strip and its position as the leading entertainment hub in Vietnam and South East Asia.
Phú Quốc:
Lodging for two nights was at: Vinpearl Phu Quoc Resort
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| Vinpearl Resort Phu Quoc, Vietnam |
Phú Quốc is a Vietnamese island off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand. It is Vietnam’s largest island, and is known best for its palm-lined, white-sand beaches and resorts. More than half of the island’s landmass is part of a national park featuring dense jungle and mountains. A mountainous ridge known as "99 Peaks" runs the length of Phú Quốc, with Chúa Mountain being the tallest at 603 metres.
Phu Quoc’s monsoonal sub-equatorial climate is characterized by distinct rainy from June to November, and dry seasons from December to May. Our flight into Phu Quoc was caught in one of the heavy rains as we made our way from Ho Chi Minh City on a turbulent flight.
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| Vinpearl Resort Phu Quoc, Vietnam |
Whereas The Grand Ho Tram would be considered an integrated resort for adults, Vinpearl Phu Quoc is more of a family resort. Located on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world with sugar sand, glistening sea and untouched nature Vinpearl offers championship golf along with an amusement park, underwater world, upscale spa, food village and shopping street.
Our 3-week golf marathon through Vietnam is currently in its first week with Dalat, Vung Tau and Phu Quoc complete. Next on our agenda are stops and golf in numerous courses in Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, Danang, Hue and Hanoi.
Keep up-to-date on the course reviews on the Vietnam Golf Magazine website (www.vietnamgolfmagazine.net) or on our blog (http://vietnamsbestgolf.blogspot.com/)
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