Ho Chi Minh Why Vietnam is well on the way to becoming the next big thing in Asian golf
Trail
BY THOMAS EDWARDS
F
or me, the excitement of an imminent overseas golf trip begins the moment I receive my confirmed itinerary—and in the case of a recent visit to Vietnam, the schedule could not have been more beguiling. Dong Nai, Phan Thiet, Dalat, Tam Dao, Chi Linh— to those whose preconceptions of this Southeast Asian nation are based solely from watching old Hollywood war movies this list might read like a rundown of former battlegrounds sites: places hidden deep within malarial jungle and require umpteen vaccinations and a sturdy 4x4 before anyone sane of mind would contemplate traveling to. But no, these names represent the finest courses that this now thriving country has to offer, and what’s more, they’re all located within easy reach of Vietnam’s most worthy cultural attractions, 24
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making this so much more than just a golf tour. The name of this nationwide golfing traipse is, I kid you not, the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail. This branding is sure to raise a few eyebrows, especially stateside. But I like to think it’s more a reflection of how far this country has come. While the original Ho Chi Minh Trail was the moniker given by the American military to describe the elaborate web of mountain and grassland paths that were used by the North Vietnamese to transport troops, tanks, guns and WWW.HKGA.COM
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de rigueur. On my first night in the country I ate indecently well at a hip fusion restaurant and then went for drinks at the rooftop bar of the iconic Caravelle Hotel, a five-star establishment in Lam Son Square overlooking Saigon’s magnificent colonial-era Opera House. A ll around me trendy young men were laughing and joking over glasses of Johnnie Walker; their elegant girlfriends sipping mojitos, being careful not to spill any on their newly-acquired Louis Vuit ton purses. While the nouveau riche might only represent a fraction of the Vietnamese population, this scene would have been unthinkable less than a generation ago. It was hard not to be impressed. G o l f ’s r o l e i n t h i s r e c e n t revitalization of the Vietnamese economy is hard to fathom. Long considered a western evil, the radical economic policy shifts of the ruling Community party during the mid 1990s certainly helped the game’s rise, but whether or not this was led by pressure from the many golf-loving Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese who own businesses in the country is uncertain. I did hear a story before coming to Vietnam that if true—and I have really no way of checking whether it is—will undoubtedly go down in Asian golf folklore. Every year, the great and the good of Southeast Asian politics assemble for the ASEA N (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit, a multi-nation conference
Saigon swings (clockwise from top): Ho Chi Minh City’s Municipal Theatre; the 18th century Notre Dame Cathedral, a throwback to the days of Indochine; street food is always an option; Ocean Dunes Golf Resort, Vietnam’s best course.
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Charles McLaughlin (3)
Global Golf
Golfing the
supplies from Hanoi to the south during the tumultuous years leading up to the Fall of Saigon in 1975, its golfing namesake takes visitors on a journey through modern Vietnam, an expedition that encompasses swish beachside resorts, colonial mountain retreats, vibrant cities and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, first-rate courses. In a country where 65% of the population is under 25, the ‘American War’ is all but forgotten. The Vietnamese have moved on, I was told on numerous occasions, and they’re not the type to look back. My trip began, appropriately enough, in Ho Chi Minh City, a sprawling metropolis that the majority of Vietnamese still call Saigon. On the flight over, a middle-aged French gentleman, a long-term resident of the city, had given me an inkling of what to expect. “The food is fabulous and the women are painfully beautiful—this is all you need to know,” he said matter-of-factly. I took note. In my experience, Frenchmen never joke about such subjects. I explained the purpose of my trip and he laughed. “I don’t know anything about golf, but I’m sure it’s getting more popular. The businessmen have to go somewhere to clinch their deals.” That might sound like a bit of a cliché, but his point was valid. China aside, Vietnam has the fastest growing economy in Asia, a fact made evident by the number of upscale malls and luxury apartment towers that have sprung up all over Saigon in recent years. Indeed, construction is still frantic; cranes are everywhere. The streets reverberate with the buzz of four million mopeds, but high-powered SUV’s and gleaming executive sedans—the vehicles of choice for your upwardly mobile Vietnamese—are becoming
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Course with character (above and below): the signature par-3 ninth at Ocean Dunes plays through a chute of pine trees; the eighth, a water-laced par-5.
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where they discuss hugely impor ta nt cu lt ura l a nd economic matters pertaining to the region. As you can probably imagine, it’s a fairly dull affair, but one which is enlivened by a round of golf on the penultimate day. Unfortunately, when they first joined ASEAN in 1995, the Vietnamese contingent, not being golfers, declined the invitation and headed back to their hotel rooms. Five hours later, the Malaysian foreign minister, perplexed by their non-appearance, was said to have gone up to his Vietnamese counterpart to offer some much-needed advice. “There are two things you need to learn about international politics,” he is rumored to have told him. “Firstly, you must learn how to speak English fluently. But more importantly, you must to learn how to play golf. No-one will take you seriously otherwise.” On my second day I visited Dong Nai Golf Resort, a delightful 27-holer set on the banks of Song May Lake. Because of its location, less than an hour north of Saigon, I had expected the course to be busy, but apart from a
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sprinkling of Korean factory owners there were no other golfers in sight. I asked my pint-sized caddie, Vu Minh Vy, where everybody was. “Weekend, people…weekday, no people,” she grinned from beneath her conical hat, a nifty form of traditional Vietnamese headgear that offers protection from the unrelenting sun. “No people, no problem.” She was right about that and we ambled eighteen holes before retiring for a delicious bowl of pho, Vietnam’s ubiquitous rice-noodle soup. Maybe I was just lucky, but this was to be a recurring theme at all the courses I visited—they all seemed to be refreshingly devoid of golfers. But maybe I shouldn’t have been that surprised. There might only be fourteen courses in the entire country, but estimates put the number of Vietnamese who regularly take to the fairways at a measly 4,000. Golf might not yet be booming at the same rate that has made China and Thailand into major golfing nations, but so what? This is undoubtedly great news for tourists who come with clubs in tow, a fact acknowledged by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators, who named Vietnam as the Best Undiscovered Golf Destination last December. T h e t it l e o f V ie t n a m ’s b e s t c o u r s e undoubtedly goes to Ocean Dunes, a rollicking,
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Up in Dalat: (left and below): vegetable vendors in the town’s central market; the Sofitel Dalat Palace, one of the world’s most unique stays.
Nick Faldo-designed layout situated on the east coast in the resort town of Phan Thiet, a hair-raising four hour drive along the coastal highway from Saigon. The golf course aside, Phan Thiet’s associations with golf will last forever: Earl Woods, Tiger’s father, was stationed at a nearby airfield during one of his two tours of duty. After checking into my smartly-appointed villa, part of the adjacent Novotel Ocean Dunes Resort, I hit the links with the club’s director of golf Jeff Puchalski. A former pro at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, Puchalski and his wife have lived in Vietnam for over thirteen years. “We didn’t know what to expect when we arrived,” admits Puchalski, as we play the 5th, a decidedly Floridian-like par-5 with water all down the right side. “The country has changed drastically in recent years, which has helped the golf here. In the mid-1990s there were probably only seventy-five golfers in the whole place. Golf is growing and it will continue to do so…there’s no doubt about it.” After we played the windswept 9th, a stunning par-3 that plays through a chute of pine trees to a raised green overlooking the beach, I asked Puchalski about the rigors of building a golf course in a former war-torn land. “They [Faldo’s design team] took away a bunch of unexploded ordinance, including some fairly big bombs, when they built this place,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they got it all.” That evening, I went out for a dinner at a rustic seafood restaurant overlooking the South China Sea with Puchalski and his director of operations, Kenny Saunders. Over beautifully grilled crab, a platter of succulent steamed prawns and many bottles of Tiger Beer, WWW.HKGA.COM
Saunders, a transplanted native of Tennessee, who had only been in Vietnam a few months, waxed lyrical about his new home. “It’s not Memphis, that’s for sure,” he joked, “but the people couldn’t be friendlier. People back home really have no idea what Vietnam is like, which is understandable of course, but also a shame.” The next day I headed inland to Dalat, another four hour slog by car, but one that affords stunning views of the surrounding countryside. If proof was ever needed that Vietnam is not all steamy jungle, this is it. We weaved through the foothills of rugged mountains before ascending sharply until we reached our destination. Dalat is like nowhere else in Vietnam—or Asia for that matter. A hill station conceived during the Indochine HK GOLFER・MAY/JUNE 2008
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have stayed longer in Dalat, but it was time to move on and it was with a heavy heart that I boarded my flight to Hanoi, the nation’s capital A couple of evenings later, after taking in a couple of very worthy courses around Hanoi, I found myself standing on the deck of the Emeraude, a replica of a colonial-era paddle wheeler, staring at the magnificent limestone karsts of Ha Long Bay, one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. Whether it was the eerie setting, the salty air or the three gin and tonics I had enjoyed over dinner, I began to reflect on my trip and the state of Vietnamese golf generally. Barring economic meltdown (a highly unlikely event), golf in Vietnam won’t remain a secret for much longer. Already, over eighty new courses are planned, with several— including a Colin Montgomerie design laid out among the dunes of famed China Beach— set to open in the next twelve months. Within a few years, Vietnam could well replace Thailand as Southeast Asia’s most popular golf destination. This is all well and good for the country as a whole, but I selfishly hope the boom holds off a while. I want to come back before the hordes start arriving and have the courses all to myself again.
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TRIP PLANNER WHERE TO PLAY Dong Nai Golf Resort HHH A pleasant lakeside test featuring a few strongly undulating holes. The A/B Course is the best of the three combinations. 1 hour from Saigon. dongnaigolf.com.vn Ocean Dunes Golf Club HHHHH Part resort, part links, part English heathland, Vietnam’s be st c our se features springy seaside turf and slick bermudagrass greens. Strong ocean winds make it play significantly harder than it looks. Attached to the Novotel Ocean Dunes Resort. 4 hours from Saigon. vietnamgolfresorts.com Dalat Palace Golf Club HHHH A refreshingly old-style course, this charming track features small, wellguarded greens and pine flanked fairways right in the heart of the former hill station. One of the few courses in Southeast Asia that has bentgrass greens. vietnamgolfresorts.com King’s Island Golf Club HHH Accessible only by boat, this 36-hole facility, North Vietnam’s first, takes advantage of naturally rolling terrain and provides a good blend of holes in an undoubtedly scenic environment. kingsislandgolf.com
era of French occupation, the town sits over five thousand feet above sea level, its temperate climate providing much respite from the searing heat of the low country. Although the French left over fifty years ago, the architecture remains defiantly European. Swiss-style villas cover much of the higher ground, while the imposingly grand Sofitel Dalat Palace Hotel sits regally by the shores of Xuan Hong Lake, the town’s focal point. Dalat Palace Golf Club, a charming, almost garden-like layout situated right in the centre of town overlooking the lake, is Vietnam’s oldest course and by far the most intriguing. Established in the early 1920s at the behest of Bo Dai, Vietnam’s last emperor, nobody is quite sure who actually designed Dalat—recently unearthed documentation suggests that noted British architect Harry Colt and his protégé Charles Alison may well have had a hand in the original routing—but whoever it was clearly knew what they was doing. Closed for nearly twenty years following the reunification of the country, Dalat reopened in 1994 following significant investment by Larry Hillblom, cofounder of DHL, who tragically died in a plane crash just a few months later. I would like to 30
French frolic (clockwise from top left): charming Dalat Palace Golf Club, cruising Ha Long Bay on the Emeraude; Dalat’s bijou clubhouse.
Tam Dao Golf Club HHHH A thoroughly modern IMG-designed layout featuring flashy bunkering, elevated greens and generous fairways. Rooms are available within its enormous clubhouse. 1 hour Hanoi. tamdaogolf.com Chi Linh Star Golf Club HHHH Arguably the toughest course in the country, this dramatic 36-holer features exceptionally strong bunkering and tight landing areas. Demanding for higher handicappers, but its beautiful mountainous surrounds make it worth a visit. 90 minutes from Hanoi. chilinhstargolf.com
HOW TO BOOK To book a tailor-made tour, including golf and lodgings visit hochiminhgolftrail.com. Packages from Hong Kong, including flights, accommodation and golf booking, are available through Golf 007. golf007.com/travel/en
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