Vietnam Golf Tour March 2025

HANOI

Our first day of the tour started with an interesting and fun Jeep Tour around Hanoi.  Here we got a real flavour of the  city, seeing the French Quarter, markets and the incredible Train Street. I must admit having seen the track and the proximity of the cafe’s each side of it, we were expecting perhaps something akin to a model railway train to pass through, rather than the full blown 25 carriage Inter City type model that came trundling through.

After golf at Long Bien Golf Club, which had the biggest club house that we had ever seen, with heated toilet seats with a wash and blow dry option.  We went to a local restaurant for some typical Vietnamese food in the evening and the food was good.

Banh Xeo Pancakes

On Tuesday we played at BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort, some more culture was had by some of the group visiting with the famous Puppet theatre and the rest of the group enjoyed an excellent Gastro dinner at the excellently named Ding Doong restaurant in Hang Trong over looking the Cathedral.  On Wednesday we played at Thanh Lanh Valley Golf Club, which was quite a drive from Hanoi.

In Hanoi we also learnt about the curious Vietnamese phenomenon of crossing the road. Basically whether the lights are red or green traffic continues unabated, so if you’d like to cross the road, take a deep breath perambulate at a steady pace and the motorbikes / mopeds (apparently 76 million in Vietnam.) will glide past you. I must admit prior to the trip if you’d you’d have said do you fancy crossing the track at a bike race most of us would of given a negative answer however we suspended Western ideas and embraced traffic code in the East & with considerable aplomb. We started with 15 guests and ended with 15 guests.

HALONG BAY

We took an interesting drive to Halong Bay, with the obligatory comfort stop which conveniently had a massive shop selling everything from cashmere wraps to chicken ones. Our hotel was perched high above Halong with magnificent views of the Bay Town & golf course. Unfortunately some fog drifted in on the mornings we were there, but did then give it an atmospheric feel.

The definite highlight was a super boat trip into the Bay with its lime stone islands and incredible caves.  The lunch we had on the Boat was one of the best meals of the trip along with the jolly German/ Vietnamese restaurant in Halong we went to on the first evening. The Hotel was good and definitely enhanced with Simon the Birmingham born International Relations Manager’s input. It also had in my opinion the largest lobby in Asia, one in which you could fit a decent Par 3.

SAIGON

On to Saigon to stay at the beautifully appointed Mai House Hotel and meet up with possibly our favourite guide of the trip, the fragrant Tania.  Her attention to detail, and willingness to help was truly wonderful.

Our opening game here was at Tan Son Nhat Golf Club which had some amazing holes and we particularly liked the scenic downhill par 3 there, which we all played with varying degrees of success.

The next day we took an early morning speed boat up the Saigon river to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels.  This trip was very thought provoking and sobering too, looking at theses cramped tunnels that were used for years during the war.  It made me think of my father and his generation who spent 5 years in the hostile jungles of nearby Burma (now Mayanmar) in WWII, upholding the freedoms we are all fortunate to have today.

Tania helped us to organise a wonderful evening to the Saigon Opera House to see the AO Show.  It is one of the Bamboo Circus of Vietnam performances, telling the story of moving from rural to metropolitan life in Vietnam.  The acrobats juggling and stunt work with bamboo props were absolutely stunning. I will never look at a wicker basket the same way again!  The show was augmented by a nice pre show cocktail and a short tour of the theatre, a definite cultural highlight.

DA NANG

Our final leg of our tour saw us visit Da Nang, which lies on the coast of the South China Sea and an interesting mix of the old and new Vietnam.  Certainly the golf here was top quality and we particularly enjoyed the Luke Donald designed Ba Na Hills and our final game of the tour at the scenic Hoiana Shores Golf Club.

We really enjoyed our tour to Hoi An which has an intriguing mix of architecture with influences from the east and western cultures.  There was some excellent food to be had and of course first class shopping opportunities, which we all enjoyed.

An excellent farewell dinner at our hotel, rounded off our trip nicely along with a visit to its lively Sky Bar that really was amazing.

This was a great trip and we all felt fortunate to visit the very different parts of this diverse country.

Barney