Vietnam Golf Tour - Ho Chi Minh, 2016 Sep 19-23

Since we will be arriving late in the afternoon of Monday, 19th Sept 2016, it was free and easy on day 1. Elios Hotel, which we stayed; is centrally located in HCM city with walking distances to many food and drink stalls, spa and massage centers and a market square that sells everything from pots and pans to casual wears for adults and children. Few of us already had their shopping list in hand and got their bargains (yes, bargain aggressively on the price!) satisfied happily before nightfall !


HCM is a bustling city with endless motor cyclists and here are some of the distinctive features of the city, which we will sure to remember:


1. Motor cyclists out numbered cars by probably 10-1. Traffic Jams are caused by hundreds of motor cyclists. When they are on the move, they would criss-cross each other in any directions, a few times right in front of our van. Not a place to ride for a new hand.






2. Nearly all old buildings are narrow with width not more than 18ft, quite amazed to see a few tall skinny structures rising above the skyline.



3. Unless new, almost all food and drink stalls provide very low tables and chairs like those found in our kindergartens. A real experience to sit on these tiny low chairs for a round of Saigon beers, which are absolutely cheap!

Day 2 - 20th Sept 2016.

Long Thanh Golf Club - is a 36 holes GC, though we only played the Lake course this time. The first impression is that it is a well maintained course featuring rolling fairways and undulating greens, guarded by many high lip bunkers and water hazards on almost every hole. The rough off the fairways are planted with Bermuda grass, which could covered up the golf ball in most instances. A real challenge to hit the ball out for most of us, let alone putting it on the green! Furthermore, if the ball landed on the high side of the green, it is very easy to putt it 5ft past the hole!

Day 3 - 21th Sept 2016

The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip - is a link style golf course designed by Greg Norman, over and around sand dunes along the coastline of the sea. The fairways wind through  small sand hills, off the fairways are outcrops covered with thick shrubs and vegetation typically grew well on sandy soil. Once inside, it's certainly "lost ball" in almost all cases. The wind also plays a major role in the experiences, though fortunately it was not too strong on the day we played. Absolutely worthwhile even after 2 1/2 hrs drive from the hotel!

Day 4 - 22th Sept 2016.

Tan Son Nhat GC - when we arrived, standing in front of us is a huge grand club house with tall pillars and high ceiling. Probably one of the biggest club house I have ever seen! The facilities is definitely 5 stars! This is a 36-holes course with well manicured fairways and fast and undulating greens. Today, we played course B & D which has 5 long par-4 between 420-475 yds from the blue tees. The caddies are all males and seemed not very passionate about their job, a big difference compared to those ladies at The Bluffs!
We were fortunate that the package came with a very sumptuous buffet lunch, thrown in with a free Saigon beer. A very welcome meal after struggling to get pars or missing few birdie chances.

In summary, the 3 courses are absolutely beautiful and in immaculate conditions. Unfortunately, everyone played above pars!  Definitely will come back to play again because we always believed that we can play better next time! Otherwise, better luck!

 In terms of food, the  Vietnamese spring rolls, beef noodles and baguette sandwich (banh mi) never failed to vet our appetite. Worth mentioning was the best lunch that we had at a tiny stall by the roadside just a short drive after The Bluffs.

All the sea food are kept alive separately in round plastic basins. Just scoop up what we want and the owner shall cook them anyway we asked. Fresh, delicious and very cheap too!

Lastly, Elios Hotel is value for money especially when it comes with free buffet breakfast  that is served in a rooftop restaurant on the 12th floor. The buffet had a wide spread of food items in addition to a egg frying station. I am sure all of us over ate every morning!

Overall, song-si!

More Photos...

Summary of scores...

Ho Chi Min golf 19-23 Sep 2016
		Stableford points			Total points	Overall position
Name	Handicap*	Long Thanh GC	The Bluffs	Tan Son Nhat GC				Tot Birdies	Tot Pars
Dennes	10	34	31	18	83	5		3	16
David	18	36	31	29	96	1		2	9
Lim KS	12	28	24	26	78	6			11
Lee	13	33	26	30	89	3		1	19
Alex	18	34	20	36	90	2		1	10
Simon	13	17	34	21	72	7			9
Liaw	25	29	23	32	84	4			5
Khoo	32	26	8	17	51	8			2
Handicap* adjustment >
	1. Winner, -1 for next day
	2. Regardless of position, if  Points scored is  -1 to -3, cut 1 stroke for next game
	3. Regardless of position, if  Points scored is  better than -3, cut additional  1 stroke for next game
	4.  Regardless of position, if  Points scored is  +3 and above; add 1 stroke for next game

Approx expenses for the trip...

Ho Chi Min golf tour expenses 19-23 Sep 2016
			VD=Vietnamese Dong
Total expenses approx/head:
	RM			avg Exc Rate
Malinda Air+Hotel	917
Golf Package:	1558		US$ 380	4.1
Caddy tips x 3	112		VD600,000	0.000187
Meals +Misc	280		VD1,500,000	(incl tips to driver)
Total	2867
Golf package includes  ( transport + golf packages)

Thailand Golf Tour - ChiangMai, 2016 Jan 18-22

Initial Preparation..

Sometime in May 2015, a few members suggested we made a trip to Chiangmai again since the last one was done more than 2 years ago. Air tickets were booked for 5 members on 14th May during the promo period for travelling in Jan 2016 as we wish to enjoy the cool weather during this time of the year. Later another 3 friends joined to make up the perfect 8 for 2 flights, although David can only arrived in the afternoon due to other commitment.

Day 1. 18th Jan 2016 - Maejo Golf Resort & Spa.




Francis with old friend Khun Payon (L)

Our early flight arrived at Chiangmai Airport just before 9am, and our tour leader cum driver,  Khun Payon was ready to take us for a quick beef noodle before we checked into our hotel.
Since our rooms were not ready, we had to leave our luggage in the hotel store room and proceed to Maejo, which is about an hour drive away.

Our tee-off time is set at 12.00. Although the course condition is reasonably well maintained, none of us had a good game; possibly because we don't have enough sleep since we had to get up about 3.00 in the morning. Also the green speed must be around 12.0, it is not uncommon to end up with triple bogey if your ball end up on the wrong side of the green!





Day 2. 19th Jan 2016 - Gold Canyon Golf & Resort.

When we arrived at the golf course before our tee off time at 8am, it was cold outside. I guess the temperature must be around 15C. Because there was still a group of Korean golfers at the tee box, we were asked to tee off from t-box 7 instead. It was freezing when I rode the buggy from tee box 1 to 7, especially when my buggy did not have a wind shield.
Guess what, this is not the end of it.

Our first flight had finished hole 7 and one of us had also teed off. Then, a Korean golfer from hole 6 came over to ask if we could let them pass. Initially, we agreed but then when we were told that they were a group of 2 flights, we politely said no. Few minutes later, one of our caddy received a phone call from the Marshall telling us to start the game from tee box 1, which is now cleared (guess the Korean must have called the club.) Reluctantly, we agreed and proceed to gather our front flight to follow. To our surprise, when we arrived at the tee box, we were told to wait again because there was another Korean flight there. Obviously preference were given to Korean players.  At this point, we could no longer hold up our anger, so there were loud & angry exchange of conversation between our members and the Marshall. Seeing that the Marshall was not able to resolve the situation, Dennes barged up to the club house and demanded to see the Club Manager, who did came down to meet us. He was apologetic and just keep saying "sorry, sorry", probably cannot converse well in English. Finally, he offered to compensate lunch for all.

This was an unpleasant incident that we had never experience before. Lesson learned...avoid golf tour during year-end from Nov-Jan, which is a peak season for overseas golfers, especially the  Korean and Japanese golfers who like to travel to the warmer countries during their winter season. Worst of all, most of them had little understanding of golf etiquette.

Although the course was in good playing condition, none played well presumably affected by the morning incident.

Day 3. 20th Jan 2016 - Summit Green Valley GC.

                                                                                  
Our tee off time was scheduled at 12.30 noon. Unlike the previous 2 days, the weather was rather hot. The course just average, I felt that the fairway were cut way too short. So the irons could easily dig too deep resulting a 'changkul' shot that produced a shorter than expected distance.











A coin operated toilet in the market

Day 4. 21st Jan 2016 - Royal Chiangmai GC.

This course had matured a lot since I last played more than 5 years ago. The fruit trees has grown a lot more taller, but unfortunately this was not a fruit season so no chance to savor the longan or mango that were planted abundance on the course. RCGC is still a very challenging course, though most water are not in play but there are plenty of sand bunkers, with deep front lips, guarding the fairways and around the greens. As long as you can avoid going into these deep bunkers, a fairly good scores can be achieved.

waiting for food at a teow chew restaurant beside the hotel

after a dozen beer, more beer at an open air food trucks

very clean & nice atmosphere surrounded by beer, coffee & snack trucks

David serenading the blues away

a singer on top of the Chang Beer van

thumbs up for this place

cheers to good time

 Dining out for street food....

Famous pork leg rice prepared by the sexy lady boss

we came for pork leg rice?

Accommodation..

This time we chose to stay at CH hotel, which is an old  3* hotel  with reasonably big room that comes with a long bath. Though the fittings are old and worn out, it is located immediately behind Anusan nite market, which is opened every night. The hotel is also centrally placed with massage centers ,karaoke, 7/11, bars etc within walking distance. Some of the facilities we looked forward to after 18 holes on the golf course.

There are a few relatively new hotels nearby, but one could expect these hotels with smaller room and basic amenities.

Summary...

ChiangMai Golf Tour, 18-22 Jan 2016
Total expenses approx:
per pax	RM		thai bht	avg Exc Rate
Air Ticket:	400-600
Golf Package:	2021		16500	0     .1225
Caddy tips x 4	147		1200
Meals +Misc	214		1750	(incl tips to driver)
Golf package includes all ( transport,  hotel + golf packages)