"Vietnam's Golfing Boom"

[David_Tepper]

The weekend edition of the Financial Times has an article on the growth of golf in Vietnam. There are now 38 courses there and over 60 more courses are planned. While golf is currently out of favor politically in China, it appears to be accepted in Vietnam. Anyone been there for golf?

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/369eb944-774c-11e5-a95a-27d368e1ddf7.html   

[Mark Pavy]

Yes. I'm a huge fan of Vietnam.

Have a look at how close Hainan is as well. Anyone know if you can fly from Danang to Haikou?

[Jaeger Kovich]

Mark - I Doubt you can fly direct from Hainan. Its not a very big airport, and not that common a destination for international visitors, although they were renovating the terminals when we left. Hong Kong is less than an hour flight from Haikou.

[Tom_Doak]

Yes. I'm a huge fan of Vietnam.

Have a look at how close Hainan is as well. Anyone know if you can fly from Danang to Haikou?

You could not fly from Hainan straight to Vietnam last year or in past years, when we were working in Hainan.  I looked into it, having not yet been to Vietnam.  All the flights were via Guangzhou, or Hong Kong if you wanted to change airlines there.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Interesting article by tourists from 2008:


[/size]http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/travel/09vietgolf.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0[size=78%]

[Adam Lawrence]

Wikipedia, fwiw, says that Haikou has service to Hanoi, HCMC and Danang, while Sanya has two airlines flying to Hanoi.

[Pete_Pittock]

The Norman Bluffs course looks great on television, hosting the Ho Tram Open. A bit east from Vung Tau.

[Tom_Doak]

Wikipedia, fwiw, says that Haikou has service to Hanoi, HCMC and Danang, while Sanya has two airlines flying to Hanoi.

Perhaps, on some small airline that doesn't show up on the big travel sites ... but I just checked and there is no direct service from any of the major carriers as of today.

[Adam Lawrence]

Well as I say this is only per Wikipedia, but according to said site then it's Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar involved.

[Tom_Doak]

Well as I say this is only per Wikipedia, but according to said site then it's Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar involved.

Yes, and Wikipedia sometimes lies.  I checked both airlines' web sites.  Vietnam Airlines doesn't fly to Hainan Island at all.  Jetstar does fly to Haikou, but only from Singapore and Jakarta.  The best way to get to Vietnam from Haikou is through Guangzhou.

[Charles Lund]

I made arrangements to travel to Hong Kong and on to Vietnam for a trip this January which will include golf in Danang in Vietnam.  Danang is a smaller city than Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City and located between the two larger cities.  There are three courses I will likely play, although I will mostly play at Danang Golf Club which is a Greg Norman Course.  The link is as follows:

http://www.dananggolfclub.com/the-golf-course/the-course/overview.html

Another course is the Montgomery Links:

http://www.montgomerielinks.com/the-golf-course/the-course/hole-by-hole/

A third course is Laguna Lang Golf Club, which is a Nick Faldo design:

http://www.lagunalangco.com/golf/design/#.VnObnFNIjug

I spoke with a friend who worked in Vietnam for many years and has played golf there many times.  He advised me that Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi tend to be congested and complicated so for a shorter term golf and sightseeing vacation, he recommended Danang.  He is partial to the Norman course and told me he thought I would be happy playing it exclusively.  I will probably play it three times and the Montgomery Links once and Laguna Lang once.  Laguna Lang is much farther from the Danang central city area than the other two courses.

I am flying Dragon Air as part of a Cathay Pacific itinerary originating in Vancouver, with stopovers in Hong Kong on the way to and from Danang.

I flew to Mission Hills Haikou a few years ago and flew from Hong Kong on Dragon Air.

Charles

[Steve_ Shaffer]

More courses are planned:


http://www.golfincmagazine.com/content/vietnamese-company-plans-build-20-new-courses