"Vietnam is a great place for golf, but you seldom hear people talking about Vietnam and golf in the same breath, normally it's Vietnam and the war, Vietnam and great nature, even Vietnam and those wonderful beaches, but seldom Vietnam and golf.

You will find a collection of major jewels listed below, the first two are described by a customer of ours who came here a few years back and was unbelievably lyrical about the experience that we decided to leave his words intact, without changing the text. We thought that he had captured the characteristics of the two courses in such a descriptive manner that we couldn't do better ourselves.
He writes:
"Vietnam is a great place for golf, but you seldom hear people talking about Vietnam and golf in the same breath, normally it's Vietnam and the war, Vietnam and great nature, even Vietnam and those wonderful beaches, but seldom Vietnam and golf. But Vietnam is full of wonderful surprises, which include fantastic courses which seem to be known to only the inner circle of golfers on this planet."
I was in Vietnam just a few months ago looking for somewhere to relax, play a little golf and have a bit of fun as well. The highlights of the trip were the rounds of golf, which I did not expect, We, my wife and I, played two great courses, beautiful as well as challenging in Phan Thiet, and Dalat.
The first one we went to was a course called Ocean Dunes, a real treat of a course situated along the beach in the town of Phan Thiet, which is about 200 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. The course, which was opened in September 1996, designed by Nick Faldo, is a golfer's paradise.

Ocean Dunes is a challenge for anyone and everyone, with four different tee boxes. There are many water hazards which come into play on almost half the eighteen holes. My wife and I played 36 holes in about 6 hours, there were no overcrowded fairways, no jams on the tees, no stiffening of the limbs here. This is real golf. We played from Monday morning till Thursday and wanted more. There are quite a few playing the course on the weekends but still not enough to ruin your game and the members are extremely polite. Ocean Dunes is great golf and totally surprising for Vietnam. Highly recommended.

Now I've played on some courses in my time including Royal Troon and Royal County Down, which is a world top ten course, so I do have material to compare with. "

It was time to leave and with almost tears in our eyes we headed for the second course, which was the Dalat Palace Golf Club. Situated in the central highlands, Dalat is elevated, sitting at almost 1500 meters.
This was another beauty; the weather was a very nice 23 degrees C. My wife fell in love with this course immediately, although she found it tricky, she loved the picturesque setting. She had never been on such a peaceful and relaxing course in all her life, and she is still talking about it to everyone she meets. Dalat is a much more mature course than Ocean Dunes with pine trees and a fine traditional layout, Faldo also designed this place. It meets the very highest of standards.
It's a par 72, tricky, and testing for even the lowest handicapper. Water protects many greens, the long irons come into play quite a bit on this course much more so than on Ocean Dunes.

Undulating fairways, water and tough bunkers strategically waiting for you to drop your guard. I enjoyed every inch of this course and, still think about the place even during my working hours, we can't wait to get back, my wife is going back with some other ladies from the club soon, we'll let you know about that trip as soon as we can.

Anyone who loves golf, get down to Vietnam and enjoy two brilliant golf courses, enjoy and spread the word. These are world-class courses that are not to be missed. One thing before finishing; remember old golfers never die they just lose their balls. Hello to everyone at Orient"

(This article was received from Mr Ian Merrills, from Swansea, Wales, hcp. 14.7)
There are many courses available to you, these two were the favorites of Mr Merrills and his wife and are just two of the many courses in Vietnam. If you want to receive information about golf trips, contact us, we can offer you our complete 10-day golf program for 2002, which is a real golfer's dream.

You'll find this course close to Ho Chi Minh City. This club has a couple of courses that's worth getting to know better, one of them was designed by a Taiwanese master designer and the other by the one and only Lee Trevino; a true great. They are 7,000 yards and 6,900 aprroximately and a great challenge for every golfer. Narrow fairways will test all your middle-long to long irons as well as your woods. There is a West Course and an East Course, both great courses. The West Course is long and has greens that are so fast you might think you're playing Augusta.
The East Course is just as tough or probably tougher with undulating fairways, bunkers that will catch you every time, and greens that will test the very best of putting styles. These are courses that you won't forget for a long time! Groups are our speciality, so if you want a great week, weekend, or just a few days here with friends and family; Contact Us

There are other courses, but we don't believe that you want to travel to Vietnam to play these and so, we have only mentioned the very best courses.