Having heard so much of the fast development of Vietnam since it entered the WTO, especially when a friend of mine, who has visited the country many times, told me they have some nice courses, I recently decided to check it out myself.

Vietnam has 2 major cities: Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh (formerly known as Saigon ), where I visited, in the south east. Both cities are about 2&1/2 hours away from Hong Kong .

I stayed at the conveniently located Windsor Plaza Hotel throughout the trip (about 10 minutes from the town centre). My first ever round of golf in Vietnam was at Long Thanh Golf Club, which is approximately 40 kilometers away.

This club has 36 holes: the newer course is the Lake and the older one is Hill Course. Since I had limited time on this trip & my game has not been on top form recently, I decided to go for the easier (so I thought) Hill course. The Hill Course ( scorecard ), in fact, measures a respectable 6,513 yards from blue tee, and due to its hilly layout, with rolling & tight fairways, presents a certain challenge to those not hitting the ball straight. Luckily the rough has been trimmed down so slightly wayward shots will still be salvageable. Worth a mention are the par 3s, the shortest measuring 165 yards up to a rather more difficult 186 yards.

Play movie.....

Fairways & greens were in excellent shape, bravo!

Service was good & attentive but knowledge of the course can be better....may be her English was not very good, making it hard for her to explain in details.

The conditioning of the course was superb, the layout of the course is interesting and the surrounding is peaceful. Facilities of the club such as the restaurant , locker 1 & 2 、 starter and outdoor cafe are all decently decorated.

Really enjoyed my round at the Hill course and just before I left the club, I took a quick look at Lake course .......looks good, maybe I should give it a try next time.

The club is even better than I expected and almost prefect in every way.

* The blooming economy has driven up the cost of hotels in Vietnam recently, but I was told there will be more hotels available in 08 which should bring the cost down a bit. As usual, I took some time off to check out the shopping, eating & sight seeing and am very impressed with the quality of food & hotels. Ho Chi Minh is definitely well worth a visit.