For many seasoned golf travelers, Vietnam is typically not a destination that has made it onto their short-list. More likely, it’s probably not even a country that even comes to mind as a golf destination. Golfers looking to Asia- Pacific for golf holidays have typically focused on areas such as China, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines.
I was fortunate to spend a few weeks in September and October (2015) traveling with Vietnam Golf Magazine to play, review and rank the top 25 golf courses and facilities throughout the country. This trip took us from the island of Phu Quoc at the southernmost tip of the country, to Hanoi in the north.
Aside from playing and critiquing each course, we were to also to review the clubhouse, service and management of the club. I took particular interest to the IT used at the club in terms of Membership management, golf bookings and other aspects of the club. In Vietnam’s top resorts and hotels, one can generally find most of the major international solutions providers. This would be driven by IT standards set by an overseas corporate office or by those who have had previous experience within an international resort.
At the golf club level, there hasn’t been much of an impact made by global leaders in golf management systems. Rather, the vast majority of the clubs in Vietnam have implemented locally developed solutions. These solutions cover many of the needs of the club, including membership, golf booking, golfer registration, caddie management, and POS.
A few drawbacks I have seen in the use of these locally developed solutions:
• They were designed and developed to address the needs of the single club. If the club is an 18- hole club, the booking system would generally be inflexible to be adapted to a 36-hole club without significant adaptation.
• A few of the systems were in Vietnamese only, making reporting to non-Vietnamese managers a bit more difficult. Of the managers we met, several were from Canada, UK, Australia and Korea. For the few that were managed by Korean firms, it would be helpful to have the system functional in multiple languages: English, Vietnamese and Korean, for example.
• The locally developed systems likely had no export value, so the number of implementations for a given system was quite small. It would have made it quite difficult to continue funding development and updating systems with little additional revenue in the pipeline.
• With limited systems investment, the tools employed will likely lag behind overseas systems. Again, golf booking comes to mind. The clubs in Vietnam have issues similar to clubs around the world in maximizing revenue from their perishable tee time inventory. These clubs have the same need to set variable pricing structures — different greens fees based on day of- week and time-of-day. Revenue management would help these clubs boost the club’s profitability. Unfortunately RM hasn’t made its way into many of the locally developed software solutions.
As for other requirements at the club, there has been quite a heavy investment in internationally accepted products ranging from dining room, kitchen and locker room furnishings. It seems as though it is only a matter of time until the more robust solutions will be making their way into Vietnam.
Back to our golf tour…
Based on schedules and flight plans, our tour began with a three-day stop in Dalat, a city located 4,900 feet above sea level. Set on the Langbian Plateau in the southern parts of the Central Highlands region, it is a popular tourist destination for both local and international
travellers.
Our host for the three nights was the Sacom Golf Resort, a site situated on a 127- wide peninsula overlooking Tuyen Lam Lake. This exclusive property provided our rooms and was one of the three courses we played in Dalat.
We were also fortunate to play the Dalat Palace Golf Club, the first golf facility inVietnam. Built in the 1920s, this elite club once served as the personal course of Emperor Bao Dai, Vietnam’s last emperor.
The third course we played was Dalat at 1200, so named since it is 1200 meters above sea level. The facility is rather new, but appears to be set to become one of the favorite destination courses in the country.
On our fourth day, we flew from Dalat to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), followed by a 2-hour shuttle ride to The Grand Ho Tram Strip. I must say, The Grand Ho Tram is one of my favorite integrated resorts – a property I’ve profiled in Gaming & Leisure in the Summer 2014 issue with a title “Ho Tram Strip – Vietnam’s Newest Seaside Gaming Gem.”
In that Summer 2014 issue I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Colin Pine, General Director and President of Ho Tram Project Company. He was one of several directors and managers I met during our 3- days, 2-nights at The Grand.
Labeling the integrated resort as a seaside gaming gem was appropriate. Labeling their golf course as Vietnam’s newest seaside golfing gem would also be appropriate. This links-style course was designed by golfing legend Greg Norman and is considered by many as the top course in the country.
On the third day, we made our way back to Saigon (HCMC) for a day where we played the
Tan Son Nhat Golf Course, bordering the city’s international airport. The Tan Son Nhat GC is a public golf course, perfectly located near the city centre. It was busy the day we were there, as it is almost every day.
Without staying overnight, we made a flight to the island of Phu Quoc off the southern tip of Vietnam. This was perhaps the most turbulent flight any of us had experienced. Very strong winds pushed our prop-plane all over the skies. We were fortunate to land without incident.
For several of the golfers joining us, this was not only the first time they’ve visited the island, but it was the first time they’ve even heard of it. Phu Quoc resembles Bali about 40 years ago. It has one golf course on the Vinpearl Resort. Rumors have it that Vinpearl plans an additional 12 or more courses for the resort property.
Two nights at the Vinpearl and we made our way back to Saigon. Along with Hanoi in the north, the two cities hold 80% of the country’s golf courses in their metropolitan areas. Most of the golf courses in Vietnam are listed as private or resort courses, but most are accessible through a standard booking.
Taekwang Jeongsan Country Club, Vietnam Golf & Country Club and Song Be Golf Club.
Five days in Saigon and we were off on flights for a few days in NhaTrang, a few more in Danang and then off to Hanoi. More than a mention must be given to the three courses in Danang, as each offers an exceptional golf course with a very experienced management team.
First up in Danang was the Danang Golf Club, an exceptional links course bordering Vietnam’s East Sea. The 18-hole course was designed by Greg Norman, the same designer responsible for The Bluffs links course at Ho Tram Strip. Managed by American, Joe Millar, the club and the course are well above international standards.
Our second course in Danang was a neighboring course — Montgomerie Links. Designed by the English golfer, Colin Montgomerie, this course puts up a good challenge as the region’s top course. As with the Danang Golf Club, this one is also properly managed and maintained.
We took one last flight from Hue to Hanoi for our last week of golf. The most memorable courses we played here included two BRG golf clubs: the DoSon Seaside Golf Resort and King’s Island Golf Resort. Both are championship level golf courses managed by Canadian golf professionals. A third course of outstanding quality was the Sky Lake Golf Club about an hour’s drive outside of Hanoi.
The quality of golf in Vietnam has caught up with that in other parts of the world. The quality of management has also reached levels expected by international golf and club management societies.
Vietnam is still not in the travel plans of many international golfers, but it will be soon.
Based in Bali, Bill Healey has been consulting, installing, and supporting solutions in the global golf and leisure industry since 1982. He has been involved with over 1,000 systems installations in 40+ countries from North America to Africa to Asia and Australia.
Our third course was the Laguna Lang Golf Club, part of the Laguna Lang Resort (sight of Banyan Tree and Angsana Resorts). The course was designed by Sir Nick Faldo, and it may be one of his best designs. The stop here was special for several reasons including the golf, the sizeable suite with a private pool and perhaps my favorite, the General Manager’s full moon party on the beach.