HAI DUONG, Viet Nam -- One month after the inauguration of the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail, the already impressive array of golf facilities has boosted its appeal with the addition of nine new holes at the Trail’s northernmost link, Chi Linh Star Golf & Country Club (G&CC).
“The new holes are tighter with significant changes in elevation,” said Lars Holden, general manager at Chi Linh Star. “The greens are fast and undulating. The holes will test every aspect of a player’s game and afford superb views of the surrounding countryside, particularly from Nos. 6 and 8.”
For stick-swinging sojourners, the great golfing venues in this emerging Southeast Asian nation do not end at Chi Linh Star’s 27 holes, but stretch south through a country as yet unplumbed by the golf audience it deserves.
The region's first comprehensive golfing itinerary, and one of the planet's most exotic, the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail launched July 1 with an all-star line-up of first-class clubs and resorts and some of the most luxurious accommodations in the region. Routed north to south through Vietnam, the trail pairs pastime at the links with pastime at singular travel attractions throughout the country.
“If you’ve come all the way to Vietnam on a golf vacation, it makes sense to indulge, in places like Ha Long Bay, which is a but a good long drive from Chi Linh Star,” said Olivier Colomès, managing director of the Exotissimo Travel Group. “First, you cruise through one of the world’s most exotic seascapes on the Emeraude, a near-replica of a paddle wheel steamer that plied these same waters early in the 20th Century, and then, en route back to Hanoi, you take in 18 or 27 holes at Chi Linh.”
Located an hour's drive from Hanoi on the way to Halong Bay, Chi Linh Star’s new nine dances along the mountaintops, a marked contrast to the original 18 that play through a valley and border the shores of a large lake.
While enthusiastic about all the new holes, Holden is particularly fond of the 6th. The teeing ground for this spectacular par-4 is perched on the highest point of the course. The drive plummets more than 100 meters to the lush Bermuda grass fairway where a small bunker set in the middle of the landing area is best avoided. The second shot travels back uphill to an elevated, smooth-rolling Tifeagle Bermuda grass green protected by two bunkers to the right and a large gum tree.
The new nine at Chi Linh is a boon and a bonus for the Trail.
“The Trail isn’t a static development,” said Holden. “We’re the first to demonstrate that a Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail experience is bound to be a dynamic experience, with new twists, turns and challenges on a regular basis.”
In addition to Chi Linh Star, golfing stops along the Trail include:
• Tam Dao Golf Resort, a stunning new 18 in the cool highlands northeast of Hanoi, convenient to the airport but a world away.
• Dalat Palace Golf Club, a mile-high gem, the only wall-to-wall bent grass course in Southeast Asia, laid out in the 1920s for Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam.
• Ocean Dunes Golf Club, a windswept Nick Faldo design, a “tropical links” lapped by the warm waters of the South China Sea.
• Dong Nai Golf Resort, a breathtaking, 27-hole track laid out by American Ward Northrup, whose design skirts the inlets and shores of a natural lake.
• Vietnam Golf & Country Club, home to 36 pristine, otherwise private holes just 20 minutes from downtown Ho Chi Minh City.
• King’s Island Country Club, Hanoi’s oldest club and home to two 18s that play over some of the finest, most diverse golfing ground in Southeast Asia.
For several years, Vietnam has ranked among the three fastest growing economies in the world. Where there's business, of course, there's golf. And where there are beaches, sand dunes and sunshine — all of which Vietnam has in spades, more of than any other destination in Southeast Asia — there's great golf.
Europeans, Australians, Singaporeans and Hong Kongers have long flocked here for the country's tropical climes, its thousand-mile coastline and supreme affordability. The Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail relies heavily on this inviting equation, upping the ante by pairing the country's top course venues with some equally extraordinary hotel properties. To wit:
• The recently expanded Chi Linh Star G&CC, which works closely with the Emeraude, a cruise ship that plies the waters of nearby Ha Long Bay.
• The superb Dalat Palace GC, one of Asian Golf Monthly’s top 10 courses on the continent, and its sister property, the Sofitel Dalat Palace, built in 1922 and painstakingly restored to a full-on state of French colonial grandeur.
• The splendid Dong Nai GC, and Vietnam G&CC in Ho Chi Minh City, which can be followed by a night in Lam Son Square at the 5-star Caravelle Hotel, with its famed roof-top bar.
• The Ocean Dunes GC, another Asian Golf Monthly golf resort in Phan Thiet, the most dependably sunny region in Vietnam, where players can buggy directly to and from their beachfront bungalow at the Novotel Ocean Dunes Resort.
To make travel plans for a tour of the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail, contact Ms. Phi Thu Thuy at exotissimo@hochiminhgolftrail.com.
For more information on the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail, visit www.hochiminhgolftrail.com
[For media inquiries in Asia, contact Jim Sullivan at jsullivan@mandarinmedia.net; in North America and Europe, contact Hal Phillips at hphillips@mandarinmedia.net]
