Vietnam Golf & Country Club

Located just 17 kilometers from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Golf & Country Club is one of the nearest golf clubs to the city center.  Vietnam Golf & Country Club is set amongst 300 hectares of land and includes two championship golf courses. Both courses play through mature woodlands with minimal land movement. Golfers at Vietnam Golf & Country Club get the feeling that the land was destined to be a golf course, so natural is the layout and design.

Open since November 1995, the 7,106-yard West Course at Vietnam Golf & Country Club features narrow tree-lined fairways and fast level greens. The par-72 championship course was Taiwanese designed and hosted the Vietnam Open Asian PGA Tour events in both 1995 and 1997.

The course winds its way through mostly oil palm trees offering challenging tee shots to narrow landing areas. Several holes also feature a lone tree in the center of the fairway. Bermuda Tifeagle greens provide beautiful putting surfaces all year round. The West Course’s difficulty lies in its championship length. Only single-digit handicap players should play off the back tees. Even from the regular men's tees, this course can provide a very long afternoon of golf, especially if drives are not on target.

One of the best holes is 11th. It's a long 408 yard par-4,  dogleg to the left. The tee shot must carry over trees on the left to have sight of the green. A large tree on the center of the fairway and bunkers on both sides of the green come into play on the second shot. The slightly elevated green is shallow and wide, so an approach shot must have some spin on it to hold the green.

The second course at Vietnam Golf & Country Club is the 6,946-yard East Course.  Designed by Lee Trevino and opened in 1997, the East Course offers more generous fairways than the West Course but includes 110 well-positioned bunkers, water hazards, and undulating fast-rolling Bermuda Tifdwarf greens. The layout is so challenging even a seasoned tour pro will think twice before 'going for it.' The East Course’s undulating greens are the undoing of many an unsuspecting player. Golfers must play smart and set-up good approach shots to give relatively straight putts - which is something more comfortable said than done on these greens. Many a side bet have been won or lost due to the putting skills of the golfer.

The clubhouse is spacious and well-maintained as a private club. The large locker and changing rooms include Japanese showers and dry and wet saunas for a welcome treat after any round. Two clubhouse restaurants serve a good range of food items, with the local Vietnamese noodle soups highly recommended. The pro shop is one of the best stocked in Vietnam with new and used equipment, great selections of golf apparel, and all of the latest balls and gloves.

While Vietnam Golf & Country Club is technically a private golf club with priority to locals and expatriates, however, weekday play, when the course is least crowded, is open for visitor bookings. Both the East and West Courses are good choices for a day golfing in Saigon.