Golf Tour to Ho Chih Minh - Feb 09

Golf Tour to Ho Chih Minh – 17-21 Feb 2009

SSGS President Toh Shung Chee led 17 members on an enjoyable golf trip to Ho Chih Minh in February. It was an eye opener for those who were there for the first time.

The cityscape reminded us of Singapore in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Children played in the backlanes. People sat on the pavements fanning themselves in the heat. Mud puddles and clogged drains assailed the senses. Most striking was the scene of motorcycles everywhere moving incessantly along the streets. Pretty girls hidden behind nosemasks to keep out the dirt kept pace on their motorbikes with families (4 on a bike-2 adults with 2 children) trundling along happily. At intersections the bikers had their own way of accommodating each other. They gave way to each other and there was a certain pattern of movement which enabled the traffic to flow.

If a Singaporean were to cross the road the way we do-look left, look right, cross when clear- we will have to wait for hours. The advice is to walk slowly across and ignore the cars and motorbikes. They will weave around you. You will be knocked down if you hesitate or move back as the vehicles will not know how to go round you. Our senior golfers learnt to cross the roads pretty fast!

If you have not seen ‘thin’ buildings, go to Ho Chih Minh. There are many such buildings with narrow frontage but 4 storeys’ high. Unlike other Asian cities, tourists do not seem to get the same warmth from the Vietnamese. Tips are expected to be large from tourists. Prices of shopping items are upped for strangers. Bargaining is not welcomed. It might have been our bad luck to come across the wrong locals.
Highlight of the trip was the visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is an underground system of tunnels over 200 km long. Some parts have several floors with accommodation. These were the tunnels that the wily Vietnamese used to fight the Americans. Some of us went down some easy sections but found them quite intimidating. Of course some one like Hon Sec Pang Boon Hee would get stuck in.
Our meals were mainly Vietnamese. We tried tasty dishes of all varieties not forgetting the beef noodle “Pho” and the smooth touch of the Viet spring roll. They went well with the light Saigon beer.

Long Thanh Golf Course was the best of the 3 courses that we played. It looked like a superior version of Palm Resort, lush with palm trees. The fairway and greens were well maintained. Song Be Golf Resort gave us a feel of what it was like to play under desert conditions on its Desert course. The green fairway could be found between cacti and sand. On a warm day, one really felt like being in the desert. The Lotus course was green and friendly.

We had a friendly tournament with the Saigon Golf Association at the Vietnam Golf and Country Club. It was organized by them and all the golfers had an enjoyable game. It was stroke play including putt outs. With some of our seniors losing up to 10 holes to their opponents, you can imagine the thrashing we received. However, we made some Vietnamese friends and SSGS President Toh hoped that they would soon join the Asean Senior Golfers.

The trip was well organized and the participants gelled very well. We are looking forward to the next SSGS golf trip.