Thailand and Vietnam anyone?

[Birdie McBogey]

Any recommendations on stay and play packages in Thailand and Vietnam?

I’m looking to go for 4-5 days over Christmas this year.

A lot of packages out there but I’m wondering what the differences are place to place.
Don’t want to book and get stuck where the course is no good and the resort a bit shabby…. Is that even a thing? Or are they all nice!?

[Paul Hedrick]

Been to Vietnam and absolutely no desire to ever go there again.

[GolfSpy_APH]

3 hours ago, Birdie McBogey said:

Any recommendations on stay and play packages in Thailand and Vietnam?

I’m looking to go for 4-5 days over Christmas this year.

A lot of packages out there but I’m wondering what the differences are place to place.
Don’t want to book and get stuck where the course is no good and the resort a bit shabby…. Is that even a thing? Or are they all nice!?

Wish I could give you a recommendation. Unfortunately haven't been to either altho both are on my to-do list. 

Normally sites like Expedia or booking.com and such have decent reviews on those things. 7vevused booking.com a fair bit and found good deals on resorts and golf resorts all over Europe.

 

[Clayton]

I've golfed in both countries. Vietnam has some really, really nice golf courses but to be honest, I have no idea how much they cost, etc as they were part of a business trip. I do think they were private courses that you cannot just go play. I see Faldo has one that recently opened there that looks incrediballs.

We went to Thailand in November 2019 and I'd send you there because A) it's not communist and B) Thailand is one of the most wonderful places I've ever visited. And I've now visited 28 different countries! November is a good time as it's not yet high season and it's not so dang hot yet either. The golf around Phuket is really expensive and I guess some courses are much nicer than others so do your research.

I ended up playing at two places.  The first was a Navy base course. It was so hot in our "hut" room that we couldn't sleep and ended up finding a room with AC - so much for the sea breeze cooling things off!. Anyway, the course is called Tublamu Navy Golf Course. It's a fantastic layout, right on the Andaman Sea. It winds back and forth so you have lots of beautiful views of the water and some inland holes - and it's really nice when the breeze is blowing in to cool you off a little bit.  I can't imagine how hot it must be to golf there in December!!!!! The course was in around 8/10 condition and certainly nothing to complain about, especially the price.  I could play there 3 days in a row as the layout is challenging and fun. The wind can make some holes play really long.

https://www.tublamunavygolfcourse.net/index.php 

If you go there, there's some amazing restaurants on the beach near there and in a town not far away. I don't think it would be wise to try and play 36 holes.  You probably won't make it.

The next place we went was a few hours drive away (I rented a car - it was like $25 for 21 days!!!). It's called the Katathong Golf Resort and Spa. This is a really, really nice place.  We rented what they call the "garden resort" and are kind of tiny homes lined up near to a small pool. They were building a big pool and more rooms when we were there. I just checked prices on Hotels.com and mid November when we went is $38/night for a garden resort room and for the big fancy room it's all the way up to $53/night WITH breakfast! What an incredible value and especially compared to Phuket that is quite expensive (not that I'd completely skip Phuket). It's around $100 to play there but they also have "sport days" with discounts and if you ask about stay and play they probably have a great deal for that too.  I HIGHLY recommend going there and playing for 2-3 days.

https://www.katathong.com/accommodation/garden-resort/ 

We also stayed in Phuket but I didn't golf there because of price.

If you want any tips on places to stay, I'd recommend the one we stayed in Phuket and Katathong (and can give you a link) but NOT the one in Tublamu - it was to rustic and kind of dirty and smelly. We also stayed in a REALLY cool area that is not near to those other places called Ko Lanta. You can also take a boat over to Phi Phi islands, a very beautiful place to visit.

Hope that helps!