SGSM GOLFING GOLIDAYS TO VIETNAM

SAIGON & DANANG 17 – 21 JANUARY 2011

1. Eighteen (18) participants registered including 5 from Sabah; Tuan Haji Mohd Said Mohd Salleh withdrew last minute due to health reason. The participants were given the ‘open’ window to select and choose their own flight and time to Saigon (HCMC). This is to allow them to take advantage of the cheap internet fare offered by the airlines; majority flew by MAS.

Note: All participants were given a 2-Page Brief Information prior to the departure.

2. We had a sumptuous Dinner at HALAL SAIGON Restraunt on 17th January, the day of arrival in Vietnam. After Dinner, we walked back to our hotel, LE DUY, a boutique hotel located in District 1, almost in the Center of the City. Along the way we passed through the main boulevards of Saigon which were decorated with colourful lights as Vietnam was celebrating the Chinese New Year.

3. The next day (18th January) we check-out and left the hotel at 6 am for LONG THANH GC, a good 40 km away which took us about almost 1 hour due to the traffic. The course is quite similar in some ways to Saujana; 36 holes (The Hill & The Lakes) with a lot of oil palm trees fringing the fairways and designed by the same famous golf architect, Ronald Fream Jr. We purposely chose to play 1 Nine on The Lake and the other on The Hill. Good scores were produced (Henry Banabas 65 nett , Datuk Wira Sidek Ahmad and Mohd Hapney (67), David Tay (68), K W Chan and Hui Sai Kim (70); on Gross Datuk A S Khamis (73) Hamdan Zambahari (76).

4. After the game we proceeded straight to the airport to catch the flight to Danang scheduled at 5:30 pm. The journey took us about 1hour 30 minutes due to the heavy afternoon traffic. The Jet star flight BL 596 was delayed for 3 hours. We landed in Danang at 9:35 pm. We checked in the hotel, HAGL, a 5 star located in the City Center and only 5 minutes to the Airport. We had dinner at Mumtaz Restraunt, a North Indian food and the only Halal Restraunt in town.

5. The next day 19th January, we played at The Dunes Course of Danang GC designed by “The Shark” Greg Norman. On the way to the club which is located to the south of the City and only 20 minutes by coach, we passed through the marble sculpture center of Danang and we saw some huge sculptures of lion, fish, eagle and many more. The Dunes is a tough course even playing from the White Tee. A miss-fairway shot will end up in the wasteland which is essentially sand and there are too many bunkers guarding the greens. The leaders did not fare well with Henry Banabas returning 77 nett, Datuk Wira Sidek 79, Mohd Hapney 75; The best Gross was 80 by Herman Anjin & David Tay who now lead on 137 nett by 5 shots from 4 other players on 142 (Henry Banabas, Datuk A S Khamis, Mohd Hapney & Thomas Willie).

6. After the game we went to Hoi An, a seaside ancient town and had a Seafood Lunch which cost us RM110 each! Then we were taken to a City Tour of Hoi An, a once famous trading post used by the Chinese Merchants. The ancient city was declared a World Heritage by the UNESCO. In the evening, we had another seafood dinner, this time at the Danang sea front Restraunt. Mr. Amir the GM of HAGL Hotel where we stayed took us there and this time it only cost us RM50 each!

7. The final round was played at the pristine Montgomerie Links, a fully matured course with beautiful Club House facilities, which is just next door to Danang GC. It took us only 20 minutes from the hotel to the golf course which is located along the 40 km stretch of beach to the south of Danang City. The weather was overcast with temperature of around 25 degree C, perfect for golf. Everybody enjoyed the game so much so that 8 decided to continue another 18 holes. The best nett was 67 by K W Chan followed by DASK (69), David Tay, Thomas Willie, Herman Anjin (70), Mohd Hapney and Henry Banabas (71).

8. David Tay on 207 was declared the Champion of SGSM Vietnam Classic 2011. He took away the main pool of RM450 and also won himself a Trophy which will be presented later and free Entry Fee to the Council Trophy to be played at A’Famosa in Melaka on 22 & 23 Feb, 2011.

9. On Friday 21st January, we checked out of the hotel and left at 11 am for the Airport to catch our flight BL 595 back to Saigon; this time the Jet star flight was dead on time! Amir the GM of HAGL Hotel saw us off; he took personal interest of our group. He even assigned one of his staff, Mr. Minh as the Tour Guide for our group. We arrived Saigon on time and part companies at Saigon Airport as some of us were connecting by separate flights to KL by Air Asia and MAS.

10. In conclusion, everyone enjoyed the trip. The quality of all the 3 golf courses we played was very high especially The Montgomerie Links. We organized Pool Money of RM50 per day and those who won and played under his hcp, had their hcp DOWN-revised and likewise those who played 5 or more than his hcp had their hcp UP-revised. This is to make way for more players to win the Pool.

The Final Results: (Leading Scores - Nett)

David Tay (11) -9 69 68 70 207
Datuk A S Khamis (7) -5 66 76 69 211
K W Chan (19) -4 70 75 67 212
Thomas Willie More (14) -4 72 70 70 212
Mohamad Hapney (13) -3 67 75 71 213
Henry Banabas (18) -3 65 77 71 213

Best Gross: Datuk A S Khamis 73 83 76 232

By,

Datuk A S Khamis
Chairman, Golfing Holidays Sub-Committee 22 January, 2011