Golfasian's Golf Tips | Improve Your Game
Best Vietnam Golf Destinations
Da Nang / Hoi An (China Beach)
A beautiful and unspoiled beach, the UNESCO World Heritage town of Hoi An, and 2 great golf courses designed by Colin Montgomerie (Montgomerie Links) and Greg Norman (Danang Golf Club) (maybe the 2 best in the entire country). Getting there involves connecting via a domestic flight from either Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi (several flights daily), though once you are there everything is close with minimal traffic hassles like you encounter in the large cities. At this time the area is something of a 'best kept secret', though that will change dramatically over the next decade as numerous resorts are in various stages of planning and construction.
Dalat
While there is currently only 1 course in Dalat - Dalat Palace Golf Club - (more to come), it is the country's oldest (first 9 holes built in the 1920s) and today still remains one of the best and most favored by golfers - an 'old style' parkland course playing over hills, around a lake and with rolling fairways lined by mature trees. Dalat sits 1500 meters (4900 feet) high atop the central mountains about a 1 hour flight from either HCM City or Hanoi. Called the 'Eternal Spring' city for its perfect year round temperatures and beautiful gardens, Dalat was the favored retreat of the French elite during colonial days and is where today's young Vietnamese go for their honeymoon. A quiet area that makes for a nice escape from the big cities and is a pleasant place for spend a few days golfing and relaxing.
Hanoi
The capital city has direct flight connections with many Asian hubs and also has some very good golf courses (better than Ho Chi Minh City). Hanoi boasts several parks and is often regarded as the cultural capital of the country. There are 3 good courses within 45 - 90 minutes drive of city hotels, plus another excellent 36 hole facility about 2 hours away. All are private member clubs though we are able to get access for visitors on weekdays.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
The country's largest city and its business capital, HCM City is the primary international port with the most international flight connections. District 1 in the city center is where most foreigners stay as it has numerous restaurants, pubs, shops, parks, etc within walking distance and more nightlife than other areas of Vietnam. There are 3 international standard golf clubs near HCM City open to visitors on weekdays, each with 27 or 36 holes, and all are about 60 - 80 minutes drive time from the District 1 hotels depending on traffic and time of day.
Phan Thiet / Mui Ne
Phan Thiet is Vietnam's main fishing port and Mui Ne at popular beach destinations. The area has 2 championship courses - Ocean Dunes Golf Club, a Nick Faldo design and a newer course - Sea Links Golf & Country Club - that has been called the most challenging seaside course in SE Asia. Getting there requires an overland ground transfer of approximately 4 hours from HCM City or about 3.5 hours from Dalat.
Rent Clubs or Bring Your Own?
Often, we get asked the question if one should bring their own clubs or rent clubs at the golf courses here in Thailand.Despite the fact that you actually can rent clubs at most golf courses in Thailand for about 1,000 Thai Baht for a standard set and up to 1,500 Thai Baht for a quality make such as Ping or Callaway we recommend that you bring your own clubs. The reason being that there will be no disappointments in case that the right clubs are not available or that the rental clubs may be in b[more]
When is the Best Time to Tee-off at a Thailand Golf Course?
I am often asked by my customers when the best time to tee-off is when you play golf in Asia. Many people choose to tee-off in the morning which is their personal choice and it would be my recommendation too particularly in the low season which is generally from July to October. If you are going to get rain at this time of year its normally late afternoon so a morning tee-off is a good option. However, in high season my preference is to tee-off after lunch which results playing the back nine in [more]
Swing Tip: Alignment
Alignment is how you line up to your target. It's important in achieving your goals, because a great swing and poor alignment does not make a happy golfer. In putting, it's particularly important, and the better you get, the more crucial it becomes.There are a lot of ways you can properly align yourself to your target. When you look at the target and away from the ball, you lose all your orientation. So use an intermediate target. Something between the ball and your target. Make sure you can see[more]
What Is Posture And How Important Is It?
Posture is how you set up to the ball, very important and one of the main fundamentals of golf. Everything is built on this foundation and if you have a problem here, it'll show up later in your swing, possibly disguised as something else. Stance: Feet should be shoulder width, both feet slightly flared, toes pointing out about five to ten degrees. Knee flex: Minimal knee flex. If you lock your legs and then unlock and slightly bend them, that’s all the flex you nee[more]
How to Get Out of a Bunker
Most golfers have a great fear of being in bunker, leaving the ball in the bunker, fear of blasting it over the green, fear of looking foolish, etc. It's not so difficult with a good technique The clubface must be open at address Opening the face effectively exposes the all-important bounce of your sand wedge, which allows it to easily slide under the golf ball. You must sit down in your stance Get set with most of your weight in your heels, with your stance open to the target line by f[more]
Putting: The Short Game
An average of 43 percent of the strokes you make in a game of golf will be putts. The next highest is your woods, at 25 percent, followed by 13 percent chipping, 10 percent irons, and 5 percent hazard shots. Putting is incredibly important. Most people want to hit the ball farther and straighter. That's important, but effective putting makes the difference between an average golfer and a good golfer. Don't forget the mental side; tell yourself you are a great putter, and you're going to sink e[more]
Custom Fitted Clubs and Their Importance
With dozens of grips, hundreds of heads and thousands of shafts making for literally millions of club combinations, more of us are turning to custom fitters to make sense of the equipment minefield. It is a fact that 90 per cent of golfers are playing either the wrong clubs and shafts, or inappropriate specifications for their game. Out of every ten golfers, nine will probably need non-standard lie angles; six will need non-standard shaft lengths – maybe as much as two inches extra[more]
Back to the Basics
Plenty of times I have been asked what can I do to make the ball go further and straighter, well if I had the magic potion, I would be selling it on the PGA tour by the litre. Hitting the golf ball straighter and further comes down to 5 basic laws 1. SPEED The velocity with which the clubhead is traveling. Speed influences the distance the ball will be propelled, as well as the trajectory and shape of the resulting shot. 2. CENTEREDNESS The exactness wit[more]
Get the Best Results from your Hybrid
This months tip is how to get the best results from your hybrid. The caddies in Thailand will call this club "Mei Khatoey" meaning half wood half iron, or "ladyboy" as they so passionately call it.Hybrid clubs are incredibly useful from the close cut fairways and long grass that the courses in Thailand have, as long as you know how to swing one. You'd be surprised at how many golfers often with no clue of how-or of what the hybrid was designed to do in the first place.To clea[more]
Putting on Thailand Golf Courses
As if putting wasn't hard enough already, you pack your clubs to come play in Thailand and you come up against a different style of grass that you haven't played before. If you're from the tropics then you are familiar putting with, against and across the grain. The grain generally follows either the direction in which water drains off the green, or it grows towards the setting sun or a water source. On severe slopes it will grow towards the drainage path. The shiny/dark rule works also when [more]
Best Cambodia Golf Destinations
Six years ago there were no international standard golf courses in Cambodia. Today there are three 18 hole championship venues, all in Siem Reap. Siem Reap is best known as the home of UNESCO World Heritage site Angkor Wat and several other ancient Khmer temples. and that continues to be the main draw for foreign visitors, however now there is reason for golfers to stick around a few extra days. Phokeethra Country Club was the first course in the area and is the home of the Asian To[more]
Bunker Play
It is perceived by most amateur golfers that sand shot or bunker shot is often one of the most intimidating shots to execute, and can often leave a golfer discouraged.As I have mentioned before, I believe that this game is 60% mental and 40% physical; therefore what we see and believe we will do with a golf club is most of the time what does happen. Hence, if you take a negative thought into the bunker chances are you will get a negative result.There are only two reasons why at times we can't[more]
How To Achieve the Proper Alignment in Golf
So you have arrived in Thailand and had your first game of golf here and it looks like to you forgot to pack your game! It seems like anything you try just seems to make things worse. One area of the game that is so simple yet so confusing and overlooked for the average golfer, is the alignment and is generally the root of all evils in the golf swing. What I mean by this? Are you coming over the top because you aimed right, or are you aimed right because you are coming over the top?[more]
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