Finding Yourself

Now, new resorts are taking shape everywhere, and the one associated with the island's first golf course is the most ambitious of them all.

“The idea is to create a destination where you can not only tee it up on a world-class course, you can take your kids to an amusement park or zoo -- or both -- and then go back across the street to a five-star hotel room or villa,” says Niklas Robinson, Vinpearl's director of sales and marketing, of sprawling Vinpearl Resort Phu Quoc, whose blueprints call for an additional -- are you ready for this? -- 14 courses by 2020. “It's for golfers, it's for families, it's for anyone looking for fun things to do on a holiday.”

When I awoke earlier that morning, and stepped out onto the sea-facing balcony of my hotel room, I could see he was right. Already, kids were splashing around in the gigantic pool below, and staff was readying the golden sand beach with lounge chairs for sunbathers.

At that point, I expected the golf course would incorporate the beach as well. After all, it wasn’t but a stone’s throw from the water. Alas, it didn't. Or should I say, it doesn't. It plays through that aforementioned forest, and stays within that forest. Which never bothered me in the slightest.

In fact, I was enthralled by it. It was such a different golf experience to any other I've had in Vietnam, including the one at Vinpearl Golf Nha Trang a couple days prior. There, the feel is much more akin to those commonly found in Hawaii.

As my round came to an end in Phu Quoc, the clubhouse naturally came back into view. What I couldn't see, however, was where my tee ball ended up. At least not initially.

Fortunately, I had Linh, who eventually found it sitting down in the rough, just beyond the fairway bunker. For a while, she admitted, she thought it was lost. “That's ok,” I said with a smile. And then, under my breath and with another peek toward the treetops, I said, “I'm still not quite sure where I am, either.”