Song Be Golf Club Review 2026: 27 Holes, Real Green Fees, Honest Verdict
Song Be Golf Club — officially Song Be Golf Resort — sits in Lai Thieu Ward, Thuan An, about 22 km and roughly 40 minutes by car from central Ho Chi Minh City. It opened on January 1, 1994, which makes it Vietnam’s first international-standard golf course, predating almost everything else I’ve reviewed on this site by a decade or more. I went in expecting a museum piece. What I found was a working 27-hole club that’s aged unevenly — parts of it genuinely good, parts of it showing 30 years of tropical wear.
Song Be Golf Club At a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Layout | 27 holes across 3 nines: Lotus, Palm, Desert (each Par 36) |
| Opened | January 1, 1994 — Vietnam’s first international-standard course |
| Designer | Barry Humphrey, International Golf Construction Co. |
| Back-Tee Yardage | Lotus 3,223 yd · Desert 3,156 yd · Palm 3,006 yd |
| Green Fee (weekday, Apr–Sep) | 2,430,000 VND domestic / 2,800,000 VND inbound (~$95–112 USD) |
| Includes | Shared cart + caddie per player |
| Dave’s Rating | 6.5/10 |
Course Design & Layout
Song Be isn’t one 18-hole course — it’s three separate 9-hole loops that get mixed and matched depending on which combination the starter assigns you that day: Lotus, Palm, and Desert, each a Par 36. Combine Lotus and Desert from the back tees and you’re playing 6,379 yards; Lotus and Palm comes in at 6,229 yards; Palm and Desert at 6,162 yards. None of that gets you into championship-length territory by 2026 standards, but it’s a fair test for the mid-handicap traveling golfer who makes up most of Song Be’s visitor base.
I couldn’t find a published USGA course rating or slope figure for any of the three nines — that’s not unusual here. Of the 50+ courses I’ve played across Vietnam, only a small fraction carry an official USGA rating, and Song Be, being pre-internet-era in origin, is one of the ones that never got one on paper.
The Desert Nine — Bunkers and Accuracy
The Desert course is the one locals warn you about before you tee off. It’s built around longer, narrower fairways and a denser scatter of bunkers than the other two nines, which rewards players who can shape a shot rather than just swing hard. If you’re playing all three nines across a full day, save Desert for when you’re still fresh — it punishes fatigue-driven mis-hits more than Lotus or Palm does.
Lotus & Palm — Lakes and Undulation
Lotus and Palm share the resort’s defining visual feature: a network of lakes and natural bush reserve that borders more holes than it doesn’t. The greens on both nines are large and undulating, which means three-putts happen here even to golfers who putt well elsewhere — read the break twice before you commit, and lean on your caddie’s local knowledge rather than your own eyes.
I couldn’t find any published water-reclamation program or Audubon-style environmental certification for Song Be, unlike some of the newer Central Vietnam builds I’ve reviewed. For a course this old, bordered by this much natural bush and lake frontage, that’s a gap I’d like to see the resort close and publish — it would tell golfers a lot about how the property is managed long-term, not just how it plays this week.
Play Lotus + Desert if you’ve got one round in you. It’s the more complete 18, mixing the water-heavy character of Lotus with the accuracy test of Desert. Palm is the shorter, gentler nine — good for a warm-up loop or a second-round add-on rather than the headline round of your trip.
The Greens — Condition, Mixed Reviews, What I’d Expect
Here’s where I have to be honest instead of promotional. Song Be’s Tripadvisor page carries a genuinely mixed record. Some visitors describe fairways that have succumbed to weeds and conditioning that lags behind Vietnam’s newer Central Coast courses. Other, more recent reviews describe fairways as well-maintained with fair pin positions and greens that ran true. Both of these can be accurate at the same course in different seasons — a 32-year-old layout in a tropical climate needs constant reinvestment, and maintenance quality at Song Be appears to swing with budget cycles rather than staying consistent year-round.
My read: go in with realistic expectations for a 1994-era course, not a 2020s resort build. Ask about current course conditions when you book, since they change season to season more than the marketing photos suggest.
Facilities & Clubhouse
The clubhouse restaurant occupies the 2nd floor, air-conditioned, with windows wrapping the room so you’re looking out over the course while you eat — a straightforward, functional setup rather than a design showpiece. Ground floor adds a large outdoor seating area for a more casual post-round beer. Beyond the restaurant, the resort runs a golf academy, a pro shop, on-site hotel and villa accommodation, and banquet/event spaces branded Art Gallery & Library, Golden Bamboo, and Eagles’ Lounge — Song Be does a steady business in corporate outings and tournaments alongside walk-in rounds.
Dress code in the clubhouse is standard Vietnam golf-resort policy: no t-shirts, no jeans, no sandals. On-course, the instruction is simply to follow posted course regulations — nothing unusual by regional standards.
Caddie & Service Quality
A shared cart and caddie per player is bundled into the standard green fee — you’re not paying extra to get local knowledge on the greens, which matters at a course with as much lake and undulation as Lotus and Palm carry. If you want your own caddie rather than sharing, that’s a 200,000 VND add-on. Club rental runs 900,000 VND for a full set, shoe rental 280,000 VND, and umbrella rental 150,000 VND — all fairly standard against what I’ve paid at comparable Vietnam clubs.
Book at least 13 days ahead if there’s any chance your plans change — Song Be’s cancellation policy is free up to 13 days before your tee time, then jumps to a 100% service-fee charge inside 12 days. That’s a stricter window than most Da Nang courses I’ve reviewed, so don’t leave it loose.
Green Fees & Booking (2026 Pricing)
| Category | VND | Approx. USD |
|---|---|---|
| Green fee — domestic, weekday (Apr–Sep) | 2,430,000 | ~$95 |
| Green fee — inbound/foreign, weekday (Apr–Sep) | 2,800,000 | ~$112 |
| Club rental (full set) | 900,000 | ~$36 |
| Shoe rental | 280,000 | ~$11 |
| Extra/private caddie | 200,000 | ~$8 |
| Umbrella rental | 150,000 | ~$6 |
| Non-playing companion fee | 1,050,000 | ~$42 |
USD figures are approximate conversions at roughly 25,000 VND/USD and will move with the exchange rate — always confirm the VND price at booking. Weekend and peak-season (Oct–Mar) rates run higher than the weekday Apr–Sep figures above; the resort didn’t have those published at the time I checked, so call ahead to confirm before you commit a tee time.
Song Be doesn’t currently show up as a bookable golf package on the major activity marketplaces I checked. If you’d rather bundle your trip than book direct, start with a general Ho Chi Minh City search: check current listings on Klook or GetYourGuide for golf-adjacent HCMC activities and transfers — for the tee time itself, direct booking through Song Be’s own site is currently your most reliable route.
How to Get There
Song Be sits at 77 Binh Duong Boulevard, Lai Thieu Ward, Thuan An, roughly 22 km from downtown Ho Chi Minh City — a 40-minute drive in normal traffic, longer during HCMC rush hour (7:00–9:00 AM and 5:00–7:00 PM). Grab and metered taxis both run this route reliably; there’s no dedicated golf shuttle service listed, so budget accordingly and build in extra time if your tee time is early morning.
My parents left Vietnam decades before I ever picked up a club, and driving out through Thuan An’s mix of factories, roadside phở stalls, and older French-era shophouses on the way to a golf course still catches me off guard a little — it’s not the postcard route to a fairway, but it’s a more honest slice of how this part of the country actually looks day to day.
Best Time to Play
The published weekday pricing above covers April through September — Vietnam’s hotter, more humid stretch in the south, with afternoon downpours common. Expect the fairways to play softer and the course to be quieter during this window. October through March is the drier, cooler season across southern Vietnam generally, and I’d expect Song Be’s rates to run higher then, though the resort hadn’t posted specific peak-season figures when I checked — confirm current pricing directly before you book.
Nearby Courses
If Song Be is one stop on a broader Ho Chi Minh City golf trip, my Ho Chi Minh City golf guide and my ranking of the top 5 courses near HCMC round up the full regional lineup, including The Bluffs Ho Tram on the coast for golfers willing to drive further. For the practical side of planning around Song Be, see my Vietnam golf caddie guide for tipping etiquette and my full Vietnam golf cost breakdown for green fees across the country. And if Song Be doesn’t end up the right fit for your trip, my ranking of Vietnam’s best golf courses is the place to start comparing.
Combine With Ho Chi Minh City
A round at Song Be pairs naturally with a day or two in Ho Chi Minh City proper — the Cu Chi Tunnels, District 1’s colonial-era landmarks, and the city’s food scene are all within reach of the same general area. If you’re stacking multiple rounds into the trip, my 5-day HCMC golf package itinerary lays out a full course-by-course schedule. Vietnam’s official tourism portal is a solid starting point for planning the non-golf half of the trip, and it’s worth reading up on the history of golf in Vietnam generally if you want context for how a course like Song Be — the country’s first — fits into the bigger picture of the sport here.
FAQ
How much do green fees cost at Song Be Golf Club?
Weekday green fees (April–September) run 2,430,000 VND for domestic golfers and 2,800,000 VND for inbound/foreign visitors — roughly $95–112 USD at current exchange rates. That includes a shared cart and caddie. Weekend and peak-season (October–March) rates are higher; confirm the current figure directly with the resort before booking.
Are caddies mandatory at Song Be, and how much should I tip?
A shared caddie is bundled into the standard green fee, so you’ll have one whether you request it or not. If you’d rather not share, a private caddie is a 200,000 VND add-on. Tipping on top of that is customary across Vietnam — 200,000–400,000 VND per round is the general standard I use at courses without a posted policy.
How far is Song Be Golf Club from central Ho Chi Minh City?
About 22 km, roughly a 40-minute drive outside of rush hour. Budget extra time if your tee time falls in the 7:00–9:00 AM or 5:00–7:00 PM traffic windows.
What is the dress code at Song Be Golf Resort?
Standard Vietnam golf-resort policy: no t-shirts, jeans, or sandals in the clubhouse. On the course, the resort asks players to follow posted course regulations — nothing unusual by regional standards.
Dave’s Final Verdict
Song Be earns its place in Vietnam golf history — it’s the course that proved international-standard golf could work here in the first place, three decades before Hoiana or Montgomerie existed. That history doesn’t automatically make it a top recommendation in 2026, though. The Desert nine’s bunkering is a genuine test, and the lake-heavy character of Lotus and Palm is worth playing once. But conditioning is inconsistent enough, by the resort’s own review record, that I’d set expectations at a solid, convenient HCMC-area round rather than a destination round worth building a trip around. If you’re based in Ho Chi Minh City and want 18–27 holes without a long drive, Song Be gets the job done. If you’re flying in for golf specifically, I’d weigh it against the other HCMC-area courses in my regional guide before locking it in.