Long Bien Golf Course Driving Range Review

Long Bien is a reputed district for golfing in the Vietnamese capital. Since the district has much more space and, let’s be honest, also has some of the richest suburbs, including Vinhomes Riverside, it’s only natural that this area has become a hot spot for golf enthusiasts.

My friend Joel, during his visit to Hanoi, introduced me to golf, which I was unfamiliar with because I was under the impression that this sport was expensive and the mechanics were extremely hard.

But golf can be a decently affordable hobby, and it’s actually a very enjoyable activity to spend time on.

The location

Long Bien Golf Course or *Sân Golf Long Biên* during sunset

Sân Golf Long Biên, or Long Bien Golf Course, is located in the Long Bien district of Hanoi, not too far from Aeon Mall.

The golf course is located at the end of a road that is deeper than it looks. In this area there are many golf courses, but this one is the main one, and you can’t miss it since it is quite bigger and more sumptuous than the competition around.

The golf course has parking for both cars and bikes. I supposed that most bikes must be for the staff members, but I could be wrong. I personally came with a bike to the concert, even though my friend had his own chauffeur at the time.

The driving range is located in another facility, still linked to the parking. Easy to spot and to walk to as it is certainly one of the main attractions of the golf course.

First of many floors in the Driving Range

The driving range is on many levels; we counted 3, but we could be wrong since we didn’t try to get to the third level.

The field is large and long enough to practice your swing and your drive; we didn’t really check how long it was, but it was definitely well over 200 yards, perhaps near the 300-yard mark.

I would personally never hit that far anyway, even though I’ve never tried with a driver, but I think it’s plenty of range to swing like a madman.

The experience

I must say, it’s always an impressive experience to go to a place full of wealthy people, in this case, people who own all the equipment and who are used to having drivers and valets around.

On the other hand, we are regular folks, and for me, this is my first time swinging, so I always have this apprehension of being out of place.

Fortunately, when we came there, people were minding their own business, and even if we didn’t fit in with the crowd, the staff didn’t bother us either.

My friend Mino warming up

So after coming inside the complex, we checked out the price and paid around 500,000 VND to hit 150 balls and rent two clubs. Which is a fairly decent price knowing that 150 balls can take around 2 to 4 hours.

The thing is, I had to buy a glove because I started to have blisters in both my hands. The cheapest glove was 530,000 VND.

It’s much cheaper than karting and even much cheaper than a long session of bowling or a full night of pool somehow, and if you own your equipment, it’s even cheaper than other mundane sports.

Verdict

8.4 out of 10

Golf is definitely something I would like to deepen my knowledge of. It’s a sport that is very technical and very enjoyable when played with friends.

The complexity of the mechanics means that the learning curve is quite interesting, and to be honest, it just feels great to swing a club.

My first swings

We haven’t tried to take a course since we are still new to this discipline. The prices are not as expensive as it seems, even though this sport has the reputation of being very upscale.

To be fair, most people in the range are probably well off, and it might make you feel a bit out of the loop, especially if you come from a regular family. But I wouldn’t let this discourage you; you should definitely try this sport; you might fall in love with it.