I had the chance to golf in Vietnam twice at the Thu Duc golf resort, now district 9 in Hochiminh City, with my uncle in 1995 and 2001. I had mixed feelings both times. For each round of golf, the green fee was about $40-50 US dollars, which was reasonalbe since it came with two caddies — one would carry the bag, and the other would locate the ball. In 2001, I noticed that most, if not all, caddies at Thu Duc golf resort were women — teens to tweens. After just one hole, I felt bad for the caddies because their small bodies were bent out of symmetry due to our heavy golf bags. Also, after each stroke, they would try to point us to the ball, but from behind, I could only see our bags moving, as if they were leather cockroach’s shells carried off by ants. Besides the weight of the bags, the caddies had to endure the summer heat for at least 4-5 hours for each round of golf — which I’m sure was the least of their problem. What they worried about must be the Korean and Japanese golfers that flew to Vietnam to golf — I hope they tipped well. These golfers would not stop golfing during any downpour, as the caddies in their tattered Vina ponchos had to carry the bag, locate the ball while holding an umbrella over the golfer. I wonder if the poet Nguyen Sa would still write, “Thang sau troi mua troi mua khong dut/ Troi khong mua anh cung lay troi mua” (In June it rains and never stops/If it doesn’t rain, I’ll pray for it to rain) after seeing such scene at the Thu Duc golf resort.