Asia Golf Trips: Not your ordinary golf trip

(Photo is Laguna Lang Co – Central Vietnam)

There are plenty of places to tee it up in the United States. But Scott Resch is trying to expose golfers to a different part of the golfing world: Asia. His new company is focusing on a golf destination he believes has more game than any other on earth.

The owner of Asia Golf Trips has walked the fairways of more than 60 courses in Asia, where he lived between 2007-’10 and visited quarterly from 2011-’18 while working for a media relations firm that represented luxury hospitality interests in that part of the world.

But he has also played everywhere from Bandon Dunes, Pebble Beach and the Hawaiian Islands to Scotland, South Africa and Australia’s Sandbelt. His opinion therefore takes into consideration all the spots most golfers have on their bucket lists.

“I don’t dislike any of the places most golfers have on a pedestal,” said Resch, a former golf writer and Golf Digest course rater. “But the fact is, none hold a candle to Asia when you acknowledge the entire picture — the golf, the accommodations, the food, and all there is to see and do off the course.”

Those seeking proof of the quality of Asia’s tourism assets needn’t look any further than Asia Golf Trips’ website, Resch said. In addition to a page highlighting recent feature stories on the region by renowned media, the resource is packed with images “of the people, places and properties that allow us to provide high-end golf tours that just hit different,” he added.

“So many of the courses over there are nothing short of exceptional,” Resch said. “In fact, a lot of them look as if they’ve been airlifted from Scotland or Ireland or Bandon. I’m talking right on the ocean, and designed by some of the biggest names in the game such as (Jack) Nicklaus and (Nick) Faldo and (Greg) Norman. Only there you don’t have to worry about how many layers you packed.”

The website is also where curious minds can learn why Vietnam is the focal point of Asia Golf Trip’s debut season (2024), why winter is the best time of year to go, and what the dates are for the first few trips.

“The beauty of going this season is that the trips that will only go up (in price) from here,” said Resch, who will also guide the trips. “It’s an incredible deal for a high-end, hassle-free, boutique experience. Everything is five-star and meticulously planned so you can just enjoy what is sure to be the trip of a lifetime.”

Resch’s understanding of golf in Asia started in 2006, two years after moving to Utah from Seattle. While working as a golf magazine editor for a national publishing group with offices in Park City, he participated in a 10-day press trip to Vietnam.

A year later, Resch joined the agency that put the trip together — and went on to organize and lead dozens of trips for journalists on assignment for outlets ranging from Golf Digest and Conde Nast Traveler to The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald.

“That type of job was never on my radar,” said Resch, who had only held editorial positions before 2007, including content production gigs with ESPN and Microsoft. “But I’m glad the opportunity came my way. It changed my life.”

To learn more about Resch and Asia Golf Trips, visit www.asiagolftrips.com.