Officially known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Vietnamese nation has emerged strongly following 30 years of war, which thankfully ended in the mid-1970s. The country now enjoys strong economic growth, and with its long South China Sea coastline and river deltas, the country can now focus on its pure and natural beauty. With divine beaches, towering mountains and vibrant cities, it is no wonder that Vietnam is fast becoming one of the world’s most exciting destinations.

In 2007, at Kings' Island Golf Club, the Vietnam Golf Association was formed and there are now more than 5,000 registered Vietnamese golfers, but the vast majority are either foreigners or ex-pats. Vietnam now boasts around eighty golf courses and there are many more in the construction stages. With its varied topography and long coastline, Vietnam has become a serious golfing country., especially with the 2018 opening of Cam Ranh Links.

Many of the big hitters in modern golf course architecture are represented in Vietnam. Leading the way, we have Greg Norman with his Bluffs Ho Tram Strip layout, which has been the national #1 for the last four editions of our Vietnamese rankings. That course actually debuted a few years after BRG Da Nang (Dunes) opened for play in 2010, and a more recent design at Cam Rahn (Links) is now making a big impression in the listings.

The new Robert Trent Jones Jr-designed Hoiana Shores layout is also making an immediate impact on the Vietnamese listings, where it has already leapfrogged over well-regarded offerings from Nick Faldo (Laguna Lang Co) and a couple of 18-hole layouts from Jack Nicklaus and Schmidt & Curley at FLC Quy Nhon Beach & Golf Resort (Ocean and Mountain).

A new Golfplan layout was scheduled to open in the late autumn of 2021 near the city of Cam Ranh, designed by Kevin Ramsey and David Dale. Constructed by Flagstick, the course was grassed entirely with Platinum paspalum due to its ability to handle a poorer quality of irrigation water. The front nine holes are routed around a number of lakes close to the coast, with the back nine laid out across a wooded landscape further inland.

At the start of 2022, work got underway on Faldo Design’s new Silk Path Dong Trieu Golf Course which is located within a large residential development 90 kilometres to the east of Hanoi. With some of the fairways due to become large terraced “platforms” reflecting surrounding landforms, the course features more water on the back nine, particularly the sequence from the 14th to 16th holes.

Also in the summer of 2022, the Greg Norman-designed PGA Garden course at PGA NovaWorld Phan Thiet opened for play, joining the PGA Ocean course which debuted a year earlier. Built by Flagstick, the new courses are part of an enormous coastal development in the southeast of the country which will eventually include hotels and an amusement park.

It was also announced in the Spring of 2022 that Clayton , DeVries & Pont had been chosen by the Vingroup conglomerate to design two new 18-hole layouts on the shores of Ha Long Bay in the northeast of the country. The 36-hole complex will lie within the proposed 9,000-hectare Ha Long Xanh development which will eventually house quarter of a million people.

Work has also started on two Nicklaus Design courses at the Rose Canyon resort in Ha Nam, to the south of Hanoi. The South layout was expected to be complete at the end of 2022, with construction on the North course due to begin soon after.

Our Vietnam Top 30 rankings were last updated in April 2020. Click the link to read the story.