Vietnam Hoi An Golf Coast

Ba Na Hills Golf Club is 25 minutes inland from Danang, Vietnam, near the foothills of the cable car station leading to Bana Hills. The IMG managed Da Nang golf course is the first Luke Donald-designed course in Asia and the world.

Ba Na Hills Vietnam is laid out in several valleys of the surrounding mountain ranges. The Ba Na Hills mountain course has a diverse mix of natural topography and vegetation. The holes at higher elevations have nice vantage points with spectacular views of the valleys below.

The site has a fair amount of elevation change and many natural features like large hardwood trees and streams that meander through several holes.  At 7,858 yards in length, the par-72 golf course provides a balance of challenge and enjoyment for golfers of all skill levels. The varying lengths of each hole and different lies resulting from the rolling hills and elevations changes ensure the use of various shots throughout the 18 holes.

The front nine holes form a traditional parkland course surrounded by pine forests—the back nine play along and up-and-down the surrounding hills with many blind shots and doglegs. Needless to say, these holes are the more dramatic and challenging ones.

Bunkering at Ba Na Hills Danang is unique, with long grass around the edges and the face of each hazard. The sand is only partly visible from the tees and fairway approach shots. The greens are angled from the fairways and only slightly undulated. There is a good variety of pin positions and approach shots.

Some of the most memorable holes are the 4th and 5th. They are both par-5, but only #4 is reachable in two. The long #5 starts with carry-over water followed by two well-struck long irons or hybrids to reach the protected green regulation. The 10th hole is an easy par-4 that plays upwards to one of the highest points on the golf course. There is an excellent photo opportunity from the green. The par-3 12th goes the opposite way downhill and is also one of the most picturesque places at Ba Na Hills.

First-class facilities at Ba Na Hills include a modern contemporary designed clubhouse, grass driving range and practice areas, and a well-stocked pro shop. The restaurant offers panoramic views of the golf course and serves a wide range of dishes, with the Vietnamese selections being by far the best on the menu.

Being managed by IMG, Ba Na Hills Golf Club operates to international standards.  All 18 holes are floodlit, which detracts from the otherwise natural beauty but does allow golfers who have a late start to finish their rounds.

Hoiana Shores Golf Club is the first Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects (RTJ II) golf course in Vietnam. Forty-five minutes south of Danang International Airport and 8 kilometers south of the Hoi An Ancient Town UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hoiana Shores plays through dunes along the Vietnamese coastline. The town is known as 'The City of Lanterns,' and fittingly, lanterns instead of flags top the pins at Hoiana.

Legend Da Nang Golf Resort (Danang Golf Club), Norman Course opened in 2010 and immediately leaped to fame being recognized as one of the 15 best new courses in the world by USA GOLF magazine. Da Nang Golf Resort has achieved many awards, amongst them 2011, 2012, 2013 best golf course in Asia by the readers of Asian Golf Monthly as well as the 2012 Best Golf Course in Vietnam by USA Golf Digest and the 2014 IAGTO Diamond Award.

The Norman-designed Dunes Course uses the sandy loam soil of Danang Beach, a place with more history than golf. The Vietnam golf club is located directly on the beach that the American's used for their first landing and adjacent to the American's central supply depot and airfield used during the conflict of the 1960s. Here on Vietnam's central coast, one finds a seaside landscape almost identical to the land of the world's first courses. The links-style golf experience was crafted as much by Mother Nature as it was by any golf architect.

This Danang golf course is a unique golf challenge that every golfer will enjoy. Fairways are generous, and there is restrained use of water and no out-of-bounds. Sculpted bunkering, shaped putting greens, and abundant natural waste areas have been cut directly from the surrounding dunes. Scoring well requires carefully placed shots to give players a chance to go for the pins on the undulating greens.  The fairways are also lined and well defined by long needle pines, so miss into the trees, and it's a forced punch off the sand and pine needles along a safe line to get back into play.

More so than other areas of Vietnam, the wind can play be a significant factor on the Vietnam coast.  For example, the par-3 16th hole is back-dropped by the South China Sea and often plays into a stiff headwind, making club selection very tricky. The wind, when combined with the firm and fast greens, can toughen up the course considerably.