When you think of golf in Asia, the top countries on the list would include Japan, Thailand, Korea, but in the past Vietnam would not even make the list.

But Vietnam is trying to change all that, and over the last decade, numerous courses designed by some of the biggest names in world golf have opened here.

And by 2021, there could be as many as 100 layouts in this nation of almost 93 million people.

The government has embraced the idea of Golf tourism as means of attracting high end big spending golfers, happy to spend their foreign currency in the hotels and of course at the golf clubs and resorts too.

When the Chinese decided not to restrict the use of agricultural land being turned over to golf courses, the leading golf course designers descended on Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia.

However, with the Vietnam Prime Minister being a keen golfer himself the boom started less than 10 years ago.

At the 2016 Asian Golf Summit, the contracts were being handed out, with Jack Nicklaus’s design firm signing to create 10 new courses with developer BRG Group. 

The French built the first course in Vietnam in the 1920s, during the colonization period. But it was not until the mid-1990s that the government saw golf as a way to attract international commerce.

Since then the likes of Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Greg Norman, and Luke Donald have joined Nicklaus to line the coffers with some huge contracts.

Whereas many clubs around Asia are relatively old, many of the Vietnam tracks benefit from using all the latest advances in course design and management and the golf tourists seem to have taken to it in a big way.

Having a caddie is mandatory at most courses, which helps tremendously—especially in reading the often offbeat, sloping greens. Caddying is seen as a well-paid job among youngsters, who typically live in nearby towns. You will find the caddies, predominantly women, to be dedicated and hard working.

Prices are higher than in other regions, but you pay for what you get, and here it is mostly a 5-star experience.

 

The courses that I visited in Da Nang were nothing less than amazing. The biggest down side is they are very expensive to play. As a walk in you are looking at $200US and up for a round.

8 minutes ago, kuzie57 said:

The courses that I visited in Da Nang were nothing less than amazing. The biggest down side is they are very expensive to play. As a walk in you are looking at $200US and up for a round.

The one  near Da Nang is a Greg Norman development with high priced homes and condos as part of the package...????????