Vietnam has quietly become Asia’s most exciting golf destination. A decade ago the country had a handful of serviceable resort courses aimed at visiting Japanese and South Korean golfers. Today Da Nang alone has five international-standard layouts within a 35-minute drive, designed by Nick Faldo, Luke Donald, and Colin Montgomerie. The green fees cost a fraction of equivalent courses in Europe or the United States.
I first visited Da Nang in 2015 and have watched the golf infrastructure develop faster than anywhere else in the world outside of the Middle East. What makes Vietnam genuinely compelling for the serious golfer is the concentration of quality: the Da Nang to Laguna Lang Co corridor, an 80-kilometre stretch of coast and mountain, contains some of the finest golf architecture built in the last fifteen years. The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip, near Ho Chi Minh City, would be a serious entry on any list of the world’s great coastal courses. Green fee pricing across the country sits far below what comparable layouts command in Europe, which means your golf budget stretches significantly further.
The country stretches 1,650 kilometres from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Golf trips work best when built around one hub: Da Nang for central Vietnam, Hanoi for the north, or Ho Chi Minh City for the south. Domestic flights are fast, frequent, and inexpensive, and an ambitious two-region trip is entirely realistic over ten days. The courses below span all three regions and are ranked by course quality rather than geographic convenience.
Laguna Lang Co
Consistently ranked among the top ten golf courses in Asia and the finest in Vietnam by most credible assessments. Nick Faldo routed Laguna Lang Co through rubber tree forest and tropical jungle at the foot of the Hai Van Pass, with the mountains rising on one side and the Lap An Lagoon on the other. Several holes require carries over deep jungle ravines; the back nine climbs into the hills before dropping back toward the water. Conditioning is maintained to the standard of the Banyan Tree and Angsana hotels that share the estate. If you base yourself in Da Nang and do only one day trip during your stay, this is the course that justifies the 90-minute drive.
Best for: Serious golfers wanting the best design in Southeast Asia. Combine with an overnight Banyan Tree stay.
The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip
The most dramatically positioned course in Vietnam and arguably in all of Southeast Asia. Greg Norman cut this layout into the clifftops and sand dunes of the southern coast, with the South China Sea in view from almost every hole. The ball flies further in the sea air than most golfers expect; distances are deceptive, and the coastal wind dictates everything from club selection to shot shape. The par-3 17th plays over a deep ravine to a green perched above the ocean. In architectural character and drama, the closest comparisons are Cabot Cliffs and the better Scottish links coastlines, which tells you everything. Not close to Da Nang — plan a dedicated southern trip around it, using the Grand Ho Tram resort as your base.
Best for: Golfers building a Ho Chi Minh City itinerary. The course alone justifies a trip south.
Ba Na Hills Golf Club
The most unusual golf experience in central Vietnam, set in forested mountains at genuine altitude above Da Nang. Luke Donald used the elevated terrain to create a course that drops and climbs through dense jungle, with cloud often sitting on the upper ridges during morning rounds. Start in mist, finish in sunshine — that contrast is part of the appeal. The layout rewards accuracy over power; several fairways are framed tightly by mature trees, and the greens are firmer and faster than the coastal courses. Afternoon rounds are generally clearer and warmer. A genuinely different character from the links-influenced layouts at sea level, and priced accordingly.
Best for: Golfers staying in Da Nang who want a mountain experience on a day two or three round.
Montgomerie Links
One of the first international-calibre courses built in central Vietnam and one that holds up well against newer, more expensive neighbours. Colin Montgomerie routed the layout across open coastal land between the Marble Mountains and the ocean — the result plays links-style in every meaningful sense: wide fairways, wind-exposed, punishing rough, and greens that run at pace. Less dramatic in scenery than Laguna or The Bluffs, but a thoroughly competitive golf course that tests your game rather than your Instagram feed. Da Nang location makes logistics simple. Green fees are reasonable given the standard.
Best for: Groups who want a proper links challenge without leaving the Da Nang hotel zone.
BRG Da Nang Golf Resort
Nick Faldo's Da Nang design occupies the Son Tra Peninsula with the course threading through forest and along the coastline. The layout favours strategic play over forced carries — Faldo built in options at most holes, rewarding golfers who think before reaching for the driver. BRG Da Nang was among the first genuinely international-standard courses in central Vietnam and helped put Da Nang on the golf map before the current generation of courses arrived. A 2019 renovation improved conditioning substantially, and the ocean views on the back nine remain among the finest in the region.
Best for: Full Da Nang itineraries — fits naturally as a day two or three course alongside Montgomerie and Ba Na Hills.
BRG Kings Island Golf Club
The best golf in the greater Hanoi area by a comfortable margin, and the most northerly serious course in the country. Jack Nicklaus routed Kings Island around a large reservoir, with multiple holes threading along and across the water through mature pine and eucalyptus forest. The setting feels completely different from anything in central or southern Vietnam: cooler temperatures, four distinct seasons, and a landscape that turns golden in autumn. For golfers combining Hanoi with a Da Nang trip, this is the round to add before the flight south. Allow around 50 minutes from central Hanoi in morning traffic.
Best for: Golfers building a Hanoi itinerary or combining northern and central Vietnam.
FLC Ha Long Golf Links
A course built almost entirely for its setting — and the setting delivers. FLC Ha Long plays along the hillsides directly above Ha Long Bay, with limestone karst formations rising from the water on multiple holes and panoramic bay views across the back nine. The golf design is solid without being exceptional: the terrain itself is so compelling that Curley wisely kept the course simple and let the landscape do the work. Best combined with an overnight Ha Long Bay cruise: arrive by boat from Hanoi, play a morning round, continue into the bay. A three-hour drive from Hanoi by road, or accessible by seaplane from Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport.
Best for: Golfers combining Ha Long Bay with a Hanoi stay. The views are genuinely unlike anywhere else.
Vinpearl Golf Phu Quoc
Vietnam's island golf course, set on Phu Quoc in the Gulf of Thailand, the same island that has seen some of the most rapid luxury resort development in Asia since 2018. The course plays through tropical forest and along the coastline, with ocean views on the inward nine and consistently lush turf maintained by year-round island humidity. Conditioning has improved steadily as the surrounding resort infrastructure has matured. The right context for Phu Quoc is two rounds across a five-day beach holiday rather than a dedicated golf itinerary. Choose it for the island, not solely the course.
Best for: Golfers who want a beach holiday with golf, not a golf holiday with a beach.
West Lakes Golf & Villas
The most underrated course on this list and the best value within practical reach of Ho Chi Minh City. Schmidt and Curley built West Lakes around a series of large lakes in the flat Mekong Delta terrain south of the city. The flatness is the only limitation — the design compensates with water-threading strategy off every tee and through most approach windows. Conditioning is consistently among the best in southern Vietnam, and the clubhouse facilities exceed what the green fee suggests. Groups transiting through Tan Son Nhat Airport should add this as a first or last day round; it is far better than anything actually inside the city.
Best for: Ho Chi Minh City arrivals and departures. Excellent quality for the price.
Chi Linh Star Golf & Country Club
Vietnam's golf revolution is concentrated in the south and centre; the north is still developing. Chi Linh Star is the exception in the north — a course with genuine character set in the limestone karst hills of Hai Duong province, with mountain views from every hole and a layout that works with the natural terrain rather than levelling it flat. Green fees are the lowest on this list by some margin, and honest expectation management is required: this is not at the standard of Laguna or The Bluffs. But for golfers who want to understand how Vietnam's golf scene has developed, and who want to see countryside north of Hanoi that most visitors never reach, Chi Linh delivers a worthwhile experience.
Best for: Budget-conscious golfers adding a day trip from Hanoi. Interesting rather than essential.
How to plan a Vietnam golf trip
Vietnam’s golf season varies by region in a way that catches most first-timers by surprise. Central Vietnam — Da Nang, Laguna Lang Co, the Marble Mountains — is at its best from February to August. The months of October and November bring heavy rain to the central coast; tee times are frequently cancelled, conditions deteriorate, and some courses limit access entirely. If Da Nang is your target, plan for March through June as the optimal window: dry, warm, and before the full heat of peak summer sets in.
Southern Vietnam — Ho Chi Minh City, The Bluffs Ho Tram, Phu Quoc — runs on a different climate entirely. The dry season there is November to April, making it a natural choice for winter golf from Europe. Hanoi and the north experience a genuine cool winter, with January temperatures averaging around 17°C and occasional morning mist that clears by midday. Courses remain playable year-round in the north, but the warmest and most reliable window runs from late March through May.
A well-structured central Vietnam golf trip is seven days based in Da Nang: five or six rounds using the local courses — BRG Da Nang, Montgomerie Links, and Ba Na Hills within 30 minutes of the hotel strip — plus a day trip or overnight stay at Laguna Lang Co. Most golfers underestimate the Hai Van Pass road. Google Maps may suggest 90 minutes; the reality in morning golf traffic is closer to two hours each way. An organised golf transfer from a specialist will handle that drive efficiently and know the resort check-in windows.
For a ten-day trip taking in two regions, the most practical combination is Da Nang followed by Ho Chi Minh City: fly in to Da Nang, play six days including the Lang Co day trip, then take a 75-minute domestic flight south to base at the Grand Ho Tram with The Bluffs as the centrepiece and West Lakes as an easy add-on. Hanoi works best as a standalone four- to five-day trip or a short add-on to a longer itinerary. The Ha Long Bay combination — Kings Island in the Hanoi area, then FLC Ha Long, then two nights on the bay — is one of the best itinerary sequences in Asian golf travel.
Green fees across Vietnam are quoted in US dollars and are generally paid in USD. Tipping caddies is standard and expected: $15–25 per round is typical for a private caddie at a top-tier course. Unlike Japan or Korea, shared caddies are common, and most courses assign one automatically rather than offering carry-bag options. The caddie culture is an integral part of Vietnamese golf — most are excellent and genuinely helpful on green-reading, even if their English extends to core golf vocabulary rather than fluent conversation.
See the Journey Designer to build a full Vietnam itinerary matched to your travel dates, group size, and the courses on this list that interest you most.