As natural canvasses for golf course designers go, there’s very little debate on what an ideal location ought to be: classic links land, featuring sand dunes that separate the coast from productive farming country. That’s the milieu in which the first courses in the world—in Scotland and Ireland—originated and which forms the common DNA between some of the world’s greatest golf courses today in Scotland, England, Ireland, southern Australia and the north-west coast of the United States. In Asia, though, classic links land is near impossible to find.
So when former world number one players Greg Norman and Sir Nick Faldo, along with eight-times European Order of Merit-winner Colin Montgomerie, were asked to design courses on a rare stretch of seaside dune land in Vietnam, I’m assuming they jumped at the opportunity.
The three former big names of tournament golf, all of whom have designed golf courses around the world, headed straight for Danang. Here, facing South China Sea (or East Sea, as it is called in Vietnam) is arguably the best links-style golf course country in Asia.
When Montgomerie’s eponymous Montgomerie Links opened for play, naysayers went on and on about the viability of tourism-dependent golf development in Danang. The scepticism wasn’t unfounded either: there was no previous history of golf in the area, no obvious domestic market of players, a dilapidated airport and, most crucially, the land where the course was built had to be scoured for unexploded shells from the Vietnam War four decades earlier. But that’s all history now: Danang has turned a corner and a surfeit of hotels and resorts have opened up on the shoreline across the road from Montgomerie Links. A second golf course, Danang Golf Club, designed by Norman, has added more firepower to Danang’s contention as a bonafide golfing destination.
The jewel in the crown, though, is Laguna Lang Co GC, which has been designed by Faldo. Located near Lang Co, a fishing village 50 km north of Danang on the way to Vietnam’s imperial capital of Hue, the 6,958-yard par-71 course is a wonderful example of creative design blending perfectly with the natural environment. Crucially, the Banyan Tree group—the Singapore-based company that owns and operates upmarket resorts in Thailand, China, Indonesia, Mexico and the Middle East—which developed the course, has also built two on-site high-end hotels—Banyan Tree and Angsana, and associated infrastructure—bringing critical mass to the region’s golf tourism credentials.
“This is a stunning and very diverse piece of land, with gently-rolling terrain, splashes of sand throughout and an impressive array of natural design features,” Faldo said when he began the design process. By all accounts, the design has fulfilled that natural promise of the terrain. The appeal of Laguna Lang Co GC lies in its ever-changing character. While the two other Golf Coast Vietnam courses present a constant environment over their entire 18 holes, the trademarks of Faldo’s creation are variation and unpredictability. A fourth course, BaNa Hills—designed by IMG, with a Luke Donald moniker—will open in the Danang hinterland shortly.
While Vietnam has three of the finest links courses in Asia, Malaysia has just one, but a superlative one at that. Langkawi’s stock as a golf destination has received a fillip with the addition of what is arguably Malaysia’s most spectacular golf club, The Els Club Teluk Datai. Even before the extensive re-design and renovation, the layout—then known as Datai Bay GC—was considered one of the most outstanding courses in the country purely by dint of its spectacular seaside location. Now, the appeal of that natural setting has been embellished with a world-class championship layout crafted by none other than four-time Major-winner Ernie Els. Not that it was needed, but reaffirmation of the course’s truly global calibre came when it won the World Golf Awards’ World’s Best New Golf Course.
Regarded as one of the most stunning courses within the Els Club collection (others are in the Middle East and South Africa), The Els Club Teluk Datai is nestled in an ancient rainforest of towering lush tropical foliage. Backed by soaring limestone peaks of the Mat Chinchang mountain range and playing down to Andaman Sea, it enjoys one of the most alluring settings of any golf course in Asia.
The 18-hole par 72,6750-yard championship course is laid out on Langkawi’s north-west coast. And the best place for itinerant golfers to stay is The Datai, a premium resort hotel attached to the course. Pay-and-play packages start from MYR630 ($150) per person (including one round at the oceanfront course and one night at a five-star accommodation).
These new additions to south-east Asia’s golf firmament have further bolstered the region’s golfing credentials not by numbers, but rather by character. Not only are these genuine links courses, but they are of a calibre comparable to their more vaunted counterparts in Europe. Given their seaside character, cool breezes in the morning and late afternoon negate the tropical heat for players. Lastly, for golfers in India, considering that a week-long golf vacation encompassing five courses in Danang and Langkawi costs less than a third of what it would to play links golf in Ireland or Scotland, there’s a pretty compelling case to eschew that European golf vacation this summer.
A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game