Golf Courses in Dalat & Phantiet
Course-by-Course Introduction to Golf in-&-around Central Vietnamese cities of Dalat & Phantiet
Ocean Dunes Golf Club of Phan Thiet, Vietnam – Ocean Dunes Golf Club openned in 1996 and immediately set the standard in Southeast Asia for links-golf. Laid out by Masters and British Open champion Nick Faldo, it winds through a pleasing obstacle course of windswept dunes and shimmering water hazards, with coastal breezes shaping its character on a day-by-day basis. It is an outstanding natural course with the sand dunes, sea breeze, beach vegetation and sea views determining the routing and it’s arid look. It has the feel and the playability of early Scottish seaside courses in a tropical climate, according to designer Faldo. Measuring 6,746 yards, this Par-72 18-hole is a sister-course to the Dalat Palace Golf Club up in the highlands.
An Update on Golf Scene in Phan Thiet:
A newly created links golf course will open its first 9 holes in May 2008.
Sea Links Golf & Country Club – Phan Thiet-Mui Ne, a Ronald Fream-designed 18-hole course will be the latest to add to the string of golf courses mushroomed in Vietnam in recent years. Situated on a cliff and sandy dunes, it will cover 130 hectares and at some point, over 50 meters above sea level providing some spectacular views of the ocean below. The course will ‘exceed global standards’ and ‘impress…golfers instantly’ and the complex will also include a ‘state of the art 5* hotel’, so says the promotions.
Watch this space for more update! (Dated: 7th. February 2008 – Lunar Tet)
Dalat Palace Golf Club of Vietnam – An architect from its colonial office dreamed of building a golf course early in the nineteen-twenties but it wasn’t until much later into the decade and not least with support from the country’s most prominent golfer, the last Emperor of Vietnam, the late Bao Dai, that the dream came to fruition. Billy Casper, to add to the fairy tale background of this facinating golf course, played here during the Vietnam War, just months before heading home to beat Arnold Palmer in the US Open of 1966. Today, measuring 7,010 yards and over-looking the Xuan Huong Lake, it is one of the top-rated courses in Vietnam and famed for its classic design, the hilly and challenging terrain and its impeccably maintained Bentgrass condition. Indeed, Dalat Palace is one of the few courses in South East Asia with Bentgrass, thanks to the highlands’ cool climate.
Additionally, if there is a special feature other than the good condition of the course that seperates this course with the many others, it will have to be the carefully designed lengths of the holes. Try it and you will discover; at the end of the day all the clubs in the bag will have at some point been used. Four different tee areas on each hole allow the player to determine his/her own index (or the degree of challenge). Such is the freedom to difficulty, and hence lies the real challenge.