Take several hundred hectares of prime sandy land next to the open ocean, throw in a few hundred million dollars worth of investment, slot in a UNESCO World Heritage town, and add touches of course design mastery and you pretty much have a prime golf destination in the making.

That is what seems to be happening in Vietnam, at a strip of land between Danang and Hoi An. This area is blessed with sandy soil terrain up to a few kilometres from the sea, making it a perfect place to build a golf course, or a dozen. And from the first two that have just sprout up, what superb golf courses they can be.

Monty’s Masterpiece
Indochina Land, the owners of The Nam Hai, recently opened Montgomerie Links Vietnam, a Colin Montgomerie design that is complemented by a modern, elegant clubhouse and a golf academy. The course prides itself as being the only Montgomeriebranded one in Asia, and judging from its quality, there is every expectation that Monty will be back to build a few more.

Even though the eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner is known for his straight tee shots, Montgomerie Links does not quite penalise those that can’t help but hit their shots right or left. Wide, receptive fairways of emerald Paspalum turf (same as on the greens) try its best to accommodate all manner of golfers. Those who are inclined to sway from the straight and narrow can take refuge in the sparseness of trees on either side of the short grass, while those who like to bomb it off the tee can look forward to taking advantage of the rewards awaiting a long one down the middle.

Montgomerie believes in making his bunkers pop to view, and has decided that the sand from Hue would be better suited for this design. The smooth flashing of each hazard provide contour and a new dimension to the view of each hole from wherever your ball sits. The edging is seamless, and each bunker blends with the fairway or the green to compose a blemish-free image of the task at hand. Although the 70 hectares of land that the course sits on is on the “wrong” side of the road from the sea, it takes nothing away from the pleasure of playing here. Fairways are relatively flat so that when you do find it, you have a good chance at hitting the next shot from a good lie. Bunkering is predominantly to the side in order to catch the most wayward of shots. But as much slack as Monty throws us with the tee shots, he takes it away around the greens. This is where you need your short game to be on if you want to shoot your handicap.

The strong 455-yard, par-4 13th is one that demonstrates this. The wide fairway gives you a false sense of security until you realise you need to hit your approach up a hill to a severely left-to-right sloping green that is snuggled in an alcove of casuarinas. If not, the preceding 12th, at 527 yards for a par 5, sees a green that is surrounded by no less than six large bunkers of varying distances to the putting surface.

But once on, the smooth greens offer a true roll to your putts. There are few dodgy reads here, and if it looks like it’s going to break one way, it usually does. That having said, the greens are indeed very large, and if the greens keeper wakes up on the wrong side of bed, and decides to take it out on the golfers, you could be in for a tricky time with some dastardly pin placements.

Unlike some monstrosities found in several parts of Asia, the clubhouse, designed by Gravity Partnership, is an example of efficient, sophisticated minimalism. The clean lines of white and grey blend with good use of glass to create a modern abode where diners at the café can enjoy a grand view of the golfers coming in. For a tournament to be held here, one can only imagine the great atmosphere that would greet the winner as he walks up the 18th green to the applause from the club’s wide porch.

Inevitably, there will be homes built on Montgomerie Links, and already the first two would be completed by the time you read this. According to the master plan, these contemporary, two, to three-storey villas would only abut the eighth, ninth, and 10th holes. Other than be a hindrance to the vistas from the holes, these prime properties would be a great attraction to those looking to invest in a (near) future golf haven, and who want to be a part of a premier golf establishment.

As Nature Intended
While Montgomerie took a great piece of property and enhanced it with white sand, smooth lines, and a clean, uncluttered complexion, Greg Norman’s work at the newer Danang Golf Club next door takes a slightly different tack.

But that does not mean that one is less of a course than the other, not by a long shot. It just goes to show that there are “more than one way to play a shot”, and Norman’s never fails to come up with something all his own.

Walking onto his course at Danang Golf Club, it appears that he hardly did a thing to etch out the 18 holes on this 7,160-yard layout. But as is often the case, the less you do, the more you reap, especially if you’re blessed with some of the best golf course terrain this side of the Mekong Delta.

“Natural sand dune land with its own natural vegetation makes this land perfect for a golf course,” says Howie Roberts, General Manager of Danang Golf Club. “The first golf courses in the world were built on sand based land due to its free draining capabilities and therefore very limited drainage if any is required at all. Over the years the wind blows the sand into natural landscapes which lend themselves very well to a golf course
lay-out.”

Little soil was moved, and few outside vegetation were put in. Norman left it as natural as he could, and what resulted is a tapestry of natural sandy trims punctuated with patterns of indigenous shrubbery, and a course that looks like it has been there forever.

Fairway flanks are left naturally jagged, and the fringes of bunkers offer feathery edging that add to the beauty (and treachery) of the hazards.The visual is stunning, and probably unlike anything golfers in Southeast Asia has played if they have yet to travel to the historic courses in the  British Isles. This is as close as you’ll ever come to playing on UK’s great links courses.

“There are other great golf courses in the region which are built on similar types of sandy based ground,” adds Roberts, “But we believe that with Greg Norman Golf Course Design’s methodology of minimal movement and with the grass selections, we have a golf course which mirrors the true playing characteristics of the traditional links courses of the Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.

“Playing the traditional bump and run or putting from as much as 20 yards off the green are possible at Danang Golf Club where as at other clubs your first bounce of your bump and run or the roll of your putt can be affected by the different grasses that other courses have selected. We believe the grasses we have chosen allow us to replicate the true links feel as much as possible in this hot and humid part of the world.”

Having played the course and putted on the greens even before the place has officially open, Roberts’ belief is hardly hyperbole. The Bermuda Evergreen on the tees and fairways already offer wonderful lies to hit off, and the Bermuda Tifdwarf greens are already dense, providing for a near flawless surface that lets your ball roll where you aim.

But the quality of the playing surfaces seems secondary to the craft of Norman’s layout. Those who have played the traditional courses in Ireland - and in particular, Greg Norman’s excellent design at Doonbeg – would find the holes here warmly familiar. The stingy-width fairways wind their ways around the sandy terrain like a snake in the desert. Numerous bunkers (there are more than a hundred on the course) guide the green turf along, occasionally forming corridors to guide your shots, and some times presenting themselves as pivot points to how the next shot should be played.

The par-5, 630-yard 10th and the 148-yard, par-5 16th – interestingly enough, the longest and shortest holes on the course - are two holes that you will remember long after you have left Vietnam. The starter hole on the back nine plays in a valley between two-storey-high dunes. It leads you one way, then the next before luring you into a corner where a green surrounded by high walls of sand dare you to hit it close to the hole. (Those who have played Doonbeg are reminded of the first hole on the gem in western Ireland.)

The short 16th, on the other hand is pure heaven – or some would say, pure deviousness when the wind howls in from the sea. It could take just a pitching wedge, or a mid-iron, depending on how nature feels on any given hour. But with the green blending seamlessly into the blue of the sea, this has got to be one of the prettiest holes in the Asia.

Owners Vina Capital has big plans for the area. There are plans to build another 18 holes, The Heritage Course, next to Norman’s course, and they have already sold 80 per cent of their property development, Ocean Villas, across the street on land that adjoins the Dunes Course (but none of it can be seen from the course), and will also develop a block of apartments, a luxury lifestyle tower, and a hotel complex in Hoi An. Even more adventurous, they will also develop Hoi An South, a 1,500-hectare satellite city comprising two golf courses, hotels, marina, and an integrated resort set to break ground in 2011.

But for the time being, there is every reason to believe that this first course by Greg Norman will put it on the golf map.