Ba Na Hills Golf Club
Luke Donald's course opened in 2016 in the foothills of Ba Na, 15 km inland and about 25 minutes from downtown Da Nang. Par 72 and 7,857 yards from the professional tees (6,022 from the whites), it is a mountain layout in two halves: a parkland front nine among pines and a dramatic back nine of uphill and downhill holes, doglegs and blind shots, with viewpoints from elevated tees. The whole course is floodlit, so a late tee time still finishes.
The club lists World's Best New Course at the 2016 World Golf Awards, Vietnam's Best Golf Course at the same awards from 2017 to 2022, and number 89 in Golf Digest's World's 100 Greatest Courses in 2020. Agent green fees: USD 100 weekday and 160 weekend (Best Golf Vietnam) or USD 131 (GolfSavers).
Laguna Golf Lang Co
Nick Faldo's 2012 design is the far end of the loop: 35 km and around an hour and a half north of Da Nang through the Hai Van pass, inside the Laguna Lang Co resort. Par 71, 6,961 yards from the championship tees. It moves through three landscapes, opening holes in rice paddies, a run of oceanside holes, then a finish among low hills and rock outcrops. It hosts the annual finals of the Faldo Series Asia.
Agent green fees: USD 80 weekday and 140 weekend (Best Golf Vietnam) or USD 112 (GolfSavers). Stay at the resort and play it twice rather than commuting.
Montgomerie Links
The oldest of the modern courses, opened in 2008 on the coast road 15 minutes from the airport and 20 from Hoi An. Colin Montgomerie built a links-style course through indigenous dune vegetation and casuarina pines: rolling fairways, very large greens, thick rough. Par 72, 7,090 yards. Forbes Travel Guide named it among Asia's ten most elite courses in 2012, and the club lists Best Golf Course in Vietnam at the Asian Golf Awards among later honours.
It is the most forgiving of the five off the tee and the agents describe its caddies as the best in the region. Green fees: USD 55 weekday and 100 weekend (Best Golf Vietnam) or USD 123 (GolfSavers).
BRG Da Nang Golf Resort: Norman and Nicklaus courses
Twenty minutes from the airport on the same coast, the resort now branded Legend Da Nang has two courses. The Norman Course opened in 2010 as the original Dunes Course: a pure links on sandy loam with waste areas, sculpted bunkers, Bermuda fairways and Paspalum greens, and views of the Cham Islands from the oceanside holes. Par 72 and 7,190 yards by the club card (Golfasian lists 7,142). Asian Golf Monthly readers voted it best course in Asia in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and Golf Digest named it Best Golf Course in Vietnam in 2012.
The Nicklaus Course is the newer sibling and something different: a bulkhead design on a flood plain, with fairway and green edges retained by treated North American hardwood. Par 73 and 7,380 yards on the official card (GolfSavers shows par 72, 7,042). It hosted the BRG Open Golf Championship from 2022 to 2024. Agent fees for the resort: USD 90 weekday and 140 weekend (Best Golf Vietnam), USD 156 for the Norman and 130 to 170 for the Nicklaus (GolfSavers).
Hoiana Shores Golf Club
Robert Trent Jones II's 2019 links lies 8 km south of Hoi An Old Town, 20 minutes from the town and 45 from the airport. Par 71 and 7,004 yards, it runs through low dunes with little vegetation, Zeon Zoysia tees and fairways and TifEagle greens, and the 16th and 17th play straight along the shore into whatever the sea sends. The resort lists Golf Digest Best Golf Course in Vietnam 2020, World Golf Awards World's Best New Golf Course 2020, number 94 in Golf World's Top 100 in 2023 and number 86 in Links Magazine's Links 100 in 2025.
It is also the most expensive and the hardest to get on: USD 120 weekday and 160 weekend (Best Golf Vietnam) or USD 230 (GolfSavers), with limited visitor tee times. Book it first and build the week around it.
When to go
Central Vietnam has a different calendar from Thailand. Rain is light from February to July (20 to 90 mm a month) and the heat builds from April, with June highs around 35°C. From August the rain returns and September to early December is typhoon season: October averages 650 mm and November 430 mm. GolfSavers puts the best golf window at February to May; the climate data favours late January to mid-March for the most comfortable temperatures. Avoid October and November unless you enjoy waiting out storms.
A sensible routing
Base in Hoi An or on the beach between the city and Hoi An. Day one Montgomerie Links, day two the Norman Course, day three Hoiana Shores, day four Ba Na Hills with a late start under lights, then move north for two nights at Lang Co and finish on Faldo's course.
