What’s the world’s best golf destination? When it comes to what country has been presented that moniker the most since 2019, the answer is Vietnam.
Twice in the last five years, this Southeast Asian nation that a lot of Westerners still only associate with war has claimed “World’s Best Golf Destination” at the annual World Golf Awards.
Is Vietnam deserving of such a distinguished distinction? It’s definitely arguable, especially considering just how many top-100 courses countries such as the U.S. and Scotland possess.
But one thing’s for sure: Vietnam has some of the best new courses on the planet, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better location for golf anywhere on earth. That’s because Vietnam has more than 2,000 miles of coastline, most of which is dressed by sand dunes tailor-made for links-style layouts.
It took a long time for Vietnam tourism officials and developers to start carving out experiences not unlike those you’ll find in more renowned coastal golf hubs. But now that they have, there’s no reason not to see for yourself what all the fuss is about.
That’s especially true now that a U.S.-based company specializing in guided luxury golf trips to Vietnam exists. Launched out of Park City, Utah in the fall of 2023, Asia Golf Trips offers four trips per winter to Vietnam for no more than eight golfers per trip.
“Two foursomes is perfect,” said Scott Resch, Asia Golf Trips’ founder. “Vietnam is an endlessly fascinating place, which means each person is going to have so many questions. I want to be able to answer all of them.”
Resch is good at answering questions about Vietnam because he not only lived in that part of the world for several years, but had a job that entailed organizing and guiding golf trips there while repping a media relations firm. The only difference is now he does it for golfers seeking the experience of a lifetime rather than golf journalists on a story assignment.
Resch has crafted two itineraries for Vietnam — one for January and February, and another for March and April. The common denominator is Vietnam’s central coast, home to two of the best courses in Asia: Hoiana Shores and Laguna Golf Lang Co.
Hoiana Shores is a Robert Trent Jones Jr. creation that opened in 2018, features six holes that come into direct contact with the golden sands of China Beach and has a closing stretch eerily similar to the one at Chambers Bay. The slightly older Laguna Golf Lang Co is a Nick Faldo design that plays over and around working rice paddies, between jungle-clad hills and along its own golden-sand beach.
Both courses are nothing short of spectacular.
“There’s nothing I love more than seeing the expressions on golfers’ faces when they see these courses,” said Resch, a former Golf Digest course rater who has played hundreds of courses worldwide including more than 60 in Asia. “I get a rush out of their reactions. They just can’t believe that courses this good exist in a place like this.”
Two other stalwarts on Asia Golf Trips’ itineraries are the Bluffs Grand Ho Tram and the Dunes Course at Danang Golf Resort – two seaside stunners with exactly the kind of bite you would expect from the Great White Shark. In both instances, Greg Norman let the rolling – and sometimes very hilly – terrain do most of the work for him. That choice makes for high drama.
A trip to Vietnam with Asia Golf Trips is about more than golf, though. Resch has also partnered with the country’s finest hotels, all of which provide the kind of comfort and style even the most discerning golfers look for and appreciate when traveling. The culinary and sightseeing opportunities are outstanding too, thanks to Resch’s relationships with the country’s top chefs, tour guides and many of its long-time, golf-mad expats.
Renowned photographer and world-record holder Patrick Koenig visited Vietnam with Asia Golf Trips earlier this year and left thoroughly impressed by all aspects of the experience.
“Everything is so dialed in,” Koenig said. “Scott’s got so many great connections, he knows the landscape like the back of his hand, and he’s just got such a great feel for what golf travelers who have been just about everywhere want and expect in a golf trip.”
To learn more about golf in Vietnam or Asia Golf Trips, visit AsiaGolfTrips.com or call 435-602-0825.