Ocean Dunes Golf Club

The Ocean Dunes Golf Club in Phan Thiet features a 6,746-yard Par 72 golf course designed by Masters and British Open champion Nick Faldo. It is an excellent natural site with sea and windswept dunes, tropical coastal breezes, and fantastic ocean views. Asian Golf Monthly magazine identified the course as one of the top-10 resort courses in Asia.

Ocean Dunes is an engaging and playable course for low and high handicap players. Experienced players will appreciate the exciting opportunities posed by the ever-present ocean breezes. Casual golfers like the course to the styling of the open links. It has the feel and the playability of an early Scottish seaside course but in a tropical climate.

As expected in a resort golf course, Bermuda grass fairways are wide and generous, but the dunes, sand bunkers, and vegetation buffeted by coastal winds bring strategy to every hole. There's an authentic links quality to 6 holes; a tree-lined stretch on the three holes on the back nine feels like Pinehurst; and the strategic front nine, with its myriad water hazards, looks and plays like a PGA layout from Florida.

The best hole is the 148-yard ninth, a stunning par-3 selected as one of "The Best 500 Holes in The World" by Golf Magazine. The hole plays to an elevated green guarded by dunes and trees to the right and a grassy mound to the left. The tee shot threads through a slot to reach the hidden target.

Some other unique holes include the 12th hole, a par-4 which often plays along the South China Sea with Vietnamese fishing boats on the horizon. The 3rd hole plays next to an ancient Buddhist temple, and the 8th hole has a Vietnamese tomb adjacent to the tee.

The Ocean Dunes golf clubhouse overlooking the course has spectacular views of the surrounding volcanic mountains and sea, making a small meal and cold beer after your round most enjoyable. Knowledgeable and friendly staff tend to a complete pro shop, bar, and restaurant. An on-site spa and locker rooms have a private sauna and Jacuzzis for use after the round with accommodations in the luxurious Ocean Dunes Phan Thiet Novotel Hotel.