Ba Na Hills Golf Club

Developed by Sun Group, a leading Vietnamese investor, the course at Ba Na Hills Golf Club is Luke Donald’s first foray into golf course design. Working in conjunction with IMG, who constructed and now manage the new facility, the former world number one set out the fairways at elevation, on the side slopes of the mountain range that rises to the west of Danang.

The course lies half an hour’s drive inland from Vietnam’s fourth largest city, which is fast growing into something of a golf destination as three other big name designer courses – Laguna Lang Co, Danang Dunes and Montgomerie Links – have been built along the coastline within the past seven years and they now yield more than 150,000 rounds a year collectively.

Ba Na Hills can be stretched to more than 7,800 yards from the championship tees and it offers an alternative game of golf to the one played nearby on the shores of the South China Sea. With its diverse mix of natural topography and indigenous vegetation, the layout is set up to complement the seaside delights of the other three courses.

Indeed, Ba Na Hills steals a march on its local golfing competitors by giving golfers the chance to play in the cool of the evening, under floodlights. One hundred and eight poles, 15-18 metres in height, are spread around the layout and they carry the six hundred and twenty-three 1,500-watt halogen lamps that illuminate the golfing arena when darkness falls.

The outward half is the longer and flatter of the two nines, featuring back-to-back par fives at the 4th and 5th holes, and water comes into play by way of streams or ponds on holes 4 to 9. There’s more by way of elevation changes to enjoy on the back nine, with the signature par three 16th hole the star of the show, playing sharply downhill to an island green.