The Nicklaus North Course at Golden Sands Golf Resort, measuring a championship fit 7,519 yards, was created by Nicklaus Design, and is already being touted as, “truly authentic golf, a heritage course for a heritage city.” It has been set up by Nicklaus to be, “the toughest golfing challenge in Vietnam.” As such, the course is reported to be 10 shots harder than any other course in the country.
The golf, part of the Golden Sands City development located only 20 km East of the Imperial City of Hue, is sculpted into the natural, undulating dunes topography of the area, offering widows to the ocean throughout the whole round. The classical characteristics of the layout include broad, fast rolling fairways, huge greens, and distinctive torn-edged bunkering that typifies the heritage derived from original links courses where golf began over 600 years ago.
The opener offers a wide and generous landing area where tee shots carrying the right fairway bunker are rewarded with an ideal approach angle into the front right pin area, taking the left greenside bunker out of play
The element of ground contours is a strategic feature implemented throughout the course and the 2nd Hole is a shining example of how using approach contours to encourage ball movement into a pin area might lead you to a better score
A daring tee shot carrying the left fairway bunkers sets up a wonderful approach angle into the front pin area of this elevated green that is flanked by bunkers off its front right and back left
The shortest of the Front 9’s Par 4’s is littered with bunkering and offers a variety of fun and challenging avenues of play. The green sits high in its front right and pitches from right to left, away from the golfer to a lower left half. From lower elevations of the fairway, much of the green’s left half will be blind with a glimpse of the pin to give you some hope. While golfers can certainly fly short irons and wedges into the left half of the green, the support coming into the back right of the green should encourage a well struck approach with a lower trajectory to work off of the support and into the left half of the green. Golfer’s will need to be accurate off the tee here while relying on their imagination and creativity playing into and around the green
The 5th Hole is the first of the four Par 3’s and is likely the most challenging of the bunch given it features the course’s only water hazard flanking its left side. A green in regulation here could very well win you the hole as you head to the difficult Par 4 6th Hole
You’re in the middle of an intense two hole stretch coming off the 5th green with the tee shot on the long Par 4 6th baiting you to take the heroic line of play off the right fairway bunkers. Birdie opportunities are just around the corner, so be aggressive off the tee and you should be in good shape heading to the Par 5 7th
The shortest of the Par 5’s offers a chance to get a shot back. With a cluster of three layered bunkers up the left side of the hole and an intimidating line of five crossing bunkers moving across the second landing area short of a punch-bowl green, this classic set-up presents a great example of risk and reward strategy. A well struck drive challenging the right fairway bunker or a more heroic drive up the left side flirting with the three layered bunkers should put you in a great position to go for the green in two. An aggressive second shot carrying the last two crossing bunkers should feed into the center of punch-bowl green, leaving a realistic eagle opportunity
The elevated middle pin area is as tough as any on the course and will wreak havoc for many tee shots landing short of it and retreating back to the front pin area or going long of it and coming to rest in the back right of the green, which features an abrupt peel off on its extreme right edge. The three tiered green is well protected by three bunkers set considerably off the green, allowing golfers to use the slopes coming off each bunker to access each pin area. While using these slopes is encouraged, avoiding all three bunkers is an absolute must due to the severity of pitch coming off each bunker tying back into the green and its pin areas. In short, you’ll find these slopes to be your friend off the tee, but they will turn their back on you when playing out of the surrounding bunkers. Although the Par 3 5th is a brute, the 8th and two remaining Par 3’s should allow golfers to use their creativity and shot making ability to gain access into pins for good looks at birdie
The Par 5 9th continues a stretch of birdie holes playing back to the clubhouse and features a wonderful tee shot protected on its left by a massive deep bunker that leaves very little advantage to carrying
If the wind is behind you out of the west, the drivable 10th loves a greedy golfer and those playing aggressively will need to be mindful of out of bounds on the right side of the hole as well as the two small pot bunkers that dot the center of the landing area. These two bunkers are deep and claustrophobic, requiring golfers to take their proverbial medicine rather than advancing the ball towards the green. The ideal line of play is a fade off the left greenside bunker and although that sounds easy enough, the green sits on the narrowest of ridges and falls off on all sides making second shots or recovery shots from around the green quite difficult. If you go long, the wind coming off the sea could certainly play up and holding the green on your pitch shot might prove to be a difficult task. Sure, it’s fun to be gluttonous on the golf course and it can certainly pay off with a birdie, but we all know that short 4’s have a tendency to be just as difficult as they are easy and typically involve a bit of luck and a good bounce along the way
The 11th features what is possibly the narrowest of fairways on the course with out of bounds once again on the right side. As we finally encounter immediate views of the sea for the first time, the gusty winds coming off the west will come to the forefront of your mind and this already tight fairway will get smaller and smaller, becoming even more uncomfortable for the golfer off the tee. Keep your drive under the wind and down the right side of the fairway, leaving an ideal approach that
plays into a receptive green from the extreme right half of the fairway. The green is well protected by four bunkers and a cruel false front that peels off the green’s front right
The longest of the North Course’s Par 4’s presents a cluster of bunkers up the right side that will advance your ball down the fairway if carried. Executing this line of play will shorten the hole quite a bit while also providing an ideal angle of approach into a double plateau green that is held up by a series of diagonal bunkers short of it. To make this long hole even shorter, approach shots carrying the first diagonal bunker 25 yards short of the green should release into the green quite easily. Approach shots can also be played into the right half of the green, just short of the right greenside bunker, allowing the ball to release and work its way onto the putting surface. A long hole indeed, but if played correctly it can certainly bring fun and enjoyment to your round and hopefully a good score on an otherwise difficult and long Par 4.
The green on the short Par 3 13th is beautifully framed by two bunkers off its front right and front left with two bunkers behind the green setting up a receptive backstop coming into the green’s back right edge. Using the slope coming into the back right of the green to access the back left pin takes the front left bunker out of play, while long and right into one of the two bunkers will leave one of the more difficult up and downs on the course. Although it is the shortest of the four Par 3’s, the wind will certainly have an impact as to how the hole should be played
As we play back towards the sea, the 14th is a wonderful short 4 that offers a terrific opportunity to score as we close in on the final stretch of holes. Tee shots up the left side, flirting with the left fairway bunker and out of bounds left of the hole, should have a relatively easy pitch into the left half of this “Lion’s Mouth” green
The sea is off your left and while its beauty can distract you from the task at hand, the tee shot here is less demanding than others due to a fairly generous landing area. Playing into the left half of the fairway will provide an ideal line of sight up the remainder of this scenic Par 5 and while it’s nice to see what’s in front of you
Although the 16th is the longest of the Par 3’s, it’s green is generally the mostreceptive and the element of the ground game once again provides a shorter route to the hole. The front twothirds of the green sits in a big low that should be receptive to most tee shots. Golfers can also opt to play justover the short left bunker and use the slope coming off the bunker into the green to feed the ball into the front two-thirds. On the contrary, accessing the back pin is not for the faint hearted. Considering its tabletop perched character, a lower running shot into the front left half of the green, off the middle left bunker, is ideal to avoid running through the green and destroying any hopes of saving par. While the receptive front two-thirds of the green might produce its fair share of birdies, its best to play short and putt up to the back pin to keep your card intact
The 17th is the second longest of the Par 5’s and the left half of the fairway is sprinkled with bunkers offering ample room off the tee out to the right. Keeping the ball up the right side on your second shot is recommended, as the fronting greenside bunker will be taken out of play when playing into the right half of the green
A wide and generous fairway sits before you and you’ll want to stay clear of the bunkers scattered about the left half of the fairway and be extremely mindful to avoid the deep cavernous centerline bunker. Playing out to the right is a safe play and surely gives yourself a great chance to end the day on a positive note.
But for those less faint-hearted, go ahead and muster up that courage with a big drive over the daunting centerline bunker, resulting in what will be a terrific angle of approach into our closing green. Approach shots can be played off the right greenside bunkers into the front right pin and middle half of the green, while the back left pin is protected by a long and narrow greenside bunker on its front side with a sharp slope peeling off the back side of the pin into a chipping hollow. With wonderfully positioned bunkers protecting the front right and left side of this diagonal green, the best approach to scoring well on the closing hole requires taking an aggressive line off the tee, challenging one of the most severe bunkers you’ll encounter on the course
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Located 20 km East of Hue Imperial City, Golden Sands Golf Resort is the fifth project born from the strategic golfing collaboration between BRG Group and Nicklaus Design.
