Golden Sands Golf Resort near Hue, Vietnam, will hold a soft opening of its North course, the first of two Nicklaus Design courses planned for the development, in early September.
The course was designed by Jim Wagner, who has since become a partner of Curley-Wagner Golf Design, while at Nicklaus Design as a senior design associate. The resort has been developed by Vietnam’s BRG Group and built along Vinh Xuan beach. BRG has already worked with Nicklaus Design on the Legend Hill, Kings Island, Da Nang Golf Resort and Legend Valley developments in Vietnam.
“The site is a natural sandy parcel located along the sea and featured a variety of natural movement, from extreme flats to chopped up rolling topography with soft elevation change. The site’s most appealing landform was a natural ridge that bisects the property running north-south,” said Wagner. “Despite the site’s sandy character, we did encounter several areas that were holding water just prior to construction. This was unexpected and did impact the design as it forced us to elevate part of the course and divert water into low-lying native areas between holes.
“Although most of the front nine was in extreme low-lying flats and had to be raised, the back nine is a wonderful sequence of holes that takes advantage of natural sand dunes and gently rolling topography with long views of the sea to the east. We did very little earthwork on these holes and that should be apparent when playing the course. The back nine will undoubtedly be one of the more exciting finishing experiences Vietnam golf has to offer.”
During Wagner’s first walk of the site, he identified the natural ridge running north-south as a feature that had to be incorporated. “That ridge is the land’s most prominent natural feature and taking advantage of it influenced the entire routing as its terminus sat below an elevated promontory, which was an obvious fit for the clubhouse location,” said Wagner. “With the sea to the ridge’s east and extreme flats occupying much of the land to the ridge’s west, the routing began to take shape with the ninth hole eventually playing south and back towards the clubhouse along the ridge.”
The opening four holes play away from that ridge. “It’s not until the short par-five seventh where we begin to return to the clubhouse,” said Wagner. “This green sits below the elevation change into a dramatic and natural punchbowl. Like many of the greens at Golden Sands, this putting surface is quite big but is also completely blind, with a cluster of carry bunkers that sit 20 to 30 yards short of the green, with a slope tumbling down into the punchbowl.”
“Permitting did not allow us to put any holes right on the beach and we had to retain a line of casuarina trees to separate, but we have thinned them out and opened some ocean views in certain key areas,” said Sean Quinn, senior design associate at Nicklaus Design, who helped to complete the course. “Casuarina trees have been lightly planted throughout, but they do not block vistas. When the mature casuarinas are cropped, they resemble gorse that gives the course a great look.
“The majority of landscaping is native grasses and sedges harvested from the surrounding dunes. Pine needles from the casuarinas will provide another landscape layer in time.”
The course has been built by Flagstick Golf Course Construction, with Jeff Stamper of Cadsult IDS designing the irrigation, which was installed by Jebsen & Jessen. The project team has also included BRG’s head superintendent Heath Glasby and shaper John Carson.
Greens and surrounds have been grassed with TifDwarf bermuda, while fairways and tees feature Greenlees Park couch grass. The average size of putting surfaces is around 750 square metres, with Quinn, who played the course in early August, reporting that they were already running just under 10 on the Stimpmeter.
Wagner says bunkers have been crafted into natural movement wherever possible. “We’ve used the site’s pine needles and native grasses to encompass the back side of most bunkers with open pockets of sand scattered throughout the native areas,” he added. “Although the course plays very big and wide off the tee, the challenges will come when playing into each green and being very selective with the placement of each approach as several greens feature large areas of slope pitching away or into greens. That slope can help or hurt you depending on what type of shot you are playing.
“When the wind kicks up, playing into a good miss is something all golfers playing the course should think about to avoid high scores. With tightly mown approaches and slopes around the greens, golfers will need to get creative with the variety of recovery shots they play, with bump and runs, pitches and Texas wedge all possible. Some of these recovery shots will be really fun and I think the more creative and imaginative you are as a golfer, the better you will score. That is how I try to play the game, and I think a lot of my designs reflect that.”
The downhill par-three eighth makes use of the ridge to create elevation change, with an expansive green surrounded by bunkers that are set away from the putting surface, tempting golfers and offering them encouraging movement towards the green. “This hole was completely developed off the natural movement and was always one of my favourites during the rough shaping phase,” said Wagner.
“The tee shot on the par-five ninth plays boldly back into the ridge and finally into a large green sitting below the clubhouse with a strong feeder slope working off its right and into the right half of the green.”
The back nine starts off with two short par fours, one of which is driveable, when the wind blows in a favourable direction. “The wind is strong here! There were some brutal days on site battling it with sand blowing everywhere,” said Wagner. “We lost some movement here and there, but mother nature showed us where it should be… as always on sites like this. There were many days that would have easily been considered unplayable and that’s before the daily rains started.
“Despite the heat, some days truly felt like you could be on a golf course in Scotland. The golf course is very difficult on its own and when you begin to introduce wind and rain, it will easily be one of the most difficult courses in the country. The client wanted the course to be difficult and that is exactly what we have given them. Fortunately, the market here loves a difficult golfing experience and while it is a difficult course, you should be able to find your ball given the generously wide fairways and clean native areas.”
The wind and the course’s length – it is over 7,500 yards from the back tee – makes the North a tough test. To offer players the chance to make it more playable, particularly during windy conditions, Wagner created long freeform tees that allow players to tee off further forward.
Wagner and Quinn agree and identify holes thirteen to fifteen as a special stretch. “The par-three thirteenth plays away from the ocean in an intimidating uphill fashion, with the green located on an extension of the central ridge before climbing up in elevation for the big reveal on the par-four fourteenth,” said Wagner. “The fourteenth plays downhill off the ridge and features long views of the sea as its backdrop. Although this hole is on the short side, the wind will have a huge impact on scores playing directly at the sea.
“The back nine then begins its return to the clubhouse with the quirky par-five fifteenth playing parallel to the sea before moving back inland to the long par-three sixteenth, featuring one of the largest greens I have ever designed. A good amount of the green’s front section pitches away from the green in the direction of the tees. When playing into the wind this will be a formidable feature to carry when the pin is located at the upper middle and back sections of the green.”
Golden Sands ends with two of the course’s most challenging holes. Wagner describes the par-five seventeenth as a true three-shot par five, ending with a shallow green that has a deep camouflaged low fronting it. And the eighteenth, a 505-yard par four, closes the round with one last challenge for players.
The South course is in the planning phase while the clubhouse will be completed later this year.