A thirty-minute drive west of the well-known golf paradise of Da Nang, lies the new Luke Donald golf design, Ba Na Hills Golf Club.
By Steven Loricco
The Da Nang region has five quality golf courses and Ba Na Hills fits in perfectly with its unique and special mountainous layout.
The golf course is situated on the base of the Ba Na Hills resort which holds one of the longest chairlift stations in the world. We stayed the day enjoying the entertainment, attractions and amazing views and at 4.30pm it was time to head back down the 45 min chairlift and play some very fun golf.
Back to the golf course, the front nine is the flatter of the two and starts off alongside the massive Ba Na Hills mountain on the right. The course measures 7,857 yards from the blacks so I decided to play the yellows which were still very challenging.
The fifth hole is when I realized this course was one of the toughest out there with the yellow tees measuring 683 yards! I just cleared the water and was thankful I didn’t play off the blacks tees which stretched to an amazing 708 yards.
My favorite holes on the front nine were the 7th and 8th. The 7th is a beautiful 443-yard par 4 with water left of the green. The 8th, a 192-yard picturesque par 3 which is highlighted by the huge Ba Na Hills mountain behind the green.
The back nine was much more elevating and starts off with a nice short, uphill par four.
The 11th is a beautiful dogleg left par 5, followed by the scenic Par 3 12th, which has rolling mountain views.
By the time I got to the very sloppy 13th, the lights were on and the visuals got even better.
After thinking golf couldn’t get any better I reached the 16th tee and played the best par 3 hole I have ever played. An island green under lights with mountains again outlining the background. I hit 7 iron and just found the green enjoying two putts for par.
The 17th was my second favorite hole as the tee is located a long way up another steep hill. I managed to par this hole and maybe the more you are enjoying your golf the better you will play.
This theory went out the window when I snapped hooked my ball on the 18th hole. Maybe the nerves built up as the excitement was too much. The sight of the clubhouse over the green all lit up really topped off an amazing 18 holes.
Ba Na Hills was one of my best golf days I have ever had. It’s a bit hard to beat an experience of day and night golf with exceptional views. The conditions were perfect and if your traveling to Da Nang Viet Nam, make sure you make your way to this remarkable spot at Ba Na Hills Golf Club, Viet Nam.
By Steven Loricco
