11 best golf resorts in Asia | GOLF Top 100 Resorts in the World

By: GOLF Editors September 13, 2023

FLC Halong Bay GC & Luxury Resort in Ha Long, Vietnam.

Courtesy

The world may be getting smaller, but its collection of top-shelf golf resorts remains vast. From the American Heartland and the shimmering coasts of the Caribbean to the peaks of Europe and the majesty of Asia and the South Pacific, virtually every region on the planet is home to a sampling of the game’s finest stay-and-play experiences. To learn about the best golf resorts in Asia, keep reading below.

To browse GOLF’s complete 2024-25 list of the Top 100 Golf Resorts in the World, click here.

The best golf resorts in Asia (2024-25)

Ba Na Hills
Da Nang, Vietnam

When Tour pros get involved in golf course architecture, they tend to build designs that suit their games. Not Luke Donald, the short-hitting former World No. 1. He has stamped his name on the longest course in Vietnam. Tipping out at 7,858 yards, Ba Na Hills bucks and rolls along the base of mountains, 30 minutes from the coastal city of Da Nang, where golf has boomed in recent years. This is Donald’s first foray into design, built in partnership with IMG Golf design. And though it lies within easy striking distance of layouts by such player-architects as Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman, it is situated farther inland, on higher ground, in a cooler climate, and features more dramatic elevation changes. The resort feels like a place apart as well, with a tranquil atmosphere that stands in quiet contrast to the bustle of Da Nang. And if the course feels too crowded for you by day, just wait until after sunset. Ba Na Hills has lights, so you can play at night. [LEARN MORE HERE]

Banyan Club Hua Hin
Hua Hin, Thailand

A seaside resort town about 140 miles south of Bangkok, Hua Hin is known as both a weekend getaway and an international retirement destination. Part of its appeal to tourists and expats is a cluster of fine golf courses, tucked into the hills above the coast, of which Banyan Tree is regarded as the best. This is lush and lilting tropical golf, with wide, rollicking fairways that play to impeccably manicured greens. Adjacent to the course without encroaching on it are the accommodations, a collection of two-bedroom villas that make for relaxing hideaways. Some of the villas have private splash pools, and all provide access to the resort’s expansive lagoon pools. [LEARN MORE HERE]

The Bluffs Grand Ho Tram Strip
Bá Ria-Vũng Tàu Province, Vietnam

Among the many hats he wears — clothier, vintner, restaurateur, disruptor — Greg Norman is also tourism ambassador to Vietnam. He’s bullish on the country — and its courses, in part because he designed a few of them. Situated on the coast, 80 miles from Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Tram opened in 2010 on a sandy plateau that overlooks the water and has the rugged feel of a tropical links. Though development constraints prevented Norman from routing holes hard along the sea, he moved little land while fashioning a bouncy layout that plays under the influence of coastal winds. The course, which is Norman’s second design in Vietnam, is the first golf resort in the country to be integrated with a casino, which sits a shuttle-ride away, on a bustling beach-side strip. You can channel your inner gambler, on and off the course. [LEARN MORE HERE]

The Bluffs Grand Ho Tram Strip in Bá Ria-Vũng Tàu Province, Vietnam. Courtesy

Chiangmai Highland Golf & Spa Resort
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Big hitter, the monk. Actually, not really. But Khruba Siwichai, who lived at the turn of the 19th century, was an esteemed Buddhist monk, and this resort sits on his former hermitage. No wonder the meditative mood of the surrounds, in an unspoiled setting that combines fresh air and friendly service with long views of a mountainous northern Thai landscape. For all the tranquility of atmosphere, the golf itself can be pulse-pounding, on three dramatic, water-strewn nines that invite bold lines and heroic shot-making. After the exhilaration of a round comes ample opportunity for relaxation in the steam room, swimming pool, sauna or an Aveda-inspired massage that offers a full menu of soothing treatments. [LEARN MORE HERE]

FLC Halong Bay GC & Luxury Resort
Ha Long, Vietnam

A lot of resort courses have water views. No other has water views like this. Stretched atop a hill along the Gulf of Tonkin, roughly 100 miles from the capital of Hanoi, this luxe destination commands a panoramic of a seascape so distinctive, it’s been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ha Long means ‘descending dragon,’ an evocative descriptor for the thousands of limestone outcrops that rise from Ha Long Bay, calling to mind the spikes of a partially submerged sea monster. The course is something of a spectacle, too, winding through verdant, pine-studded terrain with an inventive routing that features four par-3s in a five-hole stretch and water views on all 18. Unlike many resorts in Vietnam, where golf and accommodations are spread apart, with shuttles running back and forth, Halong’s course sits at the center of the action: an arresting playground, stitched amid accommodations and amenities that suit the splendor of the setting. [LEARN MORE HERE]

Laguna Lăng CÔ
Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam

It’s not often when walking to your ball you’ll pass farmers working rice paddy fields, water buffalo in tow. But at Laguna Golf Lang Co, you will on at least four holes. The farmer may not always be there, but the rice paddies will, and you better hope your ball is not in one. This is just one of the many unique and delightful aspects of what some believe to be one of Sir Nick’s more daunting designs anywhere (his second in Vietnam). Completed in 2013, Laguna Golf Lang Co is the centerpiece of a sprawling resort complex in Central Vietnam, tucked between steep mountains and white sand beaches. It’s characterized largely by rolling sand dunes, natural streams and warm breezes along the East Sea. It can stretch out past 7,000 yards for the hearty, but Faldo has built a set of tees for those looking for a more leisurely experience at 5,263. You’ll walk away from Laguna Golf Lang Co and realize it’s unlike any course you’ve ever played — perhaps the best compliment a golf course can receive. [LEARN MORE HERE]

Mission Hills Haikou
Hainan, China

Leave it to the world’s most populous country to create a golf resort of such staggering scale. Like its Mission Hills counterpart near Hong Kong, this outsize escape, on balmy Hainan Island, is practically a city unto itself. Stretched across a vast, black-lava landscape, it is home to 10 courses whose names — Sandbelt Trails, Lava Fields, Stone Quarry, and on— speak to their distinctive traits. The property’s huge footprint also makes room for a metropolis-worth of non-golf amenities and diversions (rare is the golf resort that boasts a foot massage center within easy striking distance a billiard room), all anchored by 18-floor luxury hotel. [LEARN MORE HERE]

Mission Hills Resort
Shenzhen, China

Mission Hills China is a unique development designed not so much as a stand-alone golf resort but quite literally as an entire city. Or really several cities. Call it a county. It’s a playground certainly for golfers, but it’s a destination open to tourists of every stripe and poised to satisfy every possible desired adventure. But you’re here for the golf, so here goes. Officially there are 12 courses by former professional players that every golf fan would know. That’s the most of any single golf resort in the world. But there are 10 additional courses at nearby Mission Hills Haikou, all designed by Brian Curley of Schmit-Curley Design. (Curley actually helped the signature designers with the nuts and bolts of 10 of the 12 courses at Shenzhen.) The consensus is that the World Cup and Olazabal courses are the strongest of the lot. The World Cup by Nicklaus is the one that started it all. Built specifically to host the 1995 World Cup of Golf, the first-ever international tournament held in China. It kicked off the golf boom in the area and wears well its status as the OG of Mission Hills. The Olly course at MH Dongguan (his first) might be the strongest test on property. It will challenge your short game something fierce and has hosted the World Cup four times. [LEARN MORE HERE]

Ria Bintan GC
Bintan Island, Indonesia

Gary Player has designed upwards of 130 projects in 38 countries on five continents. The fact that at one point he named Ria Bintan GC among his top 10 speaks volumes. The Ocean Course was completed in 1998 and is almost two separate experiences. Much of the front nine winds through the Riau jungle providing an intimate, native experience (I see you, long-tail macaque!). After you tee off on the par-5 seventh hole and begin walking down the fairway toward your ball (hopefully), the South China Sea reveals itself in spectacular fashion. There’s a reason this hole was voted the best par-5 in Asia. If the distraction doesn’t get to you, par is not a difficult score. The short par-3 eighth takes you down even closer to the water, and the entirety of the ninth borders the sea. It’s a memorable stretch on a course that will long linger in your mind. The Forest Course consists of nine Player-designed holes and exudes more of a parkland feel. Fairways are welcoming but the bunkering can bite (as at most Gary Player courses). Ria Bintan actually offers the opportunity to combine the Forest with one of the Ocean nines if you want to play 18. [LEARN MORE HERE]

South Cape Owners Club
Namhae Island, South Korea

What’s to be said about a golf course that offers ocean views from all 18 holes? That’s indeed the case at South Cape Owners Club, where, in 2013, Kyle Phillips created another of his international masterpieces. The effect is achievable due to the property’s location on a vast cliff, high above the Namhae Sea, near the south end of the Korean Peninsula. The South Cape Owners Club and its ever-hospitable South Cape Spa & Suite is the dream of Korean fashion designer JB Chung, who was told what he dreamt was impossible. Not for Mr. Chung. What resulted, both for golfers and non-golfing lovers of luxury, is a decadent experience sure to be at the top of many bucket lists. GOLF course ranking panelist Simon Holt offered praise not just for the course, but for the entire surreal immersion. This excerpt captures perfectly the decadent dual nature of what’s on offer at the Cape: “You then approach what was for me the highlight of the round. You exit the 15th green to see a sharp-edged, perfect triangular mound of grass and glass. Imagine the bow of the Titanic from the movie poster, with nothing but sky and sea behind it, but instead of the deck you have grass, and instead of the brass rail you have glass! As we walk closer, wooden steps lead underneath the grass, which is actually the roof of another incredible modern tea house. There are floor-to-ceiling glass walls inside with gorgeous and highly-polished wooden flooring. Some minimalist furniture sets a space-age tone in this little pitstop on the back nine. Lewis Capaldi is pumping out of the Sonos speakers; the structure we are in seems like we’ve entered a giant glass shell, keeping all the music in, and we all just stay quiet and admire the incredible view.” [LEARN MORE HERE]

Vattanac Golf Resort
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Vattanac Resort is a celebration of great golf and of ancient Cambodian culture. With 43 holes of award-winning play, Vattanac shines among all courses in Southeast Asia. Sir Nick Faldo and his design team did some heavy lifting in the Kingdom first with the East course in the fall of 2019. In 2020, the vast and intimidating East was named “Cambodia’s Best Golf Course” at the World Golf Awards. Part of the landscape includes ancient scale replicas of Khmer architecture including Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple and Terrace of the Elephants. Faldo Design was not content to rest on its laurels. In 2020, they created the West course, a tighter track that plays with a bit more intimacy. The WGA was also impressed and awarded the West its own “Cambodia’s Best Golf Course” designation the next year. Then, in 2021, came something truly unique; The Dragon Turn, a raucous par-3 course that’s played most often at night to beat the Cambodian heat. Full flood lights provide more than enough vision. Dragon Turn was named “World’s Best 9 Hole Golf Course” by the WGA in 2021. [LEARN MORE HERE]