Greg Norman played The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip for the first time from the back tees and called it the finest design he'd ever built in Asia. That tells you something. Norman has designed courses across 30 countries; he's built on ocean frontage in Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. But the clifftop ridgeline at Ho Tram — 30 metres above the South China Sea, wind in from the east, nowhere to hide — apparently struck him differently.
After facilitating dozens of rounds there over several years, we understand why.
The Course
Location: Ho Tram Strip, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province — 2.5 hours from Ho Chi Minh City
Designer: Greg Norman / Shark Design
Length: 7,030 yards (championship)
Par: 71
Terrain: Clifftop — 20–40m above South China Sea
Best Season: November–April
Clifftop Golf: What the Layout Does
The Bluffs uses a fundamental design principle rarely available to architects: the land itself provides dramatic context that other courses must create artificially. Norman runs the back nine along the clifftop ridgeline, where prevailing easterly winds — typically 15–25 knots during dry season — make distance judgement unusually challenging.
The par-3 12th is the course centrepiece: played from an elevated tee directly into the prevailing wind, with the East Sea visible from every part of the hole. In calm conditions it plays around 165 yards to a green perched on the cliff edge. Into the wind, it can play 230 yards with a long iron. Our caddie team at The Bluffs have developed a microwave-accurate read of the daily wind pattern across this hole.
How AGS Pairs The Bluffs with Ho Chi Minh City
The Bluffs is best experienced as part of a Southern Vietnam extension rather than a standalone trip. AGS typically pairs 2–3 nights in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam Golf and Country Club, golf at Thu Duc, Park Hyatt Saigon accommodation) with an overnight at The Grand Ho Tram Strip resort for a Bluffs morning round. The 2.5-hour scenic coastal drive is part of the experience — private car, stop at Ba Ria market for breakfast, arrive in time for a warm-up and 7am tee time.
AGS rates The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip 9.3/10 — the finest course in Southern Vietnam by a significant margin. See the full course profile on our Bluffs Ho Tram course page or explore the Vietnam golf hub for the full national circuit.
