Bulk earthworks are almost complete, and six holes are shaped on the North course at Legend Valley Country Club near Ha Nam, Vietnam. The layout is the club’s second by Nicklaus Design following the opening of the South course in 2023 and will be the sixth Nicklaus course for developer BRG Group.
Initial earthworks on the North course began in 2018, then paused while focus shifted to creating the South. Work on the North restarted in July 2024.
Both courses have been built on a former quarry, framed by limestone mountains and featuring a number of impressive rock monoliths. “Much of the site was an environmental mess after years of aggressive rock breaking, but fortunately, many limestone outcrops within the course remain undamaged and fully vegetated, providing a visually striking canvas,” said Sean Quinn, senior design associate at Nicklaus Design. Multiple iterations of the routing plan were required to accommodate boundary adjustments by the local government. “Over the years, we ended up creating multiple versions of our design to accommodate all these adjustments,” said Quinn. “We weren’t allowed to carry out any rock blasting, so the routing was adapted to minimise the need to remove large sections of rock. However, we were forced to break rock in two areas that were already mined to make holes sixteen and eighteen work, which took many months of painstaking jackhammering.”
“The course had to be carefully routed as we weren't allowed to carry out any rock blasting,” said lead designer Sean Quinn (Image: Nicklaus Design)
More than 400,000 cubic metres of fill was required to elevate the low parts of the North course above the flood level and to cap all the rock prior to shaping. “Although Legend Valley is 80 kilometres from the coast, the lake levels throughout the course are only three metres above sea level, therefore proper drainage is critical,” said Quinn. “We designed a number of lakes to generate fill material, but many of these could not be excavated due to underlying rock. The owner identified an off-golf area to excavate a deep lake, where most of the fill material was generated before the entire course was sandcapped.”
The view from the teeing area of the tenth, framed by mountains with 30-metre-high vertical faces (Photo: Nicklaus Design)
While the landscape of the North is similar to the South, Quinn says the North serves up a more dramatic and diverse offering. “The front nine is subtle compared with the back nine,” he said. “It plays outward toward an existing 15-hectare lake and then meanders back between a series of natural smaller limestone outcrops and internal lakes. The back nine holes are bold, exciting, yet penal for any wayward play – the tenth, for example, sees players play through a canyon with 30-metre-high vertical cliffs on either side of the hole.”
The eighteenth hole plays downhill with water running across the front and to the left of the green (Photo: Nicklaus Design)
The courses are expected to mainly be played by locals, bolstered by specialised expats from the Ninh Binh and Hanoi areas. The region is host to many Korean and Japanese manufacturing firms.
“Care was taken to ensure that the course is adequately wide and playable, despite the total lake area,” said Quinn. “There is an abundance of water in play, but ample space to play golf. Greens are large and varied and can accommodate multiple pin positions. And the forward tees have limited forced carries to contend with.” A range of teeing areas will allow the North to be played from between 5,168 to 7,026 yards.
The par-four ninth has water on the entire left side of the hole (Photo: Nicklaus Design)
Quinn highlights holes six, fifteen and sixteen. “The sixth is a very interesting short par four,” he said. “Players have two completely different routes to the green. The low ‘safe’ right side fairway will be fully visible from the tee, but random rock outcrops will add an element of danger and require skill and a dose of luck to be carefully negotiated, however, the approach to the elevated green will be challenging with a bunker in front and a vertical drop behind the green that cannot be seen. Conversely, the high left fairway is perched on top of a 10-metre vertical cliff and requires a 240-yard carry from the member tee. The landing area is totally hidden and pitches steeply toward the green. Good players will be able to almost drive the green. Accuracy will be key though, with a miss to the left or right severely punished.”
The sixth hole will be able to be played via the low ‘safe’ route or a hidden higher fairway on the left (Photo: Nicklaus Design)
“Hole fifteen is a flattish par five playing between a mountain on the left and a lake to the right,” said Quinn. “A new back tee, not on plan, will extend the hole to 580 yards. The green is a peninsula and of good size, to encourage longer hitters to try reach the green in two.
“The sixteenth is another exciting par four that plays into a mountain amphitheatre with 100-metre cliffs on two sides and a large waste area separating sixteen from seventeen. The tee shot required a 10-metre-wide slot to be excavated through a rocky area.”
The par-four sixteenth plays into a mountain amphitheatre (Photo: Nicklaus Design)
Quinn incorporated rock outcrops throughout the design, often as backdrops to greens, or to create separation between holes. “One rock outcrop in particular relates to five holes,” said Quinn. “Holes four, seven, eight, thirteen and fourteen all use the same feature as either a green backdrop or a back tee launch pad.” The Legend Valley project team included lead shaper John Carson, Shang Yih Construction from Taiwan, irrigation supplier Toro, irrigation designer Jeff Stamper of Cadsult, Jebsen & Jessen and WR RockGroup Construction, led by Bill Rosmarino.