Ground has been broken on a new golf course in the northeast of Vietnam. The Silk Path Dong Trieu Golf Course has been designed by Faldo Design and will be the centrepiece of a multi-million-dollar development that includes villas and a hotel.

The Silk Path Golf Course Joint Stock Company is aiming to transform the site in Dong Trieu, located 90 kilometres east of Hanoi, into a destination that attracts both domestic and international visitors.

“With Silk Path Dong Trieu Golf Course, it is our vision to deliver a golfing paradise in Vietnam,” said Bui To Minh, CEO of the Silk Path Golf Course Joint Stock Company. “The golf course will strive to showcase the very best of Vietnam and will aim to attract golfers from all over the world who wish to discover a truly unique and memorable golfing experience.”

“This project has the potential to become one of the outstanding golfing facilities in Vietnam and Asia,” said Sir Nick Faldo. “Vietnam’s golfing growth over the past decade has been phenomenal. I’m delighted to be playing a part in that and I am confident that Silk Path Dong Trieu Golf Course will develop into one of the finest golfing venues in the country.”

Faldo Design plans to take advantage of the flatter land in the northeast of the site for the front nine. The first and ninth holes, both par fours, will share a fairway, the par-three third and sixth holes will be well defended by bunkers, while the rest of the front nine will be a mix of par fours and fives with water playing a small role.

On the back nine, however, water plays a key role, especially on holes twelve, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, which are located in the southeast of the site. Construction of the Silk Path Hotel has been earmarked for an area behind the fifteenth green.

“The existing terracing seen on certain parts of the site provides a unique and local influence on the golf course design whereby fairways will become large terraced ‘platforms’, often with quite angular forms to reflect the land divisions seen around the area,” said Faldo.

“Retention, transplantation and/or introduction of local and native vegetation will form an important element of the overall design and look of the golf course, which will seek to respond to its locality.”

Watch: the groundbreaking event that was held in late October and hear from Adam Calver, director of golf at Laguna Golf Lăng Cô, about what the Silk Path Dong Trieu project could achieve.

Faldo Design’s plans also includes a nine-hole par-three course, located to the west of the eighteenth hole, and a teaching academy adjacent to the first hole. The clubhouse will be in a central location offering 360-degree vistas, with the ninth, thirteenth and eighteenth greens being in full view.

It is expected that the project will be completed by 2023.