Vietnam - As Good As It Gets

While any number of holes could have been chosen as the Dunes' signature - a modern-day term that riles with some of the purists out there - that particular honour goes to the sixteenth, a dainty par-three with a green perched just yards from the white-sand beach and crashing waves of the South China Sea. It really is a delightful spot - one that is sure to be photographed time and time again. But my personal favourite is the par- five tenth, a meandering three-shotter flanked by some of the tallest dunes on the course. This is closely followed by the eleventh, a stunningly- bunkered par three played from an elevated, windswept tee to a shallow green. Hand on heart, I have never played a finer short hole.
The Dunes isn't perfect - an assortment of rather nondescript holiday villas line a hillside overlooking the par-four seventeenth - but that really is nitpicking somewhat. The economic reality is that every new golf development has to incorporate a real estate component, and thankfully this one is generally very well hidden from the course. Quite frankly, in terms of a pure golfing experience, the Dunes really is as good as it gets in Asia.