Raising the Bar

But back to the course. It’s always windy at The Bluffs - on my visit I was told the two-club breeze that we played in barely registered as a zephyr - which explains the wide landing areas. The secret to scoring is really negotiating your way through the dunes and finding the correct portion of the putting surface with your approach shot because the green complexes, maintained superbly by Scotsman Ali MacFadyen, another old Vietnam hand, have plenty of potential to perplex. Being hole high is what the pros will be looking to achieve. Control with the irons and a deft touch are going to be the keys to success.

But it’s not just the pros and low amateurs who will enjoy themselves. The Bluffs is the type of course where - and this is based on the wind not kicking up too high - it’s possible for even middling amateurs to play with the same ball the whole way round. There is little in the way of water - certainly none of the enormous lakes that characterise many courses in Southeast Asia - and even wayward shots into the dunes can often be salvaged lest they nestle deep within the scrub.

Both a brilliant test of golf and yet eminently playable, this is a truly intelligent design, one that come December, the region’s best players and television viewers around the world are going to discover for themselves.