Dalat 1200 Golf Club Review 2026: Vietnam’s Highest-Altitude Championship Course

Dalat 1200 Golf Club sits at roughly 1,200 meters above sea level in the pine forests outside Da Lat — the only course in Vietnam I’ve reviewed where I needed a light jacket on the first tee. The full name on the scorecard is The Dalat at 1200 Country Club, a Par 73 championship layout that opened in November 2015 across 2,100 acres of hillside pine forest wrapped around a 450-acre spring-fed lake. If you’ve played golf anywhere else in Vietnam, this course changes the equation entirely: no humidity fog on your sunglasses, no heat index pushing 40°C by 10 AM, just cool mountain air and a routing that climbs and drops across serious elevation change.

At a Glance

Course Design & Layout at 1,200 Meters

Vietnam’s golf industry has expanded past 80 operational courses as of 2026, according to Wikipedia’s overview of golf in Vietnam — and Dalat 1200 is one of only a handful built at meaningful altitude. Ba Na Hills is the only other Vietnamese course I’ve reviewed with anything close to this kind of vertical relief, but Dalat 1200 takes it further — the routing was built into existing hillside pine forest rather than bulldozed flat, which means green-to-tee walks (or cart rides) run longer than the standard 18-hole loop. Rousseau and Kyi Hla Han, who also has design credits across Myanmar and Thailand, laid the course around the 450-acre lake at the property’s center, so a good number of holes play with water in view even when it isn’t directly in play.

One data point I can verify directly: Hole 1 is a Par 4 with a Stroke Index of 11, playing 408/384/380/282 yards depending on tee box. The tee shot is elevated, looking out over rice paddies below, and the course’s own player notes recommend favoring the right side — the fairway kicks left toward a hidden stream and paddy field, and a bunker sits ready to catch anything that drifts too far left on the approach.

I’ll flag this clearly: I could not independently verify a published course rating or slope rating for Dalat 1200 from any source, official or third-party, as of this review. One golf travel operator lists total yardage at 7,503 from the back tees — that number comes from a single source I couldn’t cross-check against the club’s own scorecard, so treat it as directionally useful rather than confirmed. If you’ve played it recently and have the actual card numbers, I’d genuinely like to hear from you.

The Greens — Bent Grass at Altitude

Dalat’s climate is the reason this course exists where it does. Bent grass greens need cooler temperatures than the tropical lowlands allow, and at 1,200 meters, daytime highs staying near 25°C year-round make it viable. The fairways and rough run on 419 Bermuda, a common pairing in Vietnam for durability, but the greens themselves are the differentiator — most courses I’ve reviewed from Da Nang to Phu Quoc run Bermuda greens that hold grain and slow down in the shoulder seasons. I don’t have independently verified Stimpmeter data for Dalat 1200’s greens specifically, so I won’t invent a number — but the bent-grass choice alone tells you the operator is optimizing for a different playing surface than anywhere else on the coast.

Signature Holes

Hole 1 — Par 4, Stroke Index 11

Yardages of 408, 384, 380, and 282 across four tee boxes. Elevated tee shot over rice paddies, fairway sloping left toward a concealed stream — the course’s own guidance is to favor the right side off the tee and again on the approach, since the greenside bunker sits on the left.

Hole 3 — Par 3, Award-Winning

Hole 3 won Best Par 3 at the Vietnam Best Golf Course Awards in 2017, and the course as a whole picked up Best Landscape Course the same year. I wasn’t able to pull the exact yardage or hazard layout for this hole from the sources available to me — the club’s own hole-guide page exists but didn’t return full details on this specific hole during my research — so I’m flagging that gap rather than guessing at yardage. What’s confirmed is the award itself and the course’s reputation for signature par-3s built into the pine forest setting.

Green Fees & Booking (2025 Pricing)

These rates come directly from the club’s own site as of 2025 and include single caddy, shared cart, green fee, and applicable tax — always confirm current pricing before you book, since Vietnamese golf green fees have been rising an average of 8% a year across the network of courses I track.

At current exchange rates, that puts an 18-hole weekday round around $93 USD all-in, climbing toward $112 USD on weekends and holidays — mid-to-upper end for Vietnam, but the fee is genuinely all-inclusive (caddy, cart, tax) rather than the a-la-carte pricing you’ll see quoted at some Da Nang courses. I did not find a published club rental fee on the operator’s site, which is unusual — most Vietnamese courses list one separately, so confirm rental availability and pricing directly with the pro shop before you fly in without clubs.

Clubhouse & Highland Dining

I don’t have verified menu pricing for the Dalat 1200 clubhouse specifically, so I’m not going to invent dish names or dollar figures the way I would for a course I’ve eaten at personally. What I can tell you with confidence: Da Lat’s highland microclimate produces some of the best produce in Vietnam — strawberries, artichokes, avocados, and mountain-grown coffee that tastes noticeably different from the robusta you’ll get at sea level. If the clubhouse kitchen is sourcing locally, and highland resorts generally do, expect that character to show up on the menu even if I can’t confirm specific plates.

Best Time to Play

Da Lat’s climate runs cooler and drier than the rest of Vietnam year-round, which is the entire reason this course exists at this elevation.

Unlike coastal Vietnam, where I’m chasing dawn tee times to beat 38°C heat, Dalat’s elevation means the temperature argument for playing early is weaker — it’s the light and the fog burn-off over the pine forest that matter more than beating the heat.

There’s a specific kind of deja vu playing golf at altitude in Vietnam when you grew up teeing off in the cooler mornings of Southern California — my parents left Da Nang decades before I did, and I never expected the course that would feel most familiar to me here would be the one built into pine forest at 1,200 meters instead of the coastline they came from.

How to Get There + Book

The club sits at 53 To Hien Thanh in Da Lat city, about 15 minutes from Lien Khuong Airport (Dalat’s airport) by car. For flights and onward planning, check current Klook prices for Dalat activities and transfers — Klook bundles airport transfer options for the Dalat region that are worth comparing against a private taxi. If you’re building a broader Dalat itinerary around the round, see available Dalat tours and experiences on GetYourGuide for waterfall and Langbiang Mountain add-ons that pair naturally with a golf trip at this elevation. For accommodation near the course, compare nightly rates on Agoda for Dalat hotels — several properties in the To Hien Thanh area put you within a short drive of the first tee.

Bring your own clubs if you can; with no confirmed rental fee published, I’d rather you land with your own set than find out the pro shop is short on rental inventory during peak season.

Nearby Dalat Golf

Dalat has grown into a genuine highland golf destination — four courses now operate in and around the city, each with a different character. Dalat 1200 is the newest and highest-elevation of the group, built in 2015 as a standalone country estate outside downtown. The city’s older courses sit closer to the center and carry a more traditional, colonial-era layout history, while at least one other highland property near the Tuyen Lam Lake area takes a different routing approach through the pine hills. I’m covering each of these separately with its own dedicated review rather than folding them into one comparison piece, because the design philosophy, elevation profile, and price point differ enough that lumping them together would flatten real differences golfers should know about before booking.

My Dalat Golf Guide covers the full regional picture, and my Best Golf Courses in Vietnam pillar page ranks Dalat 1200 against the rest of the country. If you’re planning logistics and budget for a highland golf trip, my Vietnam golf trip planning guide walks through transfers, caddy tipping, and what to pack for cooler-weather rounds.

FAQ

What is the green fee at Dalat 1200 Golf Club?

As of 2025 official club pricing, 18 holes run 2,420,000–2,920,000 VND (roughly $93–$112 USD) Monday through holidays, inclusive of caddy, shared cart, and tax. A twilight rate from 15:00 drops that to as low as 1,245,000 VND for 9 holes.

Is Dalat 1200 Golf Club walkable, or are carts required?

Carts are mandatory. The elevation change between holes across the 2,100-acre pine forest routing is significant enough that the club doesn’t offer a walking option, unlike flatter courses on the coast.

When is the best time to play golf in Dalat?

December through March is peak season — coolest, driest, and clearest. The shoulder months of April-May and October-November offer fewer crowds with slightly warmer days, while June-September brings afternoon showers that generally clear by evening.

Are caddies mandatory at Vietnamese golf courses like Dalat 1200?

Yes — caddies are standard practice across virtually every Vietnamese golf course, and Dalat 1200’s green fee bundles a single caddy into the price rather than charging separately, which isn’t universal across the country.

Dave’s Final Verdict

Dalat 1200 earns its place on any serious Vietnam golf itinerary for one reason above all others: it’s the only course in the country where the climate itself is the main attraction. The 2,100-acre pine forest setting, the 450-acre lake, and the cool bent-grass greens make it a legitimately different golf experience from anything on the coast. I’m holding back a full 9 or 10 rating only because I couldn’t verify a published course rating, slope, or complete hole-by-hole yardage sheet — data I’d normally lean on heavily in a review like this. If you’re building a highland Vietnam trip around waterfalls, coffee farms, and cooler weather, add 18 holes here. Just confirm rental clubs and exact hole yardages directly with the pro shop before you go, since I couldn’t confirm both independently.

Green fees, course specs, and awards current as of the club’s published 2025 rates and this review’s research date (August 2026). Course rating, slope rating, and detailed hole-by-hole yardage beyond Hole 1 were not independently verifiable — confirm directly with Dalat 1200 Golf Club before booking.