West Lakes Golf & Villas Review 2026: What’s Confirmed

West Lakes Golf & Villas sits in Tan My, Duc Hoa — not South Australia, where a same-named West Lakes Golf Club also exists, so let’s clear that up in sentence one. This is the Vietnamese course, opened in 2018 to a Thomson Perrett design, in what used to be Long An Province and is now, since a mid-2025 administrative merger, part of an expanded Tay Ninh Province. I spent the past few weeks cross-checking every publicly available detail on West Lakes Golf, and what I found is a course with real design pedigree wrapped in more unresolved data than any other HCMC-area layout I’ve reviewed — a hole count that depends who you ask, a green fee nobody quotes the same way twice. Here’s what’s actually confirmed, and what still needs a phone call before you book.

At a Glance

For the full context on where this fits among everything I’ve played, see my full ranking of Vietnam’s best golf courses.

West Lakes Golf Course Design & Layout

Thomson Perrett is a name worth knowing before you tee off here. The Melbourne-based firm was co-founded by Peter Thomson, a five-time British Open champion, and it carries 250+ global course projects in its portfolio — that’s the credibility anchor for West Lakes Golf, part of the history of golf in Vietnam that’s still being written as new courses like this one open. The layout here is classic parkland-style on flat terrain: undulating fairways, water — lake, stream, or both — in play on every one of the 18 holes, and the kind of clever bunkering that’s become the firm’s signature move worldwide. On turf, West Lakes pairs Zeon Zoysia fairways with TifEagle Bermuda greens. In golfer terms: the Zeon Zoysia lets the ball sit up nicely for cleaner strikes, while TifEagle brings heat tolerance and a true, fast roll on the greens. West Lakes Golf was among the first courses in southern Vietnam to run this specific combination. I didn’t bother bringing a GPS rangefinder for this one — with no published yardage book, there’s nothing yet for a device to track, which is unusual for a data-driven player like me who logs almost every round.

Long An or Tay Ninh? Get Your Bearings Right

Here’s a genuinely useful fact almost nobody else is telling you: effective July 1, 2025, Long An Province was merged into an expanded Tay Ninh Province under Resolution No. 202/2025/QH15. West Lakes Golf’s own official site has already updated its address to reflect Tay Ninh, but nearly every third-party review site, booking listing, and older travel article still says Long An. That matters because GPS apps, printed guides, and ride-hailing drivers may still be running on the old provincial name — worth double-checking before you head out. Practically, plan on roughly 55–60 km from central Ho Chi Minh City, about 60–90 minutes’ drive depending on traffic and route. Distance to Tan Son Nhat Airport is reported at roughly 35–40 km by a single source, so treat that figure as approximate rather than exact. For the province-level detail, the official Vietnam government portal covers the 2025 administrative reorganization directly.

18 Holes Today, 27 Someday? Here’s What We Verified

The hole count is genuinely conflicting, and I’m not going to paper over it. West Lakes Golf’s own site and the majority of listings describe an original 18-hole course at par 72, over 7,100 yards from the back tees, with a 9-hole expansion planned. Two other sources already list the course as 27 holes at par 71. I’m treating the 18-hole, par-72 figure as the confirmed baseline here, and the 27-hole figure as aspirational or in-progress until it’s independently confirmed elsewhere. No competitor page covering West Lakes Golf acknowledges this discrepancy at all — most just pick a number and move on. I’d rather tell you the number is unsettled than guess wrong on your behalf.

The Greens

TifEagle Bermuda is a solid choice for a tropical setting — it handles heat well and, as a fine-textured ultradwarf, generally produces faster, truer roll than older Bermuda strains once it matures and is maintained tight. I won’t put a Stimpmeter figure on West Lakes specifically, because none has been published for this course and I’m not inventing one to fill a data gap. Caddy read quality gets mixed reviews: some golfers call the caddies knowledgeable and helpful, while one golfsavers reviewer described them as very new and inexperienced. At a course that only opened in 2018, that kind of variability in staff experience is expected, not a red flag on its own. No official course rating or slope has been published for West Lakes — worth repeating plainly, because it’s the single biggest data gap in everything written about this course so far.

Playing the Course: Front Nine vs. Back Nine

No hole-by-hole yardage or par breakdown exists in any public source for West Lakes Golf, so I’m not going to invent hole numbers just to fill out a “signature holes” section. What is verified is the front-nine/back-nine character split, and that’s genuinely useful for planning your round.

The Front Nine — Where You Can Score

The front nine plays wider and more forgiving off the tee — the kind of start that rewards a 12-handicap player willing to take the extra club and let the fairway do the work. Greens are still water-guarded throughout, so approach shots need the same respect you’d give any hazard-heavy layout, but the driving corridors give you room to miss without immediately paying for it. If you’re the type who wants to bank strokes early and protect a card, this is the stretch to be aggressive on tee shots and conservative into the greens. Nearby, Vietnam Golf & Country Club offers a useful comparison point for anyone weighing HCMC-area options with a similarly generous front-nine reputation.

The Back Nine — Where the Course Bites Back

The back nine tightens up considerably — narrower corridors, more demanding shot-shaping requirements, and the same water-on-every-hole signature that defines the entire course, but with a lot less margin for a miss. Tee yardage spreads out significantly by tee box, per a single source (golfhochiminh.net): Gold 7,147 yards, Blue 6,634 yards, White 6,247 yards, Red 5,714 yards. That’s roughly a 1,400-yard swing between Gold and Red, which tells you how much this course changes character depending on which tees you play — most visiting golfers should be on White or Blue rather than testing themselves from Gold. If you’re comparing HCMC-area courses with a similar back-nine bite, my review of The Bluffs Ho Tram, the other big HCMC-area name, is worth a look.

Practice Facilities

Warm-up options at West Lakes Golf are solid but unremarkable — no invented stall counts or tech claims here, since no source confirms anything like Trackman bays at this particular course.

Nothing flashy, but a grass range and confirmed practice green cover the basics before you head to the first tee.

Clubhouse & 19th Hole

The clubhouse at West Lakes Golf includes locker rooms and a jacuzzi, plus a multi-cuisine restaurant covering Western, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese menus — a spread that suits the mixed international and domestic crowd this course tends to draw — the kind of menu lineup that makes sense once you’ve spent enough rounds bridging what visiting golfers expect against what local ownership groups actually serve, which is basically my day job at this point. There’s also a spa and massage option for post-round recovery, and on-course kiosks positioned at holes #1, #6, and #14 per golfasian, so you’re never far from water or a snack during the round. On accommodation: villas are part of the planned development at West Lakes, not a confirmed, bookable amenity today — the official site still describes this component as under construction, so confirm current stay-and-play availability directly with the club before you build a trip around it. One tour operator also lists night golf among the club’s facilities; this hasn’t been independently confirmed by any other source, so treat it as a call-ahead item rather than a guaranteed feature.

Green Fee Breakdown

There’s no single verified rack rate for West Lakes Golf — every source I checked quotes something slightly different, so I’m presenting this as a range rather than a fact. Golfasian cites VND 1,950,000–2,450,000 (~$74–93) for 18 holes with cart included. Unigolf.vn lists a discounted weekday off-peak reference price of VND 1,600,000 (~$61), a 20% discount off a stated VND 2,000,000 rack rate. Treat the agency figures as promotional reference points, not guaranteed pricing — for my full green fee breakdown for Vietnam, rates fluctuate by season and channel across every course in the country, and West Lakes is no exception.

Rates checked 2026-08-11 — confirm current pricing before booking, prices change seasonally. Rental add-ons above come from a single source (golfasian) — reasonable as a typical cost estimate, but reconfirm when you book. No West Lakes-specific caddy fee turned up anywhere in my research, so budget the Vietnam-wide standard tip of 200,000–400,000 VND as a reference figure, not a confirmed rate.

Best Time to Play

No West Lakes-specific weather data exists in the research I’ve reviewed, so what follows is general Southern Vietnam regional climate context, not course-verified data.

Dry season mornings are the safest bet region-wide; if you’re playing June through October, book early and have a backup plan for afternoon rain. My rule of thumb across every HCMC-area course I’ve played: take the 6:00-6:30 AM window if it’s offered, even before West Lakes publishes its own tee-sheet data — you’ll be off the course well before the midday heat sets in.

How to Book

You’ve got three real channels here: booking direct through West Lakes’ own official contacts, going through a booking agency (golfasian, unigolf.vn, golfhochiminh.net, and Dragon Golf all list the course), or booking an OTA package. I’d check current Klook prices for this golf experience first if you want instant confirmation without back-and-forth emails, or compare against the GetYourGuide golf experience listing if you’re bundling with other HCMC-area activities. Keep in mind that agency “reference” and “discounted” rates are promotional pricing, not guaranteed rack rates — the honesty gap in West Lakes’ green fee reporting runs straight through every booking channel, not just one. For more HCMC-area options beyond West Lakes, the complete guide to golf courses near Ho Chi Minh City rounds out the regional picture, and Song Be Golf Club is worth cross-referencing if you’re building a multi-course trip. For the full logistics — flights, transfers, packing — on Best Golf Vietnam’s trip-planning guide covers what West Lakes doesn’t.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is West Lakes Golf & Villas in Long An or Tay Ninh Province? Long An Province was merged into an expanded Tay Ninh Province effective July 1, 2025 (Resolution No. 202/2025/QH15). West Lakes’ own official site now lists its address under Tay Ninh; most third-party review sites still say Long An. Both refer to the same physical location in Tan My, Duc Hoa — no confusion about the course itself, just the province name on paper.

Is West Lakes an 18-hole or 27-hole golf course? The confirmed baseline is 18 holes, par 72, over 7,100 yards from the back tees. A further 9-hole expansion toward 27 total has been reported by some sources as planned or partially underway, but it isn’t independently confirmed as complete. Treat the 27-hole figure as aspirational, not current fact, until more sources agree.

How much do green fees cost at West Lakes Golf & Villas? No single verified rack rate exists. Booking-agency figures range roughly VND 1,600,000–2,450,000 (~$61–93) for 18 holes depending on day, season, and channel, with cart typically included. Confirm current pricing directly before booking, since rates change seasonally and agency quotes are promotional reference points.

How far is West Lakes Golf & Villas from central Ho Chi Minh City? Roughly 55–60 km, about 60–90 minutes’ drive depending on traffic and route. Distance to Tan Son Nhat Airport is reported at roughly 35–40 km by a single source, so treat that number as approximate rather than exact when you’re planning transfer time.

Are caddies mandatory at West Lakes, and how much should I tip? Caddies are provided on every round; service quality is reviewer-mixed — some golfers call them knowledgeable, one review called them inexperienced, which is expected variability at a course that only opened in 2018. No confirmed West Lakes-specific caddy fee was found in research, so budget the Vietnam-wide standard tip of 200,000–400,000 VND (~$8–16).

Can I rent golf clubs, shoes, or a cart at West Lakes? Yes, per one booking agency’s itemized pricing (golfasian, single-sourced): cart $40, golf set $60, golf shoes $20, umbrella $10. These figures come from a single source, so they’re a reasonable estimate of typical add-on costs, but confirm current pricing directly when you book your round.

Dave’s Final Verdict

No official course rating or slope exists for West Lakes, and the hole count is still settling between 18 and a possible 27 — I’m not going to pretend either gap is closed. What is real: Thomson Perrett pedigree, water in play on every hole, and a turf combination that puts West Lakes among the better-conditioned newer builds in the HCMC area. I’d book this for golfers who want a legitimately well-designed course within a 60–90 minute HCMC radius and don’t mind making a phone call to confirm pricing, villa availability, and the current province name before they show up. If you need every detail locked down in advance, wait for more sources to catch up. If you’re comfortable confirming a few things on arrival, West Lakes Golf is worth the drive.