BRG Kings Island Golf Resort Review 2026: Lakeside, Mountainview or Kings Course?

Last updated: 25 September 2026

BRG Kings Island costs you 45–60 minutes in the car from central Hanoi, and possibly a short boat ride on top. In return you get three par-72 courses on one lake, including a Kings Course that Top 100 Golf Courses ranks #10 in Vietnam. The short version of our BRG Kings Island review: that trade is worth making. The real question is which of the three to book.

Is Kings Island worth the drive from Hanoi?

Yes, if you are playing at least three rounds on the trip. For a single round on a tight schedule, probably not.

The cost is time. BRG Kings Island sits on Dong Mo Lake near Son Tay, roughly 45 km west of the city, and we plan the transfer at 45–60 minutes depending on traffic. The club’s own site describes the final stretch to its island clubhouse as a speedboat crossing of about three minutes. Depending on the course you are booked on, that boat may be part of your morning; we confirm it when booking.

What you get back is choice. Kings Island is the flagship of Hanoi golf and, with Phoenix in Hoa Binh, the largest complex among the 12 courses a Hanoi trip realistically uses. Three distinct 18-hole layouts share one property, so a group can split by ability, or play two courses on consecutive days without changing venue. The club counts 55 holes in total, because the Kings Course carries a 19th hole, a bonus par 3. On price, Lakeside’s weekday green fee is the benchmark our breakdown of what Hanoi green fees really include uses for the whole city. Weekends run roughly 70% higher.

Lakeside, Mountainview or Kings: which course should you book?

Kings for quality, Mountainview for balance, Lakeside for accuracy. The table sets out why; rankings are from Top 100 Golf Courses and the other figures are from the club and Vietnam Golf Magazine, all checked in September 2026.

A quick rule for groups:

• One round, strong golfers: Kings.
• One round, mixed abilities: Mountainview.
• Two rounds: Kings plus Lakeside, for the contrast between the 2018 and 1993 designs.

Facilities, the practice area and the location map live on the Kings Island course profile. This page is only about choosing between the three and planning the day.

Kings Course: what does it ask of you?

Commitment off the tee and a reliable long iron. At 7,310 yards from the tips it is the longest course at the resort, and it is the one golfers travel for.

The two nines feel like different golf courses. The front nine is wooded, so the question on most tee shots is position between the trees. After the turn, water takes over. The club singles out the 17th, its longest par 3, built as a Redan in the Scottish style; Vietnam Golf Magazine lists it at 232 yards, with the 4th another testing par 3 at 196. Then there is the bonus 19th, a par 3 to an island green that the club itself calls “do or die”.

Pick your tees honestly. We normally recommend that anyone above about 18 plays one set forward of where they would at home, because the back nine gives very little back once a ball is wet. Handled that way, it is the most rewarding round on the property.

Mountainview: why is it the all-rounder?

Because it tests every club without leaning on one hazard. It is a Pacific Coast Design layout from 2004, 6,978 yards from the yellow tees, laid out beside the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism on the mainland side of the lake.

• Tree-lined corridors reward a tidy drive more than a long one.
• The greens are Novotec grass imported from Australia, according to the club; Vietnam Golf Magazine notes it was chosen to suit the northern climate.
• The views run to the hills around Dong Mo, which is where the name comes from.

For a group with a spread of handicaps, this is the safest first round. Nobody spends the day reloading, and the better players still have plenty to think about.

Lakeside: short, tight and the oldest of the three

Lakeside is the course for golfers who hit fairways rather than headlines. It measures 6,516 yards, and the club dates Robert McFarland’s design to 1993, which makes it one of the first modern 18-hole courses in Vietnam and the oldest in the north.

Its defence is water, which comes into play on 14 holes as the routing pushes out into Dong Mo Lake. The small TifDwarf greens ask for precise approaches, and fairways are Bermuda. Length off the tee buys you little here; a straight 220-yard drive beats a wild 270 almost every time.

GoGolfVietnam uses Lakeside as round one of its six-day Hanoi itinerary with Kings Island already on the tee sheet, on day two, so the long drive comes when the group is fresh rather than tired.

How does a day at Kings Island actually run?

Plan on a full morning and early afternoon, roughly seven to eight hours door to door from an Old Quarter hotel.

1. Leave early. A 6:00–6:30 pickup puts you on the first tee soon after the 45–60 minute drive, before the heat builds in summer.
2. The last leg. If your course is reached through the island clubhouse, the club’s speedboat does the crossing in about three minutes. Mountainview is reached by road.
3. Your caddie. Caddies are compulsory here, as at nearly every Vietnamese course. The club has won Vietnam’s best caddie service award several times, including 2010, 2011 and 2017.
4. Lunch at the clubhouse, then back on the road, which gets you into the city by mid-afternoon.

In winter, allow for delay. Morning fog over the lakes can hold first tee times by 30–90 minutes in December and January, so through winter GoGolfVietnam books Kings Island for a 9 or 10am start rather than first light, and avoids pairing it with an evening flight.

Who should skip Kings Island?

Two kinds of golfer are better off elsewhere, and saying so is part of a fair review.

If you only have half a day, the numbers do not work. Two hours of driving for one round is a poor trade when Long Bien is 20–30 minutes from the Old Quarter. If you hate long transfers, the same logic applies to an arrival or departure day. Kings Island is also not on the confirmed list in our Night Golf in Hanoi guide, so it is no use for a round after dinner. On a short two-round trip, one Kings Island day plus Long Bien or BRG Legend Hill near the airport is usually the better balance than two long drives west.

For everyone else, it belongs on the trip, and you can compare how it slots in across every Hanoi itinerary we currently run. Comparing Kings Island with Sky Lake, the other multi-course resort outside the city, is a separate decision with its own guide.

Should you play 36 holes in one day, or split it over two?

If your group has the legs for it, 36 holes in one day is the efficient choice at Kings Island. You pay for the drive once, eat lunch at the clubhouse between rounds, and see two of the three layouts. It is common practice for visiting groups here.

The order matters more than people expect. Play the Kings Course in the morning while you are fresh, then the shorter Lakeside after lunch, when a tired swing is less exposed by 6,516 yards than by 7,310. Mountainview works as the afternoon round too, if your group would rather skip the water.

Split it over two days instead if you are travelling in May to August, when an afternoon round in Hanoi’s summer heat is hard work, or if half the group plays once a year. On trips of five nights or more, GoGolfVietnam normally recommends placing a closer course between two Kings Island days so no one does the 45–60 minute transfer twice in a row. How that fits a whole week is set out in our guide to how many rounds a Hanoi week can realistically hold.

Frequently Asked Questions

GoGolfVietnam, a local golf tour operator based in Da Nang, books tee times, transfers and hotels for golfers in both Hanoi and Central Vietnam.