The Tiền Phong Golf Championship for young Vietnamese talent reaches its 10th edition on 14 November at Legend Valley Country Club in Ninh Bình, with a record field of about 240 golfers expected. Tiền Phong newspaper launched the event at a press conference in Hà Nội on the morning of 22 October, Tuổi Trẻ reports. The tournament marks the paper's 73rd anniversary (16 November 1953 to 16 November 2026) and raises money for the Vietnam Young Talent Support Fund. Its hole-in-one prizes are worth nearly 4 billion dong in total, according to Thanh Niên.
Format and prizes
Thanh Niên and the news site of the Vietnam Sports Administration say players are split into groups A, B, C, a women's group D and a Young Talent group. The event is stroke play with NET scoring on a daily handicap (System 36), and the Best Gross title goes to the lowest actual score on a par-72 layout. The champion receives a trophy and gifts.
The hole-in-one package includes a Volvo XC90 Ultra worth 3.289 billion dong plus three further prizes worth 600 million dong in total. Tuổi Trẻ says the car goes to the first player to ace the 6th hole on the Rose course, while the three cash prizes of 200 million dong each sit on the 15th hole of the Rose course and holes 4 and 12 of the Canyon course. The Sports Administration says insurer DBV sponsors those three prizes.
Young players who have won the Tiền Phong Golf Championship or the national championship, or topped a VGA Junior Tour event, play for free. Other golfers under 18 get 60% of their entry fee covered.
For the first time the event uses both 18-hole courses at the 36-hole Legend Valley complex, Rose and Canyon, according to the Sports Administration. Canyon only opened on 10 October 2026 and is the 10th 18-hole course run by the BRG Group. Rose has water on 14 of its 18 holes, while Canyon runs through gorges and deep valleys with big elevation changes.
Ten years of champions
The championship began in 2017. After eight editions at Kings Island Golf Resort it moved to Legend Valley in 2025, and this is its second straight year there. Winners as listed by the Sports Administration and Thanh Niên:
| Year | Champion | What followed |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Nguyễn Bảo Long | |
| 2019 | Nguyễn Vũ Quốc Anh | |
| 2020 | Nguyễn Nhất Long | National champion in 2023, turned professional |
| 2021, 2022 | Nguyễn Anh Minh | National champion in 2022, now at Arizona State University (NCAA) |
| 2023 | Nguyễn Đức Sơn | Won the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final and the national title in 2024, turned professional |
| 2024 | Nguyễn Bảo Châu (born 2012) | |
| 2025 | Nguyễn Trọng Hoàng (born 2010) |
Anh Minh is the standout. According to Thanh Niên, after his two wins he took two bronze and two silver medals at the 2023 and 2025 SEA Games, won the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in 2023, finished runner-up at the 2025 US Junior Amateur, won the Bonallack Trophy with Asia-Pacific in 2023 and 2025, and lifted the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup with the International team.
The fund behind the event was set up in 1993 and helps the Communist Youth Union's central committee run the Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces award, presented every 26 March. Money from the golf has helped it hand out tens of billions of dong in scholarships and awards. Phùng Công Sưởng, editor-in-chief of Tiền Phong newspaper, described the 10 editions as a decade of persistence in support of young Vietnamese talent, the Sports Administration site reported. Deputy director Lê Thị Hoàng Yến of the Sports Administration attended the launch.
Vietnamese golf without Anh Minh and Khánh Hưng
SGGP reports that Nguyễn Anh Minh and Lê Khánh Hưng are unlikely to play golf at the 10th National Sports Games in 2026 because both are studying and competing in the United States. At the 9th Games in 2022, Anh Minh won team gold with Hà Nội and Khánh Hưng took men's team bronze with Ho Chi Minh City.
Golf at the Games runs from 23 to 28 November at Vinpearl Golf Léman in Ho Chi Minh City, the course's first time as host, and the results also count as the 2026 national championship. Four titles are at stake: men's and women's individual and team events. Each delegation can enter up to four men and three women. Individual play is 54 holes of stroke play over three rounds without handicap; the team events are knockout match play.
What comes next
November is busy for Vietnamese golf. The Tiền Phong Golf Championship tees off in Ninh Bình on 14 November, two days before the newspaper's anniversary on 16 November. A week later, from 23 to 28 November, the National Games golf event takes place in Ho Chi Minh City. With Anh Minh and Khánh Hưng likely absent, the national title is open to other players, including young golfers who came through events such as the Tiền Phong Golf Championship.