Vietnam has formally brought its 2026 National Golf Championship — the VinFast Cup — into the competition programme of the 10th National Sports Games for the first time. The announcement was made at a press conference in Hanoi on 2 November 2026. Competition is scheduled for 23–28 November at Vinpearl Golf Léman in Ho Chi Minh City, with four medal events: men's individual, women's individual, men's team and women's team.
The distinction matters. The new milestone is the national championship's inclusion in the multi-sport Games programme, not necessarily the first appearance of any golf competition in the Games' history. Results will now contribute directly to the medal ambitions of provincial, municipal and other sports delegations at Vietnam's major four-yearly sporting event.
Individual golf: 54 holes, stroke play and no cut
Both individual competitions will comprise three rounds of 18 holes, for 54 holes of gross stroke play. Handicaps will not apply, and there will be no cut between rounds. The competitor recording the fewest total strokes over the three rounds wins the respective individual national title.
The no-cut provision is important: unlike a typical professional event that reduces its field after 36 holes, the championship intends to give every eligible individual competitor a three-round opportunity, subject to the normal Rules of Golf and competition conditions.
Team golf: a separate match-play challenge
Individual scores also determine the seeding of the top eight men's teams and top eight women's teams for a knockout phase. In the team competition, the format changes to match play. Each men's team tie is contested through three singles matches; each women's tie consists of two singles matches.
Those singles matches should not be mistaken for foursomes, four-ball or scramble. They are head-to-head matches where holes won decide the outcome, rather than a direct addition of all players' stroke-play totals. Strong individual scoring helps a delegation earn its team position, but cannot by itself guarantee a team medal.
Dates and venue
The published provisional programme places practice and the technical meeting on 23 November, the individual rounds on 24–26 November, team quarter-finals and semi-finals on 27 November, and medal matches and the closing ceremony on 28 November. All of these are future scheduled activities, not completed results.
Vinpearl Golf Léman is a 36-hole golf complex with North and South courses in the Ho Chi Minh City area. For competitors, the shift from three days of stroke play to team match play will make preparation and decision-making especially important.
What changes for Vietnamese golf
For Vietnam Golf Association (VGA), the sporting authorities and regional coaches, the event is now both a national title contest and a measure of the depth of local teams. It gives emerging players a prominent platform and puts more emphasis on how well a delegation performs as a unit under head-to-head pressure.
Organisers have mentioned the 2025 individual champions Nguyen Tuan Anh and Le Chuc An among those expected to compete; that is not a confirmed final 2026 entry list or a prediction of the winners.
The announcement and formats were checked against the VGA, Vietnam's national sports authority and an independent Voice of Vietnam (VOV) report published on 2 November 2026.
