After months of thorough preparations, Huynh Van Son is poised to defend the National Golf Championship title in Da Lat, where he won the country’s debut top-flight domestic competition last year.

Son’s title defence is expected to be a tough task as he will compete against 80 top golfers including all his national teammates and emerging young talents like Nguyen Thai Duong and Tran Le Duy Nhat.

"I have prepared for this championship and am determined to defend the title," said Son, who clinched last year’s debut tournament title with a winning score of 305.

Son has been warming up at Da Lat Palace Golf Club for the last three days, aiming to reach top form.

Duong is among the strongest title contenders at the second annual national event which opens today at Da Lat Palace Golf Club.

Duong, 20 , honed his skills in America where he studied and practised golf for months after competition in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines last December.

The young talent is also poised to win the country’s most prestigious golf title with his intense preparations during the last two weeks, since his return from the US.

"I practised everyday while I was in America with the help of my Australian trainer and my skills have been much improved," said Duong. "I aim to play with all my best to win the championship."

Nhat, 17, is another promising title contender, who is also well prepared for the four-day competition. Last year, he finished sixth, two places behind Duong.

Nguyen Tri Dung, Duong’s 13-year-old brother, is the youngest golfer in the comp and the third of Nguyen Ngoc Chu’s family to enter the fray in Da Lat.

The oldest golfer at this year’s competition is 61-year-old Le Van Kiem who is a member of Long Thanh Golf Club and Residential Estate and considered a tough and determined competitor.

Nguyen Van Thong and Tran Trong Thien, Son’s teammates in the national squad, are also rivals for the title.

The 80 golfers qualified for the championship with an under-12 handicap, compared to an under-15 handicap last year.

"This year’s qualifying criteria has been changed to make the competition more challenging, but the number of golfers to qualify is greater than last year," said Pham Kim Hung, deputy head of the championship’s organisation board. Hung said Vietnamese golfers have made substantial progress during the last year since the debut of the national competition.

The championship is played under US PGA rules and runs four rounds. After the first two rounds of playing on 36 holes, the top 20 to 30 golfers continue competition during the last two rounds.

The player with the least strokes wins the championship.

The players who are level on strokes in the final round will compete on the 18th hole for the title.

The best golfers of the championship will be selected for the national team to compete at the Asian Games in Qatar this December.

Last year’s championship was important in the selection of the national squad to compete at the Philippine SEA Games.

The golfing world’s rules and development body and organiser, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), has for the first time sent specialist to support the tournament with an aim to help the country boost its golfing movement, which has gathered momentum after the sport was introduced in Viet Nam about ten years ago.

"We highly appreciate and support Viet Nam’s efforts to develop golf and hope we can help further develop the sport in the country," said R&A’s Asia-Pacific specialist Colin Philips