A quick and dirty report, just back from my Asia trip. The Bluffs is an excellent course on a very interesting property. Definitely very links like but not yet playing extremely firm and fast.
There is excellent variation but I note that there are quite a few holes that are designed to really display views and what's coming. For example, elevated tee on dunes to lower fairway back up to elevated green. Of course nothing wrong with that. It's a windy site, which was really welcome given the very hot conditions we played in. There is a very long ride and a bit of a break in the flow of the routing between the 3rd and 4th hole (we walked as much as possible but also rode in the cart at a couple points). I suspect given the fact that this is a resort course 99% of the people will use carts. The fact that it's always warm there will keep this number quite high.
There are a couple holes that definitely could be considered excellent holes that I find too penal given the windy conditions. The par 3, 4th hole is simply beautiful but watching a few very good players all lose their balls with not too bad of shots made me think of other penal Greg Norman designs. Personally, I see that as a mild flaw in his (teams) routings. I suspect this will have to be softened in the future but the hole is certainly exciting to play. All or nothing is bit tough when playing into that much wind. If it were a private members club, sure no issues there but as a resort course perhaps it's a bit too much.
Even with a couple little issues like this The Bluffs is an excellent course and certainly a Top 100 World contender.
One other side note that must be added IMO. I would very highly recommend that anyone going to Vietnam pay this wonderful place a visit. Next to Shanqin Bay they may have the best service I've ever experienced at a golf club. Ben and Sonia and their staff are amazing and extremely helpful with what can be slightly intimidating travel to the region there. They help with visa's in advance, pick up their guests inside of customs, can't tell you how big of a relief that proved to be and hold your hand through the process, not to mention arrange the transfer to the hotel which is about 2.5 hours. While it's well known that service levels in Asia are off the charts, The Bluffs gets everything right and I'll definitely return with family next time. I would start any golf trip to Vietnam based on my experience for this reason alone. Unless of course your all about doing it the hard way and roughing it through several hours of waiting in customs lines which is exactly what I avoided.