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I
n 1998, when I first came to golf,
most Vietnamese people were un-
familiar with the sport; today, how-
ever, golf is hugely popular. The Vi-
etnam Golf Association estimates the
number of golfers in Vietnam stands at
around 15,000, but I believe the real
figure is far higher.
Since the first golf course was built
in Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City in 1993,
the number of courses has risen to 30
and tens of others are under construc-
tion. Initially, golf courses in Vietnam
mainly served foreigners working in
Vietnam, but now more and more Viet-
namese are interested. For me person-
ally, golf has brought me many things:
better health, friends and new relation-
ship in business.
Thanks to the growth of golf cours-
es, in 2007, Vietnam was named the
Top Undiscovered Golf Destination by
the International Association of Golf
Travel Operators.
Despite all this, in my opinion golf
development in this country is still go-
ing at a slow pace. The building of 30
courses over 20 years is rather modest.
in comparison with the growth in Thai-
land, Malaysia and Indonesia.
There are many reasons behind
this. Firstly, economic development
is a factor. Golf is an expensive sport
and not everyone can afford it. As the
proportion of affluent Vietnamese in-
creases, so golf will grow. However,
the economic situation is not the big-
gest hindrance for golf development in
Vietnam. The biggest challenge, in my
view, is the lack of awareness of golf
among the public.
In Vietnam, many people think
golf is for rich people and it is a luxury
sport. At present, the government is
imposing special taxes on services at
golf courses because policy-makers
consider golf to be a luxurious sport
and do not view it in a positive light.
This means playing golf in Vietnam is
more expensive than in other regional
countries, which deters developers
and golfers alike.
Worse still, Vietnam could begin to
lag behind Laos in terms of golf devel-
opment because golf there gets strong
support from the nation’s highest rank-
ing leaders. When I attended the open-
ing ceremony of a golf course there, I
saw the highest ranking leaders - that is
very rare in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, if we want to boost golf
development, we have to change many
things. Firstly, we have to change the
views of the public and policy-makers.
They must understand that golf is good
for the country because it promotes the
growth of other industries, like tourism
and services. It also creates jobs for
locals, and furthermore it is evidence of
the prosperity of the country.
A report from the Ministry of Plan-
ning and Investment shows that golf
courses made significant contributions
to national economic development in
2011, with around $25.4 generated in
taxes. Golf courses also employ 9,744
people according to the report. These
figures indicate golf is not only for rich
people, it is also an industry that gener-
ates a profit for the country.
If people and policy makers do not
change their mindsets, golf may not
boom, but instead keep on moving at
a slow pace while the gap between
Vietnam and other countries like Thai-
land widens.
A recent case illustrated the poor
attitude of policy-makers toward golf.
In October, Minister of Transport, for-
bade all officers working in the trans-
portation sector from playing golf for
fear it would make them lazy. However,
it is likely that he has removed the ban.
All this being said, we cannot
blame everything on the public and
policy-makers. To develop golf in Vi-
etnam, there should be a coalition
between golfers, golf course develop-
ers and golf distributors. The Vietnam
Golf Association is now just an as-
sociation for golfers and golf course
developers, while golf driving ranges
and golf distributors are not joining
forces. Compounding the issue, Viet-
nam does not have its own profes-
sional golf tournaments.
We need to promote golf in Viet-
nam through tournaments. That will
encourage more people to play golf as
well as help in finding the best Viet-
namese golfers to participate at inter-
national tournaments.
11
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PAR
GOLF IN VIETNAM