Vietnam Becomes a Golf Resort Destination

The Montgomerie Links Vietnam, the first 18-hole course to open in Vietnam outside the orbits of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has announced the completion of its final four holes and informal opening, on Aug. 17. Grand Opening ceremonies are slated for March 2010.

Two-plus years in the planning, design, and construction, The Montgomerie Links brings a world-class layout to a country already booming as a golf destination. The project is unprecedented in several respects, beginning with the golf experience itself.

"The course will take its place with the best and best-known courses, not just in Asia, but around the world," said General Manager Jon Tomlinson. "It was a long time coming, but as they say, 'If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.' We expect golfers to find it was done to perfection. It's truly a one-of-a-kind venue."

Designed by European Ryder Cup captain and eight-time European PGA Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie, the layout capitalizes on the site's natural, dune-strewn topography for a visually stunning, memorable golfing challenge. A par 72 that measures as much as 7,090 yards from the back tees, it also has three less-daunting sets of tees, the forward-most being 5,119 yards.

"From the championship tees, this course will test the very best of players to the fullest," Tomlinson said. "At the same time, resort players will find it playable. It's become a bit cliché to say a new track accommodates players of all levels. But it's particularly important that Montgomerie Links plays so well from the middle tees, and from 5,200 yards.

"We have many female members and new players here. We understand that. In fact, we invested heavily in an academy specifically to introduce players to the game. It takes a special club to meet all these goals, and this is a special club."

Like classic links courses in Montgomerie's native Scotland, the sandy soil, rolling contours, and frequently blustery conditions make for hard-and-fast playing conditions. Huge greens add to the effect. But wispy casuarina pines and other indigenous vegetation, along with strategically placed water features and paspalum turfgrass, put these features in a more modern and exotic context. So do views of the Marble Mountains and South China Sea.

The last four holes to be readied for play are holes 3 through 6 — a microcosm of the variety evident throughout the entire layout. The 3rd is a par 4, 400 yards from the back tees, with fairway bunkering deployed to ensnare balls seeking a "short-cut" down the left side of the fairway. An amphitheatre green complex demands a precise second shot.

At 331 yards from the tips, the 4th is the course's shortest par 4, but the landing area, hidden from the elevated tee, and water hazard on the right hand side, add considerable strategic intrigue.

In terms of playing challenge — a short iron shot that's all "carry" over water to a wide but shallow green, complicated by winds that frequently make proper club selection baffling — the 127-yard 5th hole is reminiscent of the notorious 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Club. Expanses of rice paddies and cloud-covered mountain ranges over either shoulder, however, vividly reinforce the Vietnamese context.

A manmade symbol of that context is the abandoned gun placement pillbox flanking the next tee box. At just 506 downhill yards, from the back tee, the par-5 6th hole begs players to "go for it" in two shots. Any chance at success requires a drive hugging the right side of the fairway, followed by avoidance of the water guarding the left side of the green.

As spectacular as the 18-hole Montgomerie Links will be, it is only one element of the project currently complete or coming on line. There is also the state-of-the-art golf academy staffed by a team of international PGA golf professionals and equipped with video swing-analysis technology. The academy is extending its hours of operation to 9 p.m., thanks to supplemental lighting, also the first of its kind in the Central Coast region.

The 70-plus hectare project includes a dramatic 3,000-square-meter clubhouse and stylish café with floor-to-ceiling windows at the practice facility. The first phase of the clubhouse — pro shop and locker rooms — will be ready along with the course.

The project is also the first in Vietnam to combine golf and real estate. Presently under construction are 54 villas — called The Estates at Montgomerie Links — that range in size from 276 to 395 square meters, situated on spacious lots of as much as 700 meters. All villas feature heated swimming pools, contemporary American-style kitchens and expansive views of the course.

"The overriding concept here has always been to raise standards across the board — as a place to play the game, as a place for our employees to work and for our members to live," said Tomlinson. "More evidence of this will be presented soon too, when the clubhouse is completely finished and the residential component is done."

Montgomerie Links' owner, Indochina Capital, has committed US $45 million to the project, and the exciting changes at the club are, in turn, but part of the travel-and-tourism revolution taking place in this most-promising region of Vietnam.

Less than two years ago, another Indochina Capital property, a posh super-luxury resort and spa dubbed The Nam Hai, opened to worldwide acclaim on a site just five kilometers south of The Montgomerie Links. The most prestigious hotel groups in the world, including Raffles, Banyan Tree, InterContinental and Hyatt, are also developing resorts in the region.

www.montgomerielinks.com