Vietnam: A Driver of Golf Growth in Asia
Vietnam is making a case to be a major golf player in Asia.
Every Monday, I write a newsletter breaking down the business in golf. Welcome to the 74 new Perfect Putt members who have joined us since last Monday. Join 4,993 intelligent and curious golfers by subscribing below.
Cool story out of Howard University.
The Men’s Golf Team was re-started after it was shut down 50 years ago. Steph Curry committed to fund the program for six years. Howard University is a Division I FCS school — the median expense for programs in this category is $266,000.
A big piece of a successful golf program is access to local golf courses for practice. While it typically isn’t a big deal for large programs — for example, the University of Washington lists five golf courses on its website. It can be an issue for small programs.
Concert Golf owns 28 private country clubs in the United States. The Country Club at Woodmore, a Concert Golf property, is 15 miles from Howard’s campus in Washington, DC. The Country Club has committed to provide Howard with access to its facilities.
Hey Golfers —
According to the R&A and Sports Marketing Surveys, there are 66.6 million golfers in the world — an all-time high from 2012 at 61.6 million golfers.
Here is a general breakdown by region.
North America — 30.6 million golfers
Asia — 23.3 million golfers
Europe — 10.6 million golfers
Japan leads the way in Asia with 10.3 million golfers. Golf is wildly popular in Japan and is the world’s second-largest golf market — it accounts for 22% of the global golf economy. It is only behind the United States, which accounts for 45% of the worldwide golf economy.
Golf in Asia grew to 23.3 million golfers in 2020 — up from 20.9 million in 2016.
While Japan and South Korea are Asia's powerhouses, Vietnam is quickly making a case to be recognized as an Asian golf destination.
Vietnam has 98 million people with nearly 2,000 miles of coastline on the South China Sea. With mountains and sandy soil — Vietnam’s topography is ideal for building golf courses.
In 2009, Nguyen Tan Dung, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, approved a massive plan for golf course construction. Vietnam was expected to build 89 golf courses by 2020.
Vietnam currently has around 75 golf courses, and it is estimated that one new course is opened every two weeks. The country generates around $100 million in annual revenue related to golf. While the number is relatively small compared to others — it is in its infancy for an opportunity in global golf. Around 30,000 Vietnamese play golf — nearly ten times as many as 20 years ago.
Nick Faldo is designing Silk Path Dong Trieu — a project estimated to cost $60 million.
And Nick isn’t the only professional golfer to design golf courses in Vietnam.
Luke Donald
Jack Nicklaus
Greg Norman
Luke Donald’s Ba Na Hills is highly rated and costs $150 for an 18-hole loop plus a $30 caddie fee. The golf course is decked out with lights allowing play late into the night.
Vietnam is well on its way to building world-class golf courses and ecosystems to attract golfers worldwide. But the next big thing is to develop local talent to compete globally.
While the Asian Tour hasn’t made a stop in Vietnam — the Vietnam Golf Association was able to resurrect the Vietnam Golf Tour in early 2022 after a tough run from COVID.
The Vietnam Golf Tour will play five professional events in 2022 — with a membership fee of $80.
The purse for each tournament is $66,000. And the 2022 money list is a diverse group of golfers.
Nguyen Huyet — $12,600 (Vietnam)
Joel Troy — $11,700 (Australia)
Brian Jung — $7,600 (South Korea)
The Vietnam Golf Tour has streamed its events live on Youtube, with the Lexus Challenge final round getting the most views at 20,000.
They have successfully landed partnerships with top brands like Garmin and Lexus.
While the Vietnam Golf Tour is not an OWGR-accredited tour — it mimics similar rules to that of an accredited tour.
Fields over 100 golfers
Four rounds
Cutline
But the golf growth in Vietnam hasn’t come without controversy.
There is a concern among locals in Vietnam about forest land and turning the land into golf courses.
Vietnam's forest land averages 42% — while countries in the region are higher.
Laos — 58%
Cambodia — 47%
The Vietnam Golf Association produced a study that stated the investment cost for a single golf hole in Vietnam is at least $1 million. And with Vietnam’s small local golf population, some golf courses could struggle to turn a profit. While the data is old, it is interesting. Ten years ago — Vietnam had 32 golf courses, and only 10 made a profit.
Some locals wonder if turning forest land into golf courses is worth the financial risk. But this isn’t necessarily a Vietnamese concern — many countries echo similar thoughts.
Vietnam will need its local golf population to continue to grow, and it will need to promote golf tourism to firmly place itself on the map as a golf hub in Asia.
But for a country that essentially didn’t even have golf in the late 90s — it is exciting to see the growth and excitement for the area.
Before we end — I will leave you with one last photo of FLC Quang Binh Golf Links.
Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!
Your feedback helps improve Perfect Putt. How did you like this week's newsletter?
If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please share it with your friends :)
Are you interested in partnering with Perfect Putt? Click the button to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.