“The calls for sponsorship for professional golf tournaments has become even more difficult after a case involving two deputy chairs of the Vietnam Golf Association (VGA) who were caught and prosecuted for gambling. Some sponsors are reconsidering their sponsorship plans in 2023,” a representative of VGA said.

Of the 22 individuals prosecuted because of their involvement in the gambling case discovered in Vinh Phuc, except for two VGA vice chairs, one is the deputy secretary in charge of calling for sponsors. This has caused the search for sponsors to come to a standstill.

Under the initial plan, VGA Tour 2023 will include seven professional Lexus Challenge, Vietnam Open, National Championship, Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters and two scheduled new tournaments, namely Classic and Vietnam MatchPlay Championship.

Nevertheless, after the Lexus Challenge was organized earlier this year, the remaining professional tournaments of VGA Tour 2023 are still in standby mode after the scandals related to two VGA leaders.

For some golf tournaments, it is still unclear about the places of organizations and major sponsors, though the schedules have been made public.

Classic was initially scheduled for April 4, 2023, but it has been canceled for some reasons. Prior to that, VGA Union Cup 2023 could not be organized as planned, though everything was ready. 

The announcement about the cancellation was released just several hours before the time for the golfers to tee off.

“Sponsors are still thinking and pondering. I think everything will only come back to normal after some time,” a VGA representative said.

While professional tournaments are facing difficulties for sponsorship, amateur tournaments are still being scheduled as planned, though they have been, to some extent, affected.

The upcoming tournament is the one for middle-aged men, slated for April 27-28, in Ninh Binh or Yen Bai. From now to the end of 2023, VGA plans to organize about 10 amateur tournaments, including those for juniors.

As for the Vietnam Golf Team, after the list of golfers is released, golfers are practicing in localities. It is expected that they will begin a concentrated practice campaign to prepare for SEA Games 32 under the instruction of chief coach Nguyen Thai Duong.

The police caught a group of golfers gambling at a hotel in Khai Quang ward of Vinh Yen City in Vinh Phuc on March 20. However, VGA has not made an official announcement about this, because the association is still awaiting an official statement from the police.

Dai Nam