VietNamNet Bridge – The stuffy atmosphere can be breathed at the golf courses nowadays, which, like many other business sectors of the national economy, are experiencing the dark days of the economic recession.

On the afternoon ofMay 3, tens of cars were seen at Twin Doves, a golf course in the new urban area of Binh Duong province, where a golf tournament gathering 140 golfers finished.

At the central building, some people were seen checking out after a day of playing, while others were preparing for the night play shifts.

Mai Van Nghia, Deputy General Director of the golf course said that some 80 golfers registered to play at night.

Tuan, an operator at the golf course, who has been working there for 3 years, said 50 percent of the guests are Vietnamese and the other 50 percent are foreigners. He also said the golf course is only busy on weekend, while there are few players on ordinary days.

Meanwhile, Nghia said the golf course receives 200 golf players on ordinary days and 300-350 on weekend who play from the early morning until midnight.

Also according to Nghia, the golf course now runs at 70 percent of the designed capacity. Most of the golf players are the Vietnamese businessmen from HCM City or BInh Duong province, and foreigners, mostly from South Korea, who are doing business in the two economic centers.

Da Nang Golf Club in Da Nang City and Montgomerie Links in Quang Nam province, located on the coastal line linking Da Nang City and the Hoi An ancient town are considered the most luxurious golf courses in the central region, which have become the destinations of many Vietnamese and foreign businessmen recently.

However, the golf courses were quiet on a May’s day. Nguoi lao dong’s reporters, who were present at the Da Nang Golf Club on that day, could see only 3 groups of players on the 18 hole golf course, two of which were Vietnamese.

H, a manager here said that the golf course is busiest on weekend, when there are 100 golf players, including some 20-30 players from Da Nang City.

H has noted that the number of guests has been increasing year after year over the last 3 years, since the day the golf course began operation. Most of them are foreigners brought by travel firms.

Truong Hoang Uyen Ly, a sales and marketing officer of Montgomerie Links, also said that most of the players there are from Asian countries including South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

There are also the managers of the foreign invested enterprises located in Da Nang City, from Dung Quat industrial zone in Quang Ngai province, and the businessmen and local authorities’ officials.

Doanh Nhan Saigon has quoted an experienced golfer as saying that businessmen nowadays, who have to struggle to survive the current difficulties, have to spend their time on settling their problems. Therefore, they do not go to play golf so regularly as they did in the past.

The newspaper has noted that the golf industry has suffered heavily from the economic downturn. Investors don’t have money to upgrade the existing construction items or finish half-done items.

A report of the Vietnam Golf Association showed that investors have to spend at least $1 million on a golf hole, and that a 18-hole golf course can only break even if it can receive at least 30,000 players a year. They need to have 33,000 players a year to make a 10 percent profit.

Compiled by Thu Uyen