Golf entered Vietnam in 1922 when Vietnam’s last King Bao Dai built the first golf course (Golf Dalat Palace) in the resort city of Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. In the early 1990s, the sport became more popular when Vietnam opened its doors to the world.

According to data from the General Department of Sports, Vietnam has 80 18-hole golf courses and by 2025, 200 18-hole golf courses will be in operation. Golf is also increasingly popular, with about 100,000 players and about 30,000 people playing at least twice a month, according to the Vietnam Golf Association.

The golf market in Vietnam is considered to have a lot of potential for growth as Decree 52/2020 and the Law on Planning, which took effect on January 1, 2019. Accordingly, local governments can set their own golf course development plan. 

Many provinces and cities have expressed their desire to develop golf courses. Earlier this year, Bac Giang province announced a plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, with 13 golf courses. Currently, three golf course projects are being implemented, namely Yen Dung, Viet Yen, and Bac Giang.

An Giang province has called for investment in Ho Ta Lot tourist area combined with a golf course, one of its 30 key projects in 2022. 

At a recent investment promotion conference, Soc Trang province also called for investment in a golf course project in Long Phung commune, Long Phu district covering 90ha. It is reported that Dak Nong province also planned a large golf course in Ta Dung, on an area of up to 23,500 hectares.

In this situation, many domestic and foreign corporations have been investing in golf courses in Vietnam. Private capital flows are expected to be the driving force contributing to the development of Vietnam's golf market.

Private corporations invest in dozens of golf courses

The first Vietnamese investor in the golf field was the BRG Group of Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga. More than two decades ago, BRG bought the Dong Mo golf course, which is now Kings Island Golf Resort on 350ha of land and 1,500ha of lake surface.

This was an important milestone in the domestic market when golf was a new field at that time. Ms. Nga admitted that she did not know anything about golf nor had she ever held a golf club.

Since then, beside Kings Island Golf Resort golf course, Nga's group has become a leading corporation in golf course investment and business, with Ruby Tree in Hai Phong, Legend Hill Yard in Soc Son District, Hanoi; BRG Da Nang Golf Resort in Da Nang; and Stone Valley which is being built in Kim Bang District, Ha Nam.

The next name was VinGroup. The group of billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong currently has six golf courses nationwide, with a total area of ​​912 hectares, including: Vinpearl Golf Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa province; Vinpearl Golf Hai Phong; Vinpearl Golf Phu Quoc; Vinpearl Golf Nam Hoi An in Quang Nam; and Vinpearl Hanoi golf course project of 293ha. 

In 2018, Vinhomes - a member unit of Vingroup - became a shareholder owning 98% of the charter capital of GS Cu Chi, the developer of the Cu Chi golf course project in northwest Ho Chi Minh City.

Similar to Vingroup, FLC's golf course projects are located in a resort real estate complex, such as: FLC Golf Links Quy Nhon of 100ha belonging to FLC Quy Nhon Beach & Golf Resort (Quy Nhon); FLC Golf Links Sam Son of 80ha belonging to FLC Sam Son Beach and Golf Resort Complex (Sam Son, Thanh Hoa); FLC Golf Links Ha Long of 85ha belonging to FLC Ha Long Bay Golf Club & Luxury Resort (Ha Long, Quang Ninh); and  FLC Golf Links Quang Binh belonging to FLC Quang Binh Beach & Golf Resort (Quang Binh).

Not only FLC or Vingroup, many private groups have also combined golf courses with real estate projects to increase value.

These include Muong Thanh Group of tycoon Le Thanh Than with Muong Thanh Dien Lam golf course (Nghe An province) with a scale of 70ha in Muong Thanh eco-tourism area, and Muong Thanh Xuan Thanh golf course (Ha Tinh) located in a project complex of 112ha.

Vietracimex of businessman Vo Nhat Thang has the Song Hong golf project (Hung Yen), a 27-hole golf course combined with resort and eco hotel with a scale of 204ha. This firm also owns Minh Tri golf training center with an area of ​​180ha and the Hanoi Golf Club project with an area of ​​102ha.

No Va Real Estate Investment Group JSC (HoSE: NVL) owns a 36-hole PGA Ocean golf course located in the NovaWorld Phan Thiet project complex (Binh Thuan).

Many other corporations also have invested in golf courses such as: Long Thanh Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company of businessman Le Van Kiem with Long Thanh golf course (Dong Nai) and KN Golf Links - Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa); Him Lam Group with the Tan Son Nhat golf course system (HCM City) with scale of 156ha and the Long Bien Golf Course (Hanoi) of 119ha.

In addition, Thanh Cong Group  is the investor of the Hoang Gia golf course complex in Ninh Binh.

Businesses want to invest in more golf courses

With great potential, it is not surprising that Vietnam's golf market is booming with many projects waiting for approval.

In March, the D&N Group Joint Stock Company (Souith Korea) asked permission from the central province of Ha Tinh to survey and plan at the scale of 1/500 for a resort and golf course complex on 600ha, with total investment of 6,000 billion VND in Cam Xuyen District.

The Midland Real Estate Investment and Services JSC wants to build Ho Son service golf course complex in Huu Lung district of Lang Son Province. The BRG Group is applying for approval of a 72.56ha international golf course project in Quang Xuong district of Thanh Hoa Province. 

The Hoa Phat Group has asked the People's Committee of Hai Duong Province to approve its project to build an international golf course and an ecological urban area with about 385ha in the districts of Gia Loc and Ninh Giang.

In late 2021, Hoa Phat and KDI Holdings also proposed researching and investing in projects in Nha Trang City and Ninh Hoa Town of Khanh Hoa Province, including golf courses.

Nha Dau Tu