Vietnam’s KN Golf Links Signs Up with Asian Golf Industry Federation
KN Golf Links, Greg Norman’s latest Vietnamese golf course creation, has joined the Asian Golf Industry Federation.
Officially unveiled late last year, KN Golf Links is a 40-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City followed by a 10-minute drive from the recently expanded Cam Ranh International Airport.
“I’m looking forward to the world getting to experience playing this fantastic golf course,” said Australian Norman, who described the venture as being among the most unique properties he’s worked with.
“I would put KN Golf Links in the top-10 in terms of unique properties I’ve ever been able to work with,” said the two-time Major champion whose Greg Norman Golf Course Design (GNGCD) company is a Full Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.
The Links ‘wows’ with its visual boldness, maximising the sand dunes and rolling contours of the land.
Norman said: “It’s not an Irish-style golf course. It’s not an Australian-style golf course. It’s not a Scottish-style golf course. It’s just a damn good links golf course. If this quality of course keeps coming online (in Vietnam), I think you are going to see people salivating at the prospect of coming here to play.”
KN Golf Links occupies 90 of the 800 hectares slated to be developed at KN Paradise, an ambitious integrated resort that will also feature at least three five-star hotels, an array of luxury real estate opportunities, a marina and a beach club, among other entertainment facilities.
Le Van Kiem, Chairman of KN Cam Ranh Company Limited, the course’s developer, said: “We wanted ‘The Shark’ from day one. Given the linksy nature of this site, and the fact Mr Norman has designed some of the world’s great links-style courses, he was the ideal man for the job.”
In addition to the 18-hole Links there’s a further nine-hole course named The Oasis.
Simon Mees, KN Golf Links’ General Manager, said: “The Links Course plays hard and fast, just like a traditional links course, while the Oasis Course feels somewhat like a tropical Augusta (National, site of the Masters Tournament), with beautiful flowers, streams and trees. Golfers are going to love the contrasting styles.”
The first golf course in Cam Ranh and the third in the greater Nha Trang area, amenities at KN Golf Links include a secluded driving range with an instruction studio and 24 bays, and a two-storey clubhouse that overlooks the ocean and three small islands about 10 kilometres offshore.
KN Golf Links is being managed in consultation with IMG, an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.
KN Golf Links is also working closely with The Anam – a lush 12-hectare resort overlooking 300 metres of Long Beach – to unveil golf and accommodation packages that make the most of Cam Ranh, which averages more than 300 sunny days a year.
Eric Lynge, the AGIF’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We’re delighted to welcome KN Golf Links to the Federation as a Golf Course Facility Member.
“Vietnam continues to establish itself as a genuinely world-class golfing destination. The quality of venues such as KN Golf Links only serves to further enhance the country’s reputation as a refreshing golfing getaway.”
The AGIF has Golf Course Facility Members in 12 countries and territories – Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, UAE and Vietnam.
