Award-Winning Vietnam Course Eyes May Re-Opening

Hue, Vietnam: Laguna Golf Lăng Cô is gearing up for a re-opening next month.

Praising the Vietnamese Government for its handling of the Covid-19 crisis, Adam Calver said golf clubs across the country may well benefit from the strict enforcement measures to contain the outbreak.

Calver, Director of Golf at the award-winning club in Central Vietnam, Chairman for the Vietnam Golf Coast and a Board Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF), said: “Given the success so far in Vietnam (in containing the virus) we’re looking at probably some domestic activity in May, but that’s under the advice and control of the local authorities.

“We’ve kept the golf course in a condition that we could open within 24 to 48 hours. Some of the hotels and accommodation might take a few more days to get a few areas fully operational again but we want to make sure the golf course is ready and playable as soon as possible.

“We know that once we open, we’ll mainly be serving members and probably some domestic business in May. Then, depending on how other countries recover, we imagine the countries that were hit first and hardest will be the first to recover, so we could be opening up to visitors from China and South Korea probably mid-Summer.”

A 22-year veteran of the golf industry who previously held senior positions at prominent clubs in Dubai, Indonesia and his native Canada, Calver made the move to Laguna Golf Lăng Cô and its Sir Nick Faldo Signature course three years ago.

He’s been impressed with how Vietnamese authorities have handled the current situation.

In the latest in a series of podcasts with leading industry figures that are being broadcast on the AGIF’s revamped website – www.agif.asia – Calver said: “As Vietnam borders China, everyone anticipated there would be a bigger impact with regards to the number of cases. But the Government here was very decisive and very swift to close down international borders and locate and isolate any cases they had.

“Business slowly closed down for us. China is the largest inbound tourism market for us and that was closed down in February, immediately as cases were starting to build up there. Korea is our second biggest market and once they started to experience outbreaks, the Vietnamese Government halted all flights and travel between Korea and Vietnam.

“As of April 1, Vietnam suspended all in-bound travel and introduced a nationwide lockdown of all non-essential services. The Government’s main goal, and they’ve been very successful at it, was stamping it out before there was an outbreak.

“They’ve been very proactive and we’re hoping that in a few weeks we’ll be starting to open up domestic business again … and then we’ll see when international business begins to flow.”

*To listen to the full interview with Adam Calver, please visit https://agif.asia/agif-podcast/