Greg Norman course in Vietnam scores big in Spain
The Bluffs’ Head of Golf Operations is Australian Patrick Kelly, second from the left
The Ho Tram Strip has had to expand its trophy case once again after winning ‘Vietnam’s Best Golf Hotel,’ ‘Asia’s Best Golf Hotel’ and — the coup de grâce — ‘World’s Best Golf Hotel’ at the annual World Golf Awards in Spain on Saturday.
In October, its Greg Norman-designed links The Bluffs was voted ‘Vietnam’s Best Golf Course’ by Vietnam’s leading tourism and golf organizations.
The destination has also in recent years been awarded ‘World’s Best New Course’ at the 2015 World Golf Awards and inclusion on Golf Digest’s bi-annual list of the ‘World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses.’
“These awards speak to what we’ve been trying to achieve here from day one, which is a world-class tourism destination,” said Michael Kelly, Executive Chairman of Asian Coast Development Ltd. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ho Tram Project Company Ltd., which owns and operates The Grand and The Bluffs. “But we know it’s important to keep pushing ahead and leading the charge, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.”
Opened in 2014, the course shot to international prominence in 2015, when it hosted the Ho Tram Open, a $1.5 million Asian Tour event won by Sergio Garcia and voted ‘Event of the Year’ by tour members.
The Bluffs is currently undergoing a multi-faceted renovation project designed to further elevate its profile.
In addition to reducing the amount of vegetation that has overtaken some of the dunes and removing the bermuda grass between and around many of the tee boxes, the maintenance crew is working with US-based turf specialist On Course Agronomic Consulting to improve the performance of the playing surfaces, especially the greens.
The Bluffs, which is also site of a budding collection of single-family luxury homes called The Gallery Villas, is scheduled to again host an Asian Tour event — The Ho Tram Players Championship — each of the next two years.
The 2018 edition will take place from Dec. 6-9. Dates for 2019 are still to be determined.
