Vietnam Club and Turfgrass Management Seminar Heads to Danang
Award-winning BRG Danang Golf Club will be the venue for next month’s Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF) Vietnam Club and Turfgrass Management Seminar.
Some 100 attendees from clubs in Vietnam as well as representatives from venues in Cambodia, Myanmar and other countries in Southeast Asia are expected to attend the AGIF-organised event from July 24-26. The attendees will range in role from general managers to superintendents and course managers and workshop managers to mechanics.
The event will have two education streams serving turfgrass management and club management. The latter will focus on golf tourism with Vietnam emerging a premium tourism destination.
Eric Lynge, the AGIF’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Combining our Turfgrass Seminars and Club Management Mini Summits has proved a big success. It allows us to bring together turfgrass and club managers under one roof and, in turn, enables attendees to better understand the tasks and pressures faced by their colleagues.”
The latest turfgrass conference will shine a light on the necessity for clubs to provide premier playing conditions.
Lynge said: “In various surveys that the Federation has conducted, golf course conditioning repeatedly is regarded as the most important element when travelling golfers decide where they’re going to play – even more valued than the cost and location.
“As such, the importance of renewing and maintaining premier golf course conditions cannot be over-stated, not just in Danang and Vietnam, but across Asia.
“Indeed, that over-riding objective was one of the key reasons behind our launching of a Certificate in Greenkeeping programme last year. Aimed at supporting a formal education programme for golf course maintenance in the region, the initiative is backed by The R&A and offers an accessible, affordable and internationally recognised certification for superintendents.”
Headlining the speakers at the Turfgrass Seminar will be Matha Kasinurak, Superintendent at Thailand’s Navatanee Golf Course, and Robin Evans, Vice President of Construction and Agronomy, Troon Golf.
At the Club Management Mini Summit, the keynote address will be delivered by Mark Siegel, Owner and Managing Director of Golfasian, one of Asia’s most prominent golf tour companies.
As part of the AGIF’s on-going partnership with Sentosa Golf Club, the grand prize for the lucky draw will be a fully funded trip to the SMBC Singapore Open Volunteer Programme in January, 2020.
The second and third days of the gathering will feature tours to four other outstanding golfing facilities in the Danang area.
On July 25, delegates will visit Laguna Lăng Cô, home to the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, and Ba Na Hills Golf Club.
The following day, there will be trips to Montgomerie Links and Vinpearl Hoi An.
Lynge said: “We’re delighted to be able to confirm such high-quality speakers and are extremely grateful also to the management and staff at all of the clubs we’ll be visiting. Delegates will be able to see for themselves just why Danang has become such an attractive golfing destination.
“Furthermore, it’s a reflection of the continued growth in popularity of golf in Vietnam that demand for educational events such as this are ever-increasing.”
In 2018, the AGIF organised Turfgrass Management Seminars and Field Days and Club Management Mini Summits in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
In the first half of this year, in addition to events in Pattaya and Manila, the AGIF has staged Certificate in Greenkeeping modules in Malaysia and Thailand.
*For registrations and enquiries, please email Gwen Ng at gwen.ng@agif.asia
