Golf restart after pandemic 03:12, 24/06/2020

By Hal Phillips

Perhaps the best, most positive example of this dynamic is the 18-hole course now taking shape amid the palm-shaded dunes of Binh Tien, just south of Nha Trang. This is the very first golf development undertaken by the Trung Nam Group, but you’d never know it. While many projects across the country find themselves at a standstill — stymied by missing links in the supply chain, or waiting on expatriate consultants barred from travel by Covid-19 — construction in Binh Tien continues, full speed ahead.

The golf course broke ground in late 2019 and remains on schedule to open — on its beautiful crescent shaped beach, bounded by low hills and dotted by extraordinary beachside boulder clusters — in the first quarter of 2021.

The development team assembled by Trung Nam Group helps explain why construction there has not been much affected by Covid-19: Each team member brings to the table local capability and vast strategic experience.

For example, golf courses are nothing without turf grass. Trung Nam Group wisely chose to source its turf from Hanoi-based Outfield Nursery Enterprises, Ltd. (ONE). ONE is a newly-opened company owned and operated by Hong Kong-based Witgang Far East Ltd. (www.witgang.com), for 30 years one of the most experienced, trusted and diversified golf course and agricultural supply firms in Southeast Asia and greater China.

Vietnamese golf course projects historically have imported their top-quality turfgrass from overseas, and ONE’s team is set up to help Binh Tien from start to finish. Country manager Thao Nguyen and her team in the Hanoi office are managing the logistics, finance, and importation of the Platinum paspalum Trung Nam has chosen. ONE’s Jason Blacka, Gerard Delancey and Nhat Vinh, all based in Danang, will supply Trung Nam with the full range of grow-in and maintenance services, including a custom-built grow-in nursery not far from the Binh Tien golf course site itself.

“It’s true that many Vietnamese projects are on hiatus right now — so we are doubly delighted to be working with Trung Nam Group on the Binh Tien project,” says Witgang owner Rob Glucksman. “I cannot visit the site; I’m stuck in Hong Kong on account of the travel restriction. Even in these conditions, though, the ONE team allows us to service all our Vietnamese clients without interruption, even with Binh Tien sticking to their aggressive construction schedules.

“The golf course market in Vietnam is strong. That’s why we formed Outfield — to directly service that market with international-quality grass and true on-the-ground nursery support. Binh Tien is a good example of how local capability well serves the golf industry in Vietnam. We expect it will serve the Vietnamese resort market, athletic field market and others equally well.”

The turfgrass chosen for the Binh Tien project is indeed Platinum paspalum, a variety recommended by the golf course architects retained by Trung Nam Group, Golfplan-Dale & Ramsey (www.golfplan.com), perhaps the most experienced course design firm in world golf, with some 175 original designs in more than 60 different countries.

“Grass choice is dependent on many factors, but first and foremost is the water supply,” says Golfplan partner David Dale. “The agronomist on this project made the call based on the water in Binh Tien, a combination of well water and retreated factory water — all of it very high in salt content. The Platinum was bred to thrive in exactly those conditions. The existing soil conditions are not desirable. We will sand-cap the entire course footprint and deploy the Platinum wall to wall — fairways, tees and greens.”

“We’ve had many years of experience with paspalum, in dozens of environments. Each paspalum strain, each generation is a bit different. We recently used the Paspalum TE at our renovation of Seletar Country Club in Singapore — on the greens. At Binh Tien, where this design will feature very little rough, we’ll use it wall to wall. It’s a great grass, very versatile, and Outfield has provided us outstanding service.”

Golfplan’s design south of Nha Trang is what the partners describe as a “dunes” course.

“We have a couple of holes on the water — the boulder-accented 4th, at the south end of this property, is right there on the beach,” says Golfplan Partner Kevin Ramsey. “But most of the course plays over terrain that transitions from high ground, through a sandy expanse to a series of salt-water lagoons just a few hundred meters inland from the beach. The routing also plays through some 3,000 coconut palms. There’s a dunesy, linksy feel to these holes but in this climate, golfers appreciate the shade.”

Many architects today prefer to design holes in the moment, on site, by feel. This can yield good results — so long as those architects are on site, at all times. The travel restrictions engendered by Covid-19 illustrate the practical drawbacks of this approach.

Golfplan is headquartered in California, north of San Francisco, and neither Dale nor Ramsey anticipates being able to visit the Binh Tien property until 3Q of 2020, at the earliest. Nevertheless, construction continues unabated. Once again, the reason why is superior planning.

“As a firm, we spend an unusual amount of time creating detailed construction documents that solve problems before construction even begins,” Ramsey says. “Having worked so much internationally, we’ve learned that this is the way to keep things on schedule. Site visits prior to construction are vital, of course. Later in the process, site visits allow architects to address final, artistic details. But our construction documents provide 10-cm grade detail. With that sort of specificity, an experienced contractor can build the golf course with little outside input, so long as they follow the plans.”

Here again, the Trung Nam Group has hired well. Flagstick, one of Southeast Asia’s most capable and experienced construction managers, is the firm following Golfplan’s detailed construction documents. Flagstick has built a dozen different courses in Vietnam; its crews are based here more or less permanently — yet another reason why construction continues at Binh Tien. Without interruption.