Erected over 10 months at a cost of about $5 million, the 4,044-square-meter facility at Danang Golf Club in Vietnam opened yesterday with not one space that pays homage to golf's early days, but five — Persimmon cafe, Gutta Percha function room, Niblick bar, Featherie restaurant and Hickories rooftop lounge.
"If you're going to have a course like the Dunes — a course that looks like it was transported from the home of golf — then it only makes sense to stay true to the old-world feel that already exists here," said Howie Roberts, general manager of Danang Golf Club.
From the reception area that marks the end of the opening hallway, there are five options:
- Bank left into Gutta Percha, a stylish, multi-purpose room with 42-inch plasma TV.
- Pivot right into Niblick, featuring a liquor shelf display with red backlighting that evokes “a posh hotel lobby bar,” says Roberts.
- Continue past Niblick into Featherie, a sleek dining venue capable of accommodating up to 140 people at a time.
- Go on through to Persimmon, illuminated during the day by natural light that streams in through the floor-to-ceiling windows; at night that job falls to hanging red and orange silk lanterns synonymous with nearby UNESCO World Heritage town Hoi An.
- Or turn around and venture a few paces to the left toward a stairwell that provides access to the clubhouse’s other two levels.
The Dunes Course at Danang Golf Club opened on Liberation Day last year, celebrated annually in Vietnam on April 30.
When complete, Danang Golf Club will also feature a comprehensive, technologically sophisticated golf academy; four- and five-star hotels; and multiple residential enclaves totaling up to 300 luxury homes.
