Buoyed by a two-day site inspection of his new design near the storied sands of China Beach, Colin Montgomerie predicts great things for The Montgomerie Links Vietnam.
“I think this site, this golf course, will become world renowned,” Montgomerie said of Central Vietnam’s first layout. “We have to build a course that challenges myself — my standard of play — and challenges a beginning standard, and we’ve got that dead right on this course.”
Montgomerie addressed a horde of Southeast Asian media during a press conference held at the nearby Nam Hai Resort Nov. 17. Though torrential rains the previous week had caused widespread damage throughout Central Vietnam, The Montgomerie Links Vietnam is on track to open its driving range next month. Its first nine holes will open for play next spring.
Under Montgomerie’s direction, more than 150 local laborers are coaxing a world-class links-style track from this tropical dunescape. The routing moves boldly over a striking landscape of wispy casuarinas pines, a fitting-but-more-exotic stand-in for Scottish gorse. The site’s towering sand dunes afford long views of the Marble Mountains and South China Sea.
Montgomerie, the winner of 40 professional tournaments worldwide, grew up at Royal Troon on Scotland’s west coast, to which he favorably compares this stretch of Vietnamese linksland.
“The weather’s warmer here,” said Montgomerie. “In regards to design though, we found land that is hugely similar to what we find at home. Actually, it’s surprisingly similar to Scotland and the rugged nature of the Scottish coastline.”
Sure to be talked about is The Montgomerie Links Vietnam’s 11th hole, an uphill, false-fronted par-3 heavily fortified by bunkers. It’s reminiscent of No. 5 at Australia’s Royal Melbourne, one of Montgomerie’s all-time favorite courses.
“This is an exciting area, Vietnam, especially this particular region, China Beach, the historical nature of it and what we can do here,” Montgomerie said. “It’s a beautiful beach, a beautiful golf course site. To find a course site like this, these days, is very rare. To have this opportunity — to build a course here that carries my name — is something that couldn’t be resisted.”
Course developer Indochina Capital has committed $45 million to The Montgomerie Links Vietnam project, breaking new leisure ground in the most promising resort region yet developed in Vietnam.
Last December, another Indochina property, a posh super-resort and spa dubbed The Nam Hai, opened to worldwide acclaim on a site just five kilometers south of the Montgomerie Links. The most prestigious hotel groups in the world, including Raffles, Banyan Tree, Kor and Hyatt, are now developing resorts in the region.
While 15 golf courses are now open for play in Vietnam, mainly around Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the first in this central region, The Montgomerie Links Vietnam, will open to instant demand.
“We have more than a dozen ongoing projects totaling more than $1 billion in development cost throughout Vietnam,” said Peter Ryder, CEO of Indochina Capital, “but what’s special about this one is that we, with the help of Colin’s expertise, are creating something that will take golf to a whole new level in this country.”
In addition to the clubhouse and range, the 70-plus-hectare development will include 60 spectacularly designed villas for sale on 38,000 square meters called The Montgomerie Links Estates.
Montgomerie’s two-day November visit included a private dinner with some of Vietnam’s highest-ranking government officials. It was to have included a “construction commencement” ceremony at the course site. However, out of respect and concern for those who experienced loss in the central coast floods the previous week, Indochina Capital cancelled the event and instead donated the allotted funds to aid victims of the disaster.
Montgomerie and his agent IMG — which is also providing the course design and construction support for The Montgomerie Links project — made donations of their own.
“I think the warmth of the Vietnamese people, which I felt today on site, I will take with me and mention when I travel home and other places around the world,” Montgomerie said. “The people of Vietnam have a warmth, and I feel very much at home.”
Montgomerie currently has seven original course designs open for play worldwide. He has more than 10 courses in some stage of construction or design. The other four courses to bear Montgomerie’s name — an honor reserved for layouts where the site and development partners were personally chosen by the golfer himself — are located in Dubai, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
