WHY DOES GOLF COURSE DESIGN COST SO MUCH???

WHY DOES GOLF COURSE DESIGN COST SO MUCH???

 

Over the last decade, the golf course developer in VietNam has been like a big target for the big, international golf course design and construction companies, the vultures of the golf development industry!

They love the new golf markets where they find many customers who believe that golf courses must be very expensive to build.

THERE IS NO NEED whatsoever for a golf course design to cost USD 1 million, USD 2 million, etc. Not even USD 500,000. It doesn’t matter whose name goes on the design, it is a rort and should stop in VietNam NOW!

It is rubbish!

Ninety five percent of all golfers would not know the difference between playing a Norman course or a Nicklaus course or a Faldo course. Golfers the world over are looking for one thing – an enjoyable golf course to play! As long as the golf course is challenging, attractive, well-staffed and in good condition, the golfer is a happy person.

Of course, many developers believe that having a BIG NAME designer will sell more villas, etc.

Unfortunately, the whole world has fallen into the trap of believing these companies but I don’t believe them.

I am here to tell you that their costs are absolutely ridiculous!

Even if a developer wants a famous name to help sell his villas, see how many more villas they have actually sold (at inflated prices) just because of the famous name. Not that many. The marketing ‘EXPERTS’ will tell us that BRANDING a project with a famous name will increase sales and sometimes that works, but not all the time and sometimes the products they deliver, golf course design in particular, are really nothing special at all.

Do the famous designers really make golf courses that are so good as to warrant their design prices?

 GENERALLY NO!

There are many courses in VietNam with a famous name attached to them but not many are really special in any way. Only a few golf courses in VietNam at this time can be called a special golf course.

But, that is normal in a new golf market, which is what VietNam has been.

However, those days are past now and it is time to grow the real INDUSTRY OF GOLF IN VIETNAM!!

GOLF CAN BE DEVELOPED MUCH MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN BEFORE IN VIETNAM!

I know this story will make some people angry but I don’t care about them. They are the same people raping the industry in every new golf market in the name of “business”.

Many famous golf players have come to the end of their playing careers and so just “become famous golf course designers”. Really??!! Being a great player does not necessarily make one a golf course designer. Of course most are not a designer at all and so just employ the design architects under their names and put their hands out to the client for the big fat pay check.

They are honestly not needed in VietNam any more.

The only reason that the current golf courses in VietNam have to charge such high playing fees is because of their very high development costs.

We don’t have to be great accountants to figure out that high costs to develop means high playing fees to get some return on investment.

Golf, as an industry, will never evolve in VietNam if it remains a realm for the wealthy only. It is time for VietNam to embrace the strong middle class into golf by providing golf courses and clubs suitable to the middle class income levels. They should be able to play golf for no more than VND 800,000 per round OR LESS.

That does not mean lower quality golf courses. A very good golf course can be designed and built for around USD 10 - 12 million (average) INCLUDING  driving range and associated facilities, machinery, etc. Even a small club house could fit into that budget. That is fact, not just a guess. Costs will vary with location, topographical features, etc.

The main point is that GOLF CAN BE DEVELOPED FOR MUCH LESS THAN BEFORE IN VIETNAM.

There are too many high-end golf courses already in VietNam with more in planning right now.

WHO IS GOING TO PLAY THEM?

HOW WILL THEY MAKE MONEY?

I started in golf more than 55 years ago and in my home town in Australia, the local golf course is still going strong and so are all the other golf courses nearby. They were designed and built efficiently.

In parts of Australia and America in particular, many golf courses are going broke, not the EFFICIENTLY-designed and built courses; usually it is the over-priced, expensive and badly-managed courses which are going broke.

IT IS TIME FOR THE GOLF DEVELOPER IN VIETNAM TO CHANGE DIRECTION AND UNDERSTAND THAT GOLF COURSES CAN BE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS LESS THAN IN THE PAST IN VIETNAM.

Let’s hope the new age of AFFORDABLE GOLF IN VIETNAM begins today.

Kevin Wortz

Keng Golf Co Ltd

kevin@kenggolf.com

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