Image courtesy of Ocean Dunes Golf Club

After loosening control over the number of "golf course investment projects" around the country, Vietnam is set to experience a course construction boom over the next decade, though perhaps not as large a one as some would have liked. Applications for 123 new golf projects were announced in 2008, 10 times more than the previous year, according to the Vietnam News newspaper, a staggering number considering the country only has 20-something courses to date.
But after the massive investment in golf projects, the Vietnam ......is still very strong. We haven't seen any dip in that at all. We are still seeing a little bit of growth," he adds. The American, who's been a driving force in the country's golf scene for more than a decade, says that while local membership is growing, the country's golf industry is starting to follow the lead of the tourism industry and putting together an aggressive package of promotions. It seems Vietnam's golf industry is slowly overcoming its setbacks and is poised for growth.