BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort host Turfgrass Seminar

For the second year in succession, BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort will play host to the Vietnam Turfgrass Management Education Seminar.

Some 50 superintendents, course managers, workshop managers and mechanics from more than a dozen Vietnamese clubs as well as representatives from venues in Cambodia and Myanmar are expected to attend the Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF)-organised today October 23.

Eric Lynge, the AGIF’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are extremely grateful to the management and staff at BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort for their warm hospitality. The location and facilities at the club are outstanding.
“The continued growth in popularity of golf in Vietnam is reflected in the fact that this is our second visit to the country this year, having staged a Turfgrass Management Education Seminar and Mini Summit at Song Be Golf Resort, on the outskirts of Ho Chih Minh City, in May.”

Heading the speakers at next week’s seminar are Bruce Williams and Jack Cheong.
A Board Member of the AGIF, Williams is a Past President of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) who has taught workshops and seminars throughout North America and Asia for the last 30 years and has trained more than 140 individuals who are currently golf course superintendents or assistants.

A highly-rated speaker and instructor for the GCSAA and the PGA of America, Williams graduated from the Michigan State University Turfgrass Management Programme.

At the Vietnam Turfgrass Management Education Seminar, Bruce Williams will make two presentations. The first will focus on Priorities in Renovation and the second will look at Best Methods on Changing Turfgrass on Greens.

For his part, Cheong has been the Golf Course Superintendent at Kuala Lumpur’s Royal Selangor Golf Club for more than 10 years, overseeing major renovations on the two courses and being among the first to plant TifEagle on the greens in Malaysia.

Image: Jack Cheong is one of the keynote speakers at the event

The Immediate Past President of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Malaysia, Cheong, who has a degree in Golf Course Operations from the United States and also holds an MBA, will talk about Golf Course Management – Lessons Learnt at Royal Selangor Golf Club.

There will then be a presentation led by Williams and Cheong on The Benefits of Starting a Superintendent Association after which Lynge will deliver an overview on the soon-to-be-launched Certificate in Greenkeeping.

Aimed at supporting a formal education programme for golf course maintenance in the region, the initiative is backed by The R&A, which as well as in Asia, governs the sport worldwide, outside the United States and Mexico.
The inaugural event will take place in Thailand in late October with Malaysia to follow at the end of November.

Lynge said: “Events such as the Vietnam Turfgrass Management Education Seminar at BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort complement the imminent launch of the Certificate in Greenkeeping.

“We are grateful for the support we have received from the Vietnam Golf Association, the staff and management at BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort and all sponsors.”
The afternoon field day will feature displays of the latest equipment from a variety of companies including Centaur Asia Pacific, Foley United, Geofabrics, Indigrow, Jacobsen, John Deere, Sustane, Toro and True Surface.

BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort is located some 30 kilometres northeast of Hanoi, and is easily accessible from Hanoi (30 minutes driving) and the Noi Bai International Airport (10 minutes driving).
The club is set in the foothills of a legendary property in the Soc Song District, adjacent to the Soc Temple, which was made famous by Phu Dong Thien Vuong (the heaven-sent king of Phu Dong Village), better known as Thanh Giong (‘Saint’ Giong).

As a mark of respect for one of the ‘Four Vietnamese Immortals’, the golf course was named ‘Legend Hill’.

Opened in 2015, BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort has the distinction of being Nicklaus Design’s first golf course in Vietnam.

It is also the first golf course in Vietnam to have adopted a unique ‘twin green’ design concept. The 36 different greens within one 18-hole golf course create a wide variety of hole combinations.
Emphasising the AGIF’s aim to support the entire industry, the field day is open to members and non-members of the Federation.
The Vietnam Turfgrass Management Education Seminar is the sixth event in the AGIF series of Turfgrass Management Seminars and Field Days in 2018.
March saw the staging of the AGIF Turfgrass Management Exposition in Pattaya, Thailand.

The Philippine Golf Course Management Conference took place at The Orchard Golf and Country Club at the start of May and was followed by the Vietnam Turfgrass Management Seminar at the Song Be Golf Resort and August’s ASPGI (Asosiasi Superintendent Padang Golf Indonesia) Turf Management Seminar.
Last week, TPC Kuala Lumpur was the venue for the Malaysian Turfgrass Management Seminar.

To sign up for the BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort seminar, contact AGIF Secretariat at pk.ong@agif.asia