RTJ II makes Vietnam debut with Hoiana Shores

A new golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II at Hoiana Shores Golf Club in Vietnam has opened for preview play.  

Robert Trent Jones Jr said that when he first visited the site in Hoi An, he was immediately struck by its potential: “I thought, ‘my god, I’d kill for this.’ Architects are lucky to get a single property like this one in an entire career.”

Six of the holes come into direct contact with the beach, with views of the East Vietnam Sea and Cham Islands in the distance.

“The rhythm of the holes is tremendous,” said Jones. “The front nine is more crafted and man-made.  The back nine was a matter of just laying the course down on the earth.  It will seem like movements from the same symphony.”

“Everyone talks about the ocean holes, but the inland holes show more high-quality golf architecture, in my view,” said Bruce Charlton of RTJ II.  “We’ve done some very creative things on the water at Hoiana, but these holes right out of the box are really good. You’ve got the handshake on the first, but then two, three and four are as good as anything out there. I was blown away by the strategy. We also had a long ridgeline of dunes that provides a great sense of scale to holes two, three and six, and part of the fifth.  We wanted to give the player the feeling they are playing in big-time

Jones said: “Width makes the course manageable and fun for resort players.  It’s not like a private club where members know every inch of the place.  Resort players need to be able to hit it, find it and hit again. That said, we really opened up the sand dunes and allowed the greens to settle into them. I wanted greens nestled into the dunes early in the round. When  players get closer to the water, we wanted to open up vistas to the sea. But you can’t overdo that! You can’t ever forget the invisible hazard – wind – on a site like this, because then it will play an undue role.”

Construction began in late 2017 under direction of Hong Kong-based course builder Linksshape, led by Stuart Stone. “On the sixteenth and seventeenth, where the wind is coming right off the sea, our fine shapers carved out the shapes, and then we let Mother Nature further shape it,” he said. “Then the team came back, refined it and finalised it. Ultimately, we created truly windswept areas there that were quite different from the original shapes.”

“The client asked us to create a championship golf course that would be fun for resort players and still maintain a good pace of play,” said Trent Jones, COO of RTJ II. “On the other hand, they wanted a course that allows for a wide range of set-up options should Hoiana host a major tournament. Our designers created wide undulating fairway corridors that present players with a variety of strategic options. Large gallery logistics and set up for sizeable tournament were also accounted for during the design development at Hoiana.”

Hoiana Shores plays firm and fast on native, well-drained sand; the ground game is a viable option on most of the holes.   Hoiana Shores exhibits many of the same linksland playing characteristics found in the British Isles, but in a tropical setting. The design team says a ‘tropical links’ has emerged, highlighted by restored coastal dunes and the dramatic Cham Islands looming a few miles offshore.

The course has also been developed in accordance with sustainability principles laid out by the UK-based GEO Foundation. “In Southeast Asia, there are no other golf developments at this stage of construction that are going through this  programme,” said GEO executive director Sam Thomas.  “I think it’s fair to say that, if they continue on this path, Hoiana Shores will be first past the post, the market leader in this regard.”

Agronomics were managed by Turfgrass of Ireland. Greens are grassed with TifEagle bermuda, and all fairways and tees  feature Zeon Zoysia – sourced from Sports Turf Solutions’ turf farms.  “Zeon Zoysia frankly freed up the architects and shapers to manufacture some wonderful shapes and contours – a lot of created architecture that could not be rushed,” said Rob Weiks, golf course superintendent at Hoiana Shores.

The golf course will be the first facility to open within the new 985-hectare, US$4 billion Hoiana Integrated Resort, which will include more than 1,000 rooms, suites and villas managed by Rosewood Hotel Group, four kilometres of beach, numerous pools and restaurants, a beach club, an entertainment facility managed by Suncity Group, and an array of retail partners.

Mike Gorman, senior architect at RTJ II, said: “We have built many ‘beach loop’ and a three-hole ‘sunrise loop’ that are seamlessly designed within the 18-hole course. These details and a family short course option add fun and flexibility to the playing experiences.”