GAMING BENEFITSEarn additional points to be redeemed for comps, gifts, or gaming credits***x1 |
Daily Gaming Offer # |
Special Promotions, Tournaments and Exclusive Events#- |
Exclusive Limited Items for Point Redemption#- |
Private Gaming Access#- |
Dedicated Personal Host- |
ENTERTAINMENT, DINING, HOTEL, GOLF AND RETAIL BENEFITSDiscounts at Selected Hoiana Resort's Restaurants, Hotels, and Golf10% |
Member Best Available Rate for Hotel Stays and Golf |
Complimentary Dining #* |
Complimentary Hotel Accommodation # |
Complimentary Room Upgrade**- |
Priority Seating at All Casino Restaurants- |
Complimentary Spa Services #**- |
Guaranteed Hotel Stays- |
TRANSPORTATION BENEFITSFREE Parking |
FREE Shuttle Bus Services** |
FREE Valet Parking |
Complimentary Limousine Services #- |
PRIORITY AND EXCLUSIVE BENEFITSSMS Birthday Offer |
Birthday Gift # |
Personalised Limousine Services #- |
Personalised Concierge Services- |
Premium Invitational Events- |
Exclusive Gaming Lounge- |
Media Category: Golf
HOIANA SHORES GOLF CLUB EARNS PLACE WITHIN
TOP 100 GOLF COURSES IN ASIA
The penultimate golf experience in Central Vietnam,
part of the integrated facilities of Hoiana Resort & Golf ranks 15th in The Top 100 Golf Courses in Asia
July 2022 – Hoiana Resort & Golf is delighted to share that Hoiana Shores Golf Club has been earned its place within The Top 100 Golf Courses in Asia, ranking at 15th place. The latest accolade for the award-winning Hoiana Shores Golf Club is jointly organised by Golf Travel Korea and Golf Travel China, recognising excellent golf courses and promoting golf culture across the Asian continent.
“This recognition, made exponentially more significant as we are welcoming international visitors and reflective of our continuous efforts in the journey to offer exceptional golfing experiences that inspire both new and returning golfers. We are humbled and look forward to greater heights with this amazing course”, Jit Ng, Chief Marketing Officer of Hoiana Resort & Golf.
Set against a spectacular coastline and unspoiled natural terrain, approximately 8km south of UNESCO World Heritage Site Hoi An, Hoiana Shores Golf Club is one part of the larger Hoiana Resort & Golf. Hoiana Shores Golf Club brings the design genius of Robert Trent Jones Jr. to Vietnam – for the very first time in Asia. Robert Trent Jones Jr. is regarded worldwide as “the father of environmental golf course design” for his surprisingly low impact on the landscapes he works with. His courses, among the most highly regarded, and have hosted many major golf championships.
Offering majestic views of the Eastern Sea and Cham Islands, Hoiana Shores Golf Club offers a thrilling links golf experience for golfers of all levels. With a spectacular natural seaside setting, a glorious 6,000 square metre clubhouse providing a pre- and après-golf experience unlike any other across the Southeast Asian region, and 18 challenging-yet-rewarding holes, this is a must-play course for any golf enthusiasts visiting the region.
About Hoiana Resort & Golf:
Hoiana Resort & Golf, Vietnam’s pre-eminent luxurious integrated resort, is located on the pristine coastline near the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Hoi An, Vietnam. The stunning 4-kilometer beachfront complex has four luxury hotels managed by Rosewood Hotel Group (Hoiana Hotel & Suites and the upcoming Rosewood Hoi An, New World Hoiana Hotel and KHOS Hoiana), cutting-edge entertainment, world-class restaurants serving authentic dining experiences and the most sophisticated gaming facilities.
The resort also boasts a magnificent 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Hoiana Shores Golf Club was awarded “Best New Course in Asia Pacific 2019” by Asia Pacific Gold Awards and ranked 15th in The Top 100 Golf Courses in Asia in 2022.
Hoiana Shores creates dedicated, golf-specific staffing source
![](https://hoiana.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/graphic2.png)
HOI AN, Vietnam — In preparation for its opening in 2019, Hoiana Shores Golf Club has secured a long-term pipeline of trained staff through its innovative investment in the Quang Nam-based Golf Operations and Maintenance Vocational College, the first such golf-specific enterprise in all of Asia.
The first graduating class of maintenance staffers will join the grounds crew at Hoiana Shores GC in January 2019, while the inaugural class of caddies started on Dec. 10, 2019. All students from this program are guaranteed employment with Hoiana Shores GC.
After 5 years of supplying staff directly to Hoiana Shores (in addition to its sister hotel and casino development next door), the school itself will be turned over directly to Quang Nam Peoples Committee.
“Vietnam today is widely seen as the most active course development market in the world — there are 45 courses now in operation and another 20+ in some stage of development,” explains Ben Styles, Vice President of Golf & Residential Development at Hoiana Shores GC. “Nowhere in the country has development been so active than here on the Central Coast. There has been an explosion of development, golf and otherwise, and Quang Nam Province has wisely supported this activity with a local tourism college that has trained of thousands of resort and hotel workers to date.
“However, a golf course has specific needs when it comes to staff. Even someone with superb hospitality training doesn’t know how to handle a greens mower — or read the undulations of golf greens, or handle point-of-sale software specific to golf shops. This is the first program with a specialized autonomous ‘bricks and mortar’ home ever created in Asia and judging from the reactions we’ve received from within the golf industry, it’s poised to meet a glaring need.”
Hoiana Shores GC, designed by Robert Trent Jones II, will “soft open” this summer with a grand opening scheduled for late 2019. Since his 2007 arrival in Vietnam, Styles, a native Australian PGA member, has witnessed first-hand the development boom. He did so while developing and/or managed a handful of the country’s elite golf properties. Labor, staff and training have been persistent issues throughout his tenure, he says.
“This problem isn’t particular to Vietnam. We’ve all seen how golf courses across Southeast Asia open in a certain condition, with certain agronomic and hospitality standards, only to abandon those standards over time,” Styles says. “That’s a result of staff not being trained up properly by the time the original superintendent, Director of Golf or the original General Manager moves on. At the same time, here in Danang and Hoi An, demand for skilled staff has clearly outpaced supply.”
The Golf Operations and Maintenance Vocational College (GOMVC) is part of HOIANA-Quang Nam Vocational Training Centre, located in Duy Phuoc district, some 10 km from HOIANA in a formerly derelict school complex. According to Styles, Hoiana Shores has so far spent more than US$300,000 rehabbing and outfitting the college, which, on account of the curriculum here, surely boasts the most manicured school grounds in all of Vietnam.
The first class of 24 students arrived in October 2018, in the course maintenance curriculum. Technically, they arrived as employees of Hoiana Shores GG. When they graduate in January 2019, they will transition directly to their work at the golf property proper, where the grassing of golf holes is already underway.
Meanwhile, 25 caddie and golf operations students, who started their own distinct curriculum on 10 December and will be fully trained prior to the soft opening in June.
The course superintendent at Hoiana Shores GC, Rob Weiks, is the turf expert who supplied an international-standard syllabus for the course maintenance curriculum at GOMVC. His HSGC colleague, Director of Golf Kelly Nguyen, did likewise on the caddie and operations front. Each graduate, in either track, will receive the first-ever accredited degrees for Golf Operations and Maintenance in Vietnam.
“Without those degrees accredited by the Vietnamese government, golf course workers in Vietnam are not recognized as professionals with legitimate wage-earning positions,” Styles said. “That may sound like a bureaucratic fine point, but it’s not. Right now, golf course workers are not so recognized, by the government, and so they cannot do things like go and get a bank loan, for example. This accreditation is a huge development for VN nationals who work in the golf business.”
Styles was quick to point out the assistance GMOVC has received from golf industry companies like LinksShape, the outfit now building the RTJ II-designed course at HSGC. Hong Kong-based LinksShape donated its time in constructing an on-campus fairway, two putting greens and a bunkered short game area— so students can practice agronomic technique on authentic golf course features.
Styles also cited the contribution of Sports Turf Solutions, which has supported the venture by donating the full complement of maintenance equipment — for the students to learn and practice on.
“We’ve received so much support — I think because people in the golf industry recognize the need and want to see it succeed, then replicated all across Southeast Asia,” Styles said. “Obviously, Hoiana Shores has self-interest here: We’re creating a direct pipeline of talent for 5 years. After that time, however, we shall hand over the college to the province, whereupon we anticipate the program will continue to provide that talent pipeline for our resort — and golf properties across the country. It’s our desire and commitment to build up a sustainable golf industry where Vietnamese talents are prepared to run it.”
Hoiana Shores Golf Club Crowned With Multiple Accolades At The Asia-Pacific Golf Awards
![](https://hoiana.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/graphic2.png)
Mandarin PR Agency Hal Phillips Email: [email protected] | Hoiana Shores Golf Club Sinh Tran Email: [email protected] |
Hoiana Shores Golf Club Welcomes First Golfers
![](https://hoiana.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/graphic2.png)
HOI AN, Vietnam — Hoiana Shores Golf Club will welcome its first players starting on 23rd September 2019 to preview the completed, 18-hole design from architect, Robert Trent Jones II.
The golf course will be the first facility within the new Hoiana Integrated Resort to welcome the public.
The 985-hectare, US$4 billion Hoiana complex is the most ambitious resort development ever undertaken in Vietnam. Its first operational phase, which is nearing completion, will eventually integrate more than 1,000 rooms, suites and villas (managed by Rosewood Hotel Group), kilometers of pristine beach, a suite of beachside pools and restaurants, a stand-alone beach club, an entertainment facility managed by Suncity Group, and a wide array of retail partners.
“Hoiana Shores Golf Club will indeed be the first component of this larger development welcoming both domestic and international tourism to our Shores,” says Steve Wolstenholme, Group COO at Hoiana. “As a group we intend to showcase the vibrancy and economic potential of not only Hoi An and Central Vietnam but this region in general.”
“It all starts with the golf,” explained Ben Styles, Vice President of Golf for Hoiana. “And so we are particularly excited to announce that Hoiana Shores Golf Club will welcome its first golfers from September 23rd. The Grand Opening event will occur in early 2020, in concert with the unveiling of other Hoiana Phase 1 facilities.”
Until that time, the newest (and the most anticipated) golf course in Vietnam will be available for limited “preview play”, whereby all proceeds from visiting golfers will be donated to local charities, to further highlight the benefits of golf and tourism to this community. Starting 23 September, Styles reports, those proceeds will benefit our local community.
“Golf occupies a very exciting place in Vietnam right now,” Styles says. “I’m so proud and honored to be a small part of the development and evolution of the game here. What we have tried to achieve here at Hoiana Shores GC — with help from the design team at Robert Trent Jones II — is something more specific and nuanced: a traditional links that proudly builds on local traditions, which, if we are honest, is what all great golf courses do.”
Come September, visiting golfers will notice no flags flapping in the ever-present, seaside breeze at Hoiana Shores GC. The pins will instead be adorned with red lanterns, the likes of which illuminate Hoi An’s famous Old Town at night. “There’s a reason why it’s called The City of Lanterns,” Styles explains.
Hoiana Shores Golf Club began construction since late 2017, under direction of experienced, Hong Kong-based course builder Linksshape, led by Australian, Stuart Stone. “It’s been an amazing experience to be entrusted with this extraordinary piece of land,” Stone says. “Almost the dictionary definition of what ‘linksland’ should be.”
Hoiana Shores GC has also been developed in full accordance with strict sustainability principles laid out by the U.K.-based GEO Foundation. “In Southeast Asia, there are no other golf developments at this stage of construction that are going through this program,” said GEO Executive Director Sam Thomas. “All others are in the planning or design stage. 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.”
While the greens at Hoiana Shores are grassed with Tif-Eagle Bermuda, all the fairways and tees at feature the Zeon Zoysia, a relatively new, drought-tolerant turfgrass strain specially developed to provide firm, fast conditions in equatorial regions like this one. This choice was both sustainable and strategic: Many “tropical links” are built entirely on sand; several more feature the flamboyant contour associated with links golf — but few have delivered the requisite bounce and roll that links design requires. Zeon zoysia will, which is something of a game-changer.
“It’s an upright grower where you can cut back on water and get it right — firm and fast,” Rob Weiks says, Golf Course Superintendent at Hoiana Shores GC. “It’s less grainy than bermuda, way less than the paspalum. It frankly freed up the architects and shapers to manufacture some wonderful shapes and contours — a lot of created architecture that could not be rushed. It is a great luxury to pile the sand up, shape it, then let the wind shape it again. It’s one reason the landforms out here are so compelling.”
“Let me give you and example of how that process worked, because it’s pretty unique and required real patience,” Stone explains. “On holes 16 and 17, 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. Then the team came back, refined it and finalized it. Ultimately, we created truly windswept areas there that were quite different from the original shapes.”
Six of the 18 holes at Hoiana Shores come into direct contact with the beach. According to Styles, this illustrates both Hoiana’s vision and ambitions. “It speaks volumes about our ownership group — to allow so much interaction with the shoreline. That’s a rarity. The beachfront could have been otherwise developed,” he says. “But this decision will ultimately pay off, as this part of the course is uniquely unforgettable… There is nothing quite like playing those holes — playing shots from the beach itself! It is proof you are playing a proper links. There aren’t many courses in Asia that serve up that type of experience.”
To make a booking in this period, contact [email protected]
Hoiana Shores GC retains Mandarin Media ahead of 2019 opening
![](https://hoiana.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/graphic2.png)
Hoiana HOI AN, Vietnam — Hoiana Shores Golf Club, the Robert Trent Jones II design now taking shape amid a coastal dunescape shaped by Vietnam’s East Sea, has retained Mandarin Media, Inc. to handle international media/public relations. The golf property is on scheduled to welcome invited play in June 2019, with an entire resort opening planned for October 2019.
“We chose Mandarin Media and its principal, Hal Phillips, for the obvious reasons: No one has more experience when it comes to international golf media matters, in general, and Vietnamese golf in particular,” said Ben Styles, Vice President of Golf & Residential Development at Hoiana Shores. “This is a world-class project with world-class ambitions but it’s also a product of the Vietnamese environment and culture. We felt Mandarin was ideal partner to communicate the story of Hoiana Shores to golfers worldwide.”
Founded by Phillips in 1997, Mandarin Media is based in the United States; its digital wing, Mandarin Digital Media, is based in Hue, Vietnam, some 100 km north of Hoi An. Starting in 2005, Mandarin Media was the first PR/media firm to strategically promote Vietnamese golf to international markets. The firm worked with a half-dozen separate VN properties before launching the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail — on behalf of those clients, and others — in 2007.
Since that time, Mandarin Media has worked with a succession of high-profile clients all over North America and around the golfing world, including Portugal (Oitavos Dunes), New Zealand (Cape Kidnappers, Kauri Cliffs, Tara Iti GC), the Caribbean (Playa Grande in the Dominican Republic) and China (Mission Hills, the new Yangtze Dunes course at Lanhai International CC).
The Hoiana Shores GC assignment brings part of Mandarin’s story full circle.
“In some important ways, MM’s early work in Vietnam and creation of the Ho Chi Minh Golf Trail put Vietnamese golf on the map,” said Phillips, who would go on to spearhead the creation of similar cooperative-marketing campaigns serving Thailand (Golf in a Kingdom) and Indonesia (Golf Wonderful). “Fifteen years ago, what few golf courses existed in Vietnam were, in essence, selling a cultural experience, something new and exotic. The Trail helped frame that for media and their golfing consumers abroad.
“Today, Vietnam has matured into the ambitious/ fast-growing course development market in the world. Ben and I both see Hoiana Shores as a culmination of this evolution, a synthesis of everything a Vietnamese golf has been building toward these last 20 years. It’s a compelling story and we’re eager to tell it.”
Styles’ experience in country — and his role in raising the overall standard and profile of Vietnamese golf — is far more substantial. He arrived Hoi An after serving as GM at The Bluffs at Ho Tram, some 600 km south of Hoi An, where he oversaw development of a Greg Norman-designed course. From 2011-2014, the Australian native served as GM of Danang Golf Club, another feted Norman design that took advantage of Vietnam’s gorgeous, sandy environs.
Hoiana Shores is the chance to build a true links course, right on the water, served by a club that hews to the game’s centuries-old traditions,” Styles said. “Golf is such an alluring sport. The world’s best courses honor those traditions while at the same time reflecting their specific environments and cultures. We wanted Mandarin Media in here — to convey just how special this place is going to be.”
Robert Trent Jones II Lights Up Hoi An
Hoiana Shores Golf Club unveiled just south of UNESCO World Heritage Site in the heart of Vietnam
![](https://hoiana.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/graphic2.png)
Hoi An South, Vietnam, June 20th 2018: The coastline project of Hoiana will be home to Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects’ (RTJ II) first Vietnamese championship golf course design: Hoiana Shores Golf Club. Located on the shores of the Eastern Sea, approximately 8km south of UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hoi An, known as ‘The City of Lanterns’, the golf club is part of a major destination development which harbours the ambition of becoming one of the most compelling golf experiences in Asia.
The internationally-acclaimed design firm and Robert Trent Jones, Jr., its Chairman and Master Architect, is recognised as one of the industry’s most prominent architectural firms, and has been at the heart of some of world golf’s most treasured properties. During his recent site visit to Hoiana to survey progress, Jones was adamant about the potential of his newest partnership just south of one of the world’s best-loved tourism destinations.
“This property is the most perfect canvas,” he said. “Alongside the beautiful coastal terrain, we have been given the ability to shape a design befitting this special region and magnificent new destination. To have a golf course in such close proximity to such a place as Hoi An makes this extra special.”
With Hoiana Shores Golf Club scheduled to open in mid-2019, the ownership group, Hoi An South Development, is confident that their masterplan will have a significant impact at national and international levels.
“To hear direct from Robert Trent Jones on the potential of this golf course, when you consider his glittering career and the magnitude of his collection of global projects, is testament to our ambition and the prospect of Hoiana,” commented Steve Wolstenholme, Group Chief Operating Officer of Hoiana.
Hoiana is a multi-billion-dollar mega development that stretches over 4 km of coastline, spanning 1,000 hectares. The new destination, neighbouring the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hoi An, will be home to a selection of luxury hotels, entertainment outlets, residential communities, retail complexes, as well as the world-class golf club, and is earmarked to become a major attraction for tourists globally.
RTJ II was selected as the golf course design firm following a comprehensive tender process. Selected from a list of world-renowned designers, it was Jones’ authenticity, artistry, and experience that set the firm apart as the perfect candidate. Additionally, the personal interest and involvement of Jones himself was a pivotal point in the selection process.
“The decision to partner with RTJ II was centred around the ownership group’s desire for a distinct and authentic design, emblematic of where we are situated,” said Ben Styles, Vice President Golf & Residential Hoiana Shores Golf Club, Vietnam.
“Given the quality of the site, it required a design partner with certain qualities that would help elevate this project to the fullest of its potential. The RTJ II team is one of very few that can draw on past experience of having worked in the game’s golden era for design, many individuals within it having rubbed shoulders with legends in their field. It was clear from the outset that we would bring something very special and unique to Vietnam with this partnership.”
RTJ II has designed over 280 golf courses in 40 countries. (We suggest not including reference to any top 100 lists as there are numerous competing lists, published by media entities in competition with one another.) His appreciation of Hoinana’s potential was obvious during a first site visit, as he walked the coastal holes, whose proximity to the Eastern Sea and views of the Cham Islands are a stand out feature of the course.
“We always strive to finish with a crescendo in our designs to keep people coming back,” Jones said. There will be few that can rival what we have created with this closing stretch, which completes a lovely symphony of golf.”
The golf club also unveiled its new logo, comprising of a lantern that sits in place of the traditional flag. An ode to the famed City of Lanterns and a clear depiction of the respect felt by the developer related to its position at the cultural heart of Vietnam.
“Hoi An is a powerful symbol of Vietnam’s rich heritage,” continued Styles. “The lantern is an iconic feature of the city and to bring such a unique aspect to the golf development is something we felt passionately about.”
The golf project is expected to employ in excess of 350 golf and hospitality professionals, the majority of those being sourced from Vietnam’s first-ever Golf Operations and Maintenance College on site at Hoiana. The education facility is further evidence of the ownership group’s commitment to creating new jobs and nurturing local talent, whilst providing a pathway for professionals to transition to Hoiana Shores Golf Club to provide the very best service and hospitality.