A high-powered panel session on Vietnam’s golfing rise, a senior executive from LIV Golf and the first female President of the Golf Course Superintendents’ Association of Malaysia (GCSAM) headlined an engrossing final day at the 2024 Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF) Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:
“The immediate feedback from delegates has been unequivocally positive. The quality of the speakers and all of the presentations was truly outstanding,” said AGIF President Chris Gray.
Almost 100 delegates from as far afield as Australia, England, India, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam and host country Malaysia attended the conference at the Sime Darby Convention Centre, within the grounds of the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club in the Malaysian capital.
SN Farhana Hamzah, Cluster Course Superintendent at Glenmarie Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur, set the tone for the day with a powerful presentation entitled: ‘Challenges as a Woman Golf Course Superintendent.’
A graduate of the AGIF’s acclaimed Certificate in Greenkeeping (CIG) programme, she also outlined the activities and achievements of the GCSAM.
Two other turf grass experts who took to the stage were Richard Walne, Chairman of the AGIF’s Education Committee and the driving force behind the CIG, and Evan Du Plessis, Agronomy and Turf Manager at Sports Turf Solutions.
Following a coffee break, Jed Moore, Ben Styles and Dandelly Nguyen, senior executives at 54, enlightened delegates on exciting developments in golf in Vietnam.
During their 75-minute session, they discussed the country’s remarkable rise as a growing global force, an increasing focus on inbound golf tourism and news that the Government is giving the go ahead for 100 new courses to be built.
All three panellists stressed the importance of streamlined golfing growth for Vietnam as well as the need to ensure that the indigenous population are not priced out of the game.
“There must be affordable and accessible golf,” cautioned Styles, Executive Director at 54, who has played a pivotal role in the development and operations of some of the leading golf courses in Vietnam.
Proceedings were concluded by Jake Jones, LIV Golf Senior Vice-President of Impact and Sustainability. London-based Jones explained LIV Golf’s social impact and sustainability strategy ‘Potential, Unleashed’.
“Launched in June 2023, the initiative reflects LIV Golf’s commitment to enable and inspire a better tomorrow through the game of golf,” said Jones.
Potential, Unleashed includes a variety of programmes – LIV to Learn, LIV Green, Transform the Game, and the Way We LIV – that demonstrate a holistic and transformational strategy for social impact.
In his closing remarks, Gray said in addition to the AGIF’s education commitments, the Federation has plans to stage quarterly events around the region in 2025.
Sponsors of the 2024 AGIF Conference were Centaur Asia-Pacific, Club Car, Jebsen & Jessen, Rain Bird, Sports Turf Solutions, The R&A and Trojan Battery.
