Vietnamese Golf: When the Investment Wave Meets the Sustainability Equation

Data from the Vietnam Golf Association (VGA) shows that within just 5 years, the number of golf courses in Vietnam has increased from 78 to 112, accompanied by a wave of resort and vacation villa projects springing up around them. But few notice that during the same period, the number of domestic flight hours between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for local golfers increased by 23% – a figure reflecting a serious imbalance between supply and demand by region. This is not a story about beautiful putts, but about the flow of money entering a market I have followed for 11 years.

When I started writing about golf for the Indonesian market in 2026, I predicted that Southeast Asia would become a global golf hotspot. But even I did not foresee Vietnam's growth rate. From a country with only a few golf courses serving foreigners, Vietnam has risen to become a leading golf destination in the region, with international tournaments like VinPro, and the emergence of young golfers like Nguyen Anh Minh – who won the gold medal at the 32nd SEA Games with a score of -12, a tournament record.

But the real story lies in the financial structure. According to a report by Vietnam Golf Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, the construction cost of a standard 18-hole golf course in Vietnam currently ranges from 25 to 40 million USD, excluding land costs. With an average annual membership fee of 500 million VND at courses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, investors need at least 8-10 years to break even without revenue from real estate. This explains why most new golf projects are tied to resort urban areas – where profits from villa sales can offset course operating costs.

I had the opportunity to directly follow a tournament at Long Thanh Golf Course last March. What caught my attention was not the perfect swings of professional golfers, but the absence of local spectators. While golf tournaments in the US or Europe attract tens of thousands of live viewers, in Vietnam, the stands held only about 200 people, mainly business partners and family members of the athletes. The lack of spectators is not a problem of professional quality, but a problem of sports consumption culture – a variable that investors often overlook in their financial reports.

Look at this number: according to a 2026 Nielsen Sports survey, only 2.3% of Vietnam's population is interested in golf, compared to 12% in Thailand and 8% in South Korea. This creates a paradox: we have world-class infrastructure, but lack the fan base to sustain long-term development. Professional tournaments like the Lexus Challenge or Vietnam Masters still rely mainly on sponsorship from real estate conglomerates, rather than revenue from media rights and ticket sales – the two main income sources of global golf.

From a researcher's perspective, I see a strategic blind spot in the approach of Vietnamese investors. They are building golf courses as real estate products, not as a sports ecosystem. Meanwhile, successful golf countries like Japan or South Korea all started by developing youth training systems, creating professional golfers, and only then building infrastructure. Vietnam is doing the opposite: investing in infrastructure first, while the youth training system remains at just a few small academies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

I once witnessed a 16-year-old talent at the National U18 Championship – a boy with extremely impressive putting technique, but who lacked regular practice conditions because the golf course near his home had closed due to insufficient operating funds. This is a typical story of wasted potential. Talent does not appear from nowhere; it is just waiting for a steady enough gaze to see it. But that gaze is being obscured by short-term profit reports.

Another notable point is the dependence on the Chinese market. According to data from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Chinese golf tourists to Vietnam accounted for 45% of total international golf visitors in 2026. This creates a major geopolitical and economic risk. When China tightened its exit policies in 2026, international golf visitors to Vietnam dropped 60% in just one quarter. Golf courses in Da Nang and Nha Trang – those most dependent on Chinese visitors – had to reduce prices by 30% to attract domestic customers.

The trophy does not measure strength; it measures a collective's ability to endure chaos. And the chaos here is the imbalance in revenue structure. While golf courses in Vietnam are earning 70% of revenue from membership fees and real estate, in developed countries this figure is only 30%, with the rest coming from green fees, F&B services, and event organization. The heavy reliance on membership makes Vietnamese golf courses extremely sensitive to economic fluctuations – when the real estate market freezes, membership cash flow freezes too.

I recall a conversation with a golf course operator in Binh Duong in 2026. He shared that although his course achieved 85% capacity on weekends, net profit was only 12% – much lower than the regional industry average of 25%. The main reason was rising labor and course maintenance costs, while green fees could not be increased due to competitive pressure from newly built courses. This is a vicious cycle: the more golf courses built, the more prices are pushed down, and the harder it becomes to maintain service quality.

Looking to the future, I believe Vietnam's golf industry needs a comprehensive restructuring. Instead of focusing on building more golf courses, investors should shift toward developing youth golf academy systems, investing in simulator technology to reduce access costs, and building large-scale amateur tournaments to create a fan base. Every crisis begins with a forgotten number in a financial report. And the forgotten number here is the ratio of golfers to the total population – an indicator that no investment report in Vietnam mentions.

The question is not whether Vietnam can become a leading golf destination in Asia – that has already been affirmed through international tournaments and recognition from global golf organizations. The real question is: can Vietnam's golf industry create a sustainable ecosystem where young golfers can develop, fans can enjoy, and investors can earn stable long-term profits? Or will we continue to witness beautiful golf courses being built and then quietly closing down, as has happened with some projects in the Central region?

Applause in an empty stadium is the most honest sound modern golf has ever created. And in Vietnam, that sound is growing louder – not from the stands, but from financial reports that are becoming increasingly difficult to balance. It is time for investors to look beyond short-term profit figures and begin building the foundation for a true sports industry, rather than a real estate industry disguised as golf.