Even as Sir Nick Faldo’s sketchwork on two 18-hole, championship-standard golf courses briskly takes shape on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, it has been confirmed that construction on another Faldo Design course is almost complete at Laguna Lang Co.

The spectacular seaside project at Hue, in central Vietnam, is well on track for a soft opening at the end of this year, with the final phases of landscape planting and fine detail work  in progress.

“We have developed a style that gives the course a very local and natural identity with wonderful character.

At this stage, we are very happy with the results,” Faldo Design lead architect Paul Jensen was quoted as saying in   a communiqué made available to the Post.

Andrew Haggar, the director of architecture at Faldo Design, has highlighted the use of a particular turf.

“We are the first course in Vietnam to use zoysia Manila grass on the fairways. As a grass native to the region, it will demand less water and less intense management than other grasses, significantly helping sustainability,” Haggar said.

Laguna Lang Co is one of five on-going Faldo Design projects in Asia. They include the Vattanac Golf Resort on a site 15km from Phnom Penh.

Detailed design work on the East Course has already been completed. The two golf courses will lend natural beauty to the surrounding luxury hotel complex.

At the time of launching the project two years ago, Sir Nick Faldo had spoken of inspiration for the design coming from many sources, including  aerial views of the paddy fields, the temples of Angkor Wat and wooden houses near the site.

The six-time Major winner had emphatically said the large site offered a real possibility to create two completely contrasting golf courses, while maintaining that the Vattanac Golf Resort would complement the championship course at the Angkor Golf Resort, in Siem Reap.

Faldo Design, established in 1991, has more than 50 projects completed or in development around the world.

Recent award-winning Faldo Design projects include Roco Ki, in the Dominican Republic, and the Lough Erne Resort, in Northern Ireland – respectively ranked second- and third-best new International golf courses in 2009 by Golf magazine.

Eléa Estate, in Cyprus, was voted Best European Golf Development last year at the European Property Awards.

To contact the reporter on this story: H S Manjunath at [email protected]