Dalat Palace Golf Club - One of the oldest golf clubs in Asia

Dalat Palace Golf Club - One of the oldest golf clubs in Asia 

Nestled in the central highlands of Vietnam, Dalat City has long been a retreat for royalty and travellers seeking rest and relaxation in the cool mountain air. In the centre of town, rising above Xuan Huong Lake, is Dalat Palace Golf Club, one of the oldest golf courses in the Asian region.

Built in the 1920s as the private domain of Emperor Bao Dai, Vietnam's last emperor, the course has reflected the changing times in Vietnam. Yet despite the transformation the course has seen in the past 50 years, it retains a sense of serenity reminiscent of its early years as the Emperor's personal course. However, Dalat Palace Golf Club has come along a very winding path to return to its noble roots.

Dr. Dao Huy Hach, a practicing physician who still resides in Dalat, was the driving force in the initial restoration of the course. When Emperor Bao Dai abdicated in 1945, the course was abandoned and the fairways and greens were erased by vegetation. Fifteen years later, Dr. Hach, who had begun playing golf in Saigon in 1956 at Go Vap Golf Course realised what royal players had known for several decades: the cool climate of Dalat was ideal for the game. With the help of some friends at the Saigon Golf Club, he began the laborious process of rediscovery and restoration.

"There was a caddie from the original course who helped us to find it again" said Dr. Hach. "The most difficult part was seeing the greens. We had to use aerial photos from the National Geography Institution". Fires during the dry season also turned out to be a boon, as they helped clear away the foliage to reveal former greens and bunkers. Using hand mowers to re-sculpt the fairways, the first hole was restored in 1959, with the second following soon after. These two holes were used for practice until the full nine were completed in 1965.

But the course's renowned Bent grass greens would not be realised for several decades: Dr. Hach and his group didn't have the grass for the greens, so they substituted sand mixed but motor oil. The sand and oil combination made for rather fast greens and Dr. Hach smiles as he remembers Billy Casper's round at the course in 1970. "The first hole was a par 5 and [Casper] hit a driver and 6 iron to the green - and still bogeyed the hole. He had to get used to our greens. But after the first hole, he had no problem".

The restoration of the course continued for nearly 15 years, as Dr. Hach drew on the assistance of the Saigon Golf Club, Japanese construction companies, and other members of the Dalat Golf Club to re-establish the original nine holes and begin construction of a second nine. He received assistance from the USGA for the second nine, including guidance on construction of greens, at no charge.

Remembering the clubhouse, Dr. Hach laughs. "It was not to international standards", he says. "It was like a garage: no power, no landscaping, no water. I had to bring all of that in".

Dr. Hach estimates the cost of the renovation of the course and clubhouse ran to about VND3 million (about US$17,000). The Saigon Golf Club funded most of the project, but there were numerous pro bono services offered by Dalat Golf Club members. The government also contributed money towards the construction of greens. In addition, members paid a VND4,000 (US$23) initiation fee and VND600 (US$4) monthly fee. There were about 40 members through the 1960s, most from the embassy staffs and foreign construction companies in the area.

From 1975 to 1993, the course was left to grow over once again. In 1993, a joint venture project between Danao International Holdings Limited (US based) and Lam Dong province resulted in the renovation of the first nine holes once again and the completion of the second nine. The course was christened Dalat Pine Lake Golf Club in 1993, then became Dalat Palace Golf Club in 1995.

At 90 years of age, Dr. Hach continues to minister to the hill-tribes of Dalat. His golf bag rests in a corner and he is pleased to show off the hickory-shaft clubs he used three decades ago, along with a set of custom-made irons brought to him from the US. It's a little more difficult for him to play these days, he says, but he wants to share his love for the sport with other Vietnamese. Toward this end, he's written a book "Introducing Golf to Vietnamese: What's Golf".

Whether or not his book becomes widely read, Dr. Hach has already brought many Vietnamese to the world of golf, and has also helped to bring the golf world to Vietnam, through his 15-year labour of love that now rises magnificently above Xuan Huong Lake in Dalat.

• DPGC