Greg Norman Golf Course Design was established in 1987 in Sydney, Australia. Now headquartered in Jupiter, Florida, it has grown into one of the leading golf course design companies in the world. With completed or ongoing projects on five continents, we are capable of handling projects anywhere in the world. Norman's hands-on approach is invaluable to the design process. Having spent 331 weeks of his three-decade professional career as the world's No. 1 ranked player, Norman had the unique opportunity to compete on many of the greatest golf courses in the world. He utilizes this vast experience in each design, with the goal of creating tournament-quality courses that maintain an enjoyable sense of playability for all skill levels.

 

Nowhere is this more evident than three Norman designs that regularly draw acclaim from both the world's top professional and amateur golfers -- TPC at Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia, home of the PGA Tour's BellSouth Classic; Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida, host of the PGA Tour-sanctioned Merrill Lynch Shootout; and The Grand Golf Club in Queensland, Australia, site of the 2001 Australian Open. His newest project is Saigon Golf & Country Club, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The project, to be known as the Saigon Golf and Country Club and Residences is in a prime location. It is a mere 15 minutes from the central business district of Ho Chi Minh, which is the financial and business center of Vietnam.

The chairman of SDI, Mr. Thanh Hoang Nguyen and his General Director, Mr. Bui Tuan Ngoc, made a special trip to Dubai to meet Norman and discuss the project. Mr. Hoang and his team have spent the past 10 years carefully putting the project in place.

With strong ties to Australia, Mr. Hoang, who holds dual Australian citizenship, is extremely proud to land Norman as the course designer.

"We are very excited to have Australian sporting legend Greg Norman on board as our designer," Mr. Hoang said. "We believe that with the reputation of Greg's design work and our excellent location we can make the Saigon Golf and Country Club the premier members course in Vietnam.

"Apart from the championship course, which will be a future tournament venue, we also plan to include full country club facilities with day spa, tennis courts, gymnasium, swimming pools, dining and accommodation facilities. We expect to start construction of the course in the second half of 2008."

After the signing, SDI made a tour of the Earth and Fire courses under construction at Jumierah Golf Estates and also held discussions with Southern Cross about possible Norman Estates residential products.

More information at http://www.shark.com