Hoiana Shores GC, which is part of the Hoiana Integrated Resort – is the first and only golf property in Asia-Pacific to achieve this designation, and one of only half a dozen worldwide.

Sam Thomas, Director of Golf Development at the GEO Foundation, informed Hoiana Shores of its certification in September. In congratulating Hoiana Shores GC, Thomas said: “The lengths Hoiana Shores’ developers and management team have gone to, and the responsible approaches to development they have taken. They should be highly praised for their vision and leadership.”

The list of requirements for GEO certification is comprehensive, ranging from waste disposal to hiring practices to energy efficiencies at the clubhouse.

As part of its environmental commitment, Hoiana Shores restored 23 hectares of degraded former fish farms to native coastal shrub vegetation without importing any growing materials. The vegetation on site today is 100 percent native and locally sourced, while an additional 44 acres of native landscape habitats, plus six acres of coastal dunes, were established in and around the golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.

“The result is a golf links wrapped in the dynamic eco-tones of an authentic Vietnamese coastal landscape,” Thomas said. “Backed by careful and experienced management methods means this golf course and its wider environment remain respectful to the native setting and create a memorable, genuine experience for golfers for years to come.”

The sustainable approach in building Hoiana Shores was made possible thanks to its primary investors – Don Lam, Hoiana’s Chairman of the Board, Alvin Chau, Chairman of the Suncity Group Holdings Ltd., and Hoiana’s entire Board of Directors. For his vision at Hoiana Shores, Lam was honored last year with the Apex Award for Environment Leadership in Golf — bestowed at the 2019 Asia Pacific Golf Summit in India.

According to golfbusinessnews.com