Interviews

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Richard Humphreys
/ Categories: News

Vattanac Golf Resort opens second layout by Faldo Design

Vattanac Golf Resort in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, has opened its new West course, designed by Faldo Design.

The West offers a contrast to the resort’s Faldo-designed East course, which opened in September 2019, with narrower and more undulating fairways, water features and Paspalum greens. The new layout is playable from 4,935 to 7,249 yards.

“It’s a great moment to see the West course now open and ready to play,” said Sir Nick Faldo. “The West course complements the East course magnificently with its fluid shaping, giving the design its own identity.

“The West course offers a slightly more intimate look and feel to the resort’s East, but just like the East it offers different strategic challenges with fairway positioning and shot choice crucial for players looking to find reward and an inviting line to the green. It certainly asks questions of golfers’ game-management: long, short, left or right from the tee can find difficulty and create a complicated hole. However, with five sets of tees, the course is accessible to all with something for every golfer, meaning enjoyment out on the course will not be hard to come by.”

The two courses feature scale models of Khmer historical architectural sites, including Angkor Wat, Preah Vihear and Bayon. A statue that pays homage to Angkor ruler King Jayavarman VII can be seen on the seventh hole of the West course.

“Much like the East, the West course project focused heavily on celebrating the amazing culture in Cambodia and Vattanac Golf Resort’s surrounding environment to create the course’s truly unique character. By integrating cultural inspiration into the landscape, like the Terrace of Elephants replica statue or the Dragon Lake for example, the course has a real sense of place and its local features help to create an unforgettable experience,” said Faldo.

Vattanac now moves into its next phase of the development, which will include ‘Night Golf’ and a golf academy.

Karl Whitehead, general manager at the resort, said: “We are extremely excited at what we are creating here, following Mr Vattanac’s vision, and look forward to delivering a new standard of golf resort in southeast Asia that will be compared to the world’s best. The golf academy is a key component of this project as Mr Vattanac is extremely passionate about growing the game of golf in Cambodia”.

Mark Chapleski, president of Troon International, who will manage the course, said: “Cambodia certainly has a new golf destination, and we are proud to be part of this world class project. Mr Vattanac’s passion for quality is infectious and we share his ambition to make Vattanac Golf Resort a landmark for golf, not only in the region, but worldwide. Stay tuned for phase two, that will take Vattanac Golf Resort to the next level”.

Previous Article Construction nears completion on both courses at PGA Frisco
Next Article Robert McNeil nears completion of bunker restoration at Kernwood CC
Print
8296 Rate this article:
No rating
Slideshow HTML
  • Vattanac
    Vattanac Golf Resort

    The West course at Vattanac Golf Resort in Cambodia is now open for play

  • Vattanac
    Vattanac Golf Resort

    It is the second Faldo Design layout at the resort

  • Vattanac
    Vattanac Golf Resort

    There are several water features, and an island green

  • Vattanac
    Vattanac Golf Resort

    Cultural inspiration has been integrated into the landscape, such as the model of the Terrace of Elephants from the walled city of Angkor Thom

  • Vattanac
    Vattanac Golf Resort

    The resort’s East course opened last year

ADd Image Credit here for home page
Vattanac Golf Resort
Richard Humphreys

Richard HumphreysRichard Humphreys

Other posts by Richard Humphreys
Contact author

Contact author

x

Subscribe to the Golf Course Architecture newsletter


  • ©2025 Tudor Rose. All Rights Reserved. Golf Course Architecture is published by Tudor Rose.