Vattanac Golf Course, Cambodia
challenges at Laguna Lang Co are astounding.
He loves this place so much he is even going
back to tweak the tenth hole by adding a
new tee across the river which he says will
make the hole, “really come alive.” and relaxing lifestyle, ambiance and raw
beauty and even what he terms, “the warm
weather.” It is not all business with Sir
Nick in Asia he regularly comes on purely
personal trips as well.
He loves Asia and comes over at least once
a year. He relishes the adventure of creating
in wild, untamed and exotic places. While
all of his work over here is not necessarily
in the wilderness, there is almost always
a uniqueness to the venue. For instance,
his Lakeview GC course in Kunming China
was one among the first wave of courses
when China opened up to the golf world
around the turn of the 2000 millennium.
The challenges were great but the result has
endured as the course is still one of the best
conditioned in China. In Asia, Thailand and more recently Vietnam
come to mind first as his favorites.
He has been coming since the 70’s first
playing, then designing, promoting the Faldo
Junior series, and other business ventures.
You could say Asia has gotten permanently
under his skin as the often laconic knight
waxes on about the food and culture, spas
36
Destination Golf .TRAVEL
As the current holder of the World Golf
Awards Golf Designer of the Year trophy,
despite a lean market place, his design
business is in acceleration mode. The
addition of Mark Adams, former head
of IMG Asia to the team to develop the
opportunities coming from every corner of
East Asia, Faldo Design is poised to handle
the flow.
Having completed the immensely popular
Angkor Golf Resort course some years ago
in Siem Reap, Cambodia (think Angkor Wat),
he currently has a new project nearing
completion close to Phnom Penh.
This project challenged Sir Nick and his lead
designer Andy Haggar to the hilt as it was