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Anyone who manages a golf course knows one thing well: harmonizing the fairway layout is the key to the success of a top-tier golf course.
Specifically, dedicated maintenance staff at top golf clubs around the world typically employ sophisticated hardware and a range of innovative techniques to keep the course's turfwork in the best possible condition. At Laguna Golf Lang Co, the work involved in maintaining the elevated state of the course layout – including a spectacular course designed by architect Nick Faldo, where golfers stand amidst tropical rainforest, sand dunes, the ocean, and rice paddies – is also fully undertaken, but through a shared effort between humans, machines, and even... animals.
The water buffalo acts as a biological lawn mower and helps maintain the rice fields during the course.
Adam Calver, Director of Golf at Laguna Golf Lang Co, said that Vietnam is the first place in the world where animals play such an important role on a golf course. Mother Chi Chi and calf Bao will have four hectares of rice paddies to "work" on. These paddies surround the 3rd and 4th holes and reappear on the 13th fairway, the 14th tee, and run along the 15th hole.
In the early days of golf course development, when fairways were mostly built on public land, it was not uncommon for sheep and cattle to roam freely on the fairways and greens. Even today, at some courses—notably wild-linked clubs in remote regions like Scotland and Ireland—cattle still "play their game" across the course, mowing and thinning the grass. In Asia, although previously less willing to allow animals to participate in this green landscape maintenance, there are now other moves underway. Even on the quietest days, water buffaloes still venture out through rice paddies to perform their duties.
The rice paddies now have another spectacular visual element – a golf course!
"We considered various solutions to enhance the aesthetics of the rice paddies between harvests, and the continuous pruning to maintain large, smooth, and well-maintained fields would require a significant amount of labor," Calver added. From there, water buffaloes serve as biological mowing tools while simultaneously preserving the traditional Vietnamese landscape on golf courses.
At Laguna Golf Lang Co, a trio of buffaloes will help manage the fields by eating weeds and excess crops in the area, instead of needing machinery and manpower for maintenance. And not only do these animals provide an important service in caring for the fields, but they also bring a captivating visual effect to the golf course, which is already very visually demanding.
However, these rice fields are not just for display; they can be harvested twice a year, yielding up to 20 tons of rice. This is used to support organic farms at Laguna Lăng Cô and donated to families and the elderly in the area.
The rice paddies at Laguna Golf Lang Co are harvested twice a year and yield up to 20 tons of rice.
"We knew that having holes winding through rice paddies would be a unique and memorable experience for golfers," shared Paul Jansen, the leading golf course architect who assisted Faldo in the design. "In addition, this model has the potential to give back to the community a sustainable space and revitalize the aesthetics. All the best golf courses have their own unique characteristics and sense of place, and we felt that if we could adapt well to our surroundings, we would be closer to achieving something truly good."
