DALAT, Vietnam --­ In its appointment of accomplished American golfer and business developer Scott Dedo to head professional and operations manager for Dalat Palace Golf Club, Danao International Holdings Limited (DIHL) has taken its first step toward returning the course to top 100 status.

The tournament-tested player and former software company consultant recently moved from Tennessee in the United States to the Vietnamese resort town of Dalat, home to a layout that once ranked 94 in the world, according to a /National Golf Review /magazine article in 1939.

Dedo said he is confident the oldest track in Vietnam—which was first called Ville de Dalat but is still widely considered the country's best—will again figure into conversations about the game's finest tests.

"With 18 holes that are better than most courses' signature hole, Dalat [Palace GC] has all the potential to be not just as good as the one I came from—which hosted an LPGA event—but better," said Dedo, who honed his game at the acclaimed Hermitage GC, near the city of Nashville. "The former commissioner of the PGA Tour in America, Deane Beman, was passing through when I started here, and he said you're not going to find a prettier setting for golf or better greens to putt on. I couldn't agree more."

The Dalat Palace Golf Club has been called a masterpiece in design. Gently crafted into the rolling hills of Dalat and overlooking the majestic Xuan Huong Lake, the club’s fairways weave through stately pine trees to oversized, undulating, bent-grass greens, a rarity in Southeast Asia.

Dalat is also the course with arguably the most fascinating history in Asia. The layout first opened in the early 1930s and has led several lives—as the course of choice for Vietnam’s imperial court and colonial elite, as well as a playground for US Army officers on wartime “R&R.”

In its last four Planet Golf surveys, /Golf Digest USA/ rated the course best in the country. In 2007, /Asian Golf Monthly/ readers voted it No. 1 in Vietnam, too.

Since accepting Indochina Land’s bid last spring to become the company’s majority stakeholder, DIHL, which owns and manages three properties in Dalat including the Sofitel Dalat Palace and Novotel Dalat Hotel, has sketched out a grand plan for the golf club. Among the changes slated to begin in the next year are drainage improvements, bunker renovations and construction of a new clubhouse.

Dedo is one of the lucky few who manage to combine their passion and work. As a software company consultant in the States, he engineered a schedule that allowed him to spend time on the golf course, too. The result is an open-caliber player with business savvy.

Jeff Puchalski, Dalat Palace Golf Club manager, is enthusiastic about Dedo’s appointment.* *

“Like our operations manager at Ocean Dunes [Golf Club] in Phan Thiet, Kenny Saunders, Scott has the experience and know-how to take our golf business to new heights," said Puchalski, who is also vice president of DIHL. "With his unique background he brings a wider view to the job, and the club will benefit greatly from that.”

For Dedo the excitement of working at such a fine golf course is matched by the thrill of being with a company that has its sights set on making the facility even better.

“What I’d like to try and do first and foremost is make sure that every guest that comes through here feels welcome and walks away knowing they just became part of a great history,” said Dedo. “But I am also eager to participate in Danao’s plans, because they are ones that should put Dalat Palace Golf Club back in the limelight.”

The Dalat Palace Golf Club was sketched into the master urban design plan for Dalat by the renowned French architect, Ernest Hebrard, in 1922. The club was most recently restored in 1994 by IMG.

*ABOUT DANAO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS*
Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Danao manages a portfolio of hotels, resorts and serviced apartments, including the five-star Sofitel Dalat Palace Hotel, four-star Novotel Dalat, Dalat Palace Golf Club, four-star Novotel Ocean Dunes, Ocean Dunes Golf Club, and the Riverside Apartments in Ho Chi Minh City. Danao Resorts was recently ranked one of the top US companies in Vietnam by a leading hospitality industry publication.

In 2006, Indochina Land, a division of Indochina Capital, acquired a majority interest in Danao, joining Dragon Capital as joint investors in the Danao portfolio. Founded in 1999, Indochina Capital ranks as one of Vietnam’s leading financial services firms, and also owns a significant share in Mekong Securities, a leading Vietnamese broker/dealer and investment bank. Dragon Capital was established in 1994 and is involved in raising and investing capital, advising both Vietnamese and international companies, and operating securities and asset management businesses.

Contact: Scott Resch
Mandarin Media
093.848.1821
sresch@mandarinmedia.net