Cassells Joins Ocean Dunes as General Manager
Drappier bolsters Vietnam experience as Operations Manager
PHAN THIET, Vietnam (20 January 2011) – Glenn Cassells, a golf professional with extensive experience in Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, has been appointed General Manager of Ocean Dunes Golf Club. He is joined by Antoine Drappier, the club’s new Operations Manager.
“It’s the best of both worlds, a combination homecoming and brand-new experience,” said Cassells, who worked in Vietnam from 2000 to 2005, and is thus familiar with the country’s golf scene. “I already have a network of friends here and am looking forward to making new ones.”
Between Vietnam assignments, Cassells – whose extensive golf résumé includes 27 years’ experience as a PGA of Australia professional – was retained by International Management Group (IMG), most recently at Jinji Lake Golf Club in Suzhou, China, host to this year’s Volvo China Open, a co-sanctioned event between the One Asia Tour and the European PGA Tour. He also served as general manager of Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou. Both courses are 27-hole facilities managed by IMG.
Drappier most recently served as operations manager at the Dalat Palace Golf Club. His prior experience includes stints with Callaway Golf Europe, as well as the Bassin Bleu Country Club on Reunion Island, a French territory off the east coast of Africa.
Both new appointees praised the efforts of Cassells’ predecessor, Kurt Greve, in facilitating improvements to the course, practice facilities, and clubhouse. In turn, Greve’s move – he is the new general manager at Singapore Island Country Club, which shares reciprocal playing privileges with Ocean Dunes – speaks well of Ocean Dunes and provides further evidence of dynamism and prestige in the Vietnamese golf community.
Cassells and Drappier have arrived at an exciting time. The coming year will be marked by celebrations of Ocean Dunes Golf Club’s 15th anniversary. When it opened, the Nick Faldo-designed course instantly raised the standard of golf in Vietnam. Thanks to the next-door Novotel Phan Thiet, Ocean Dunes remains the only course in Vietnam accessible via a short walk from the hotel lobby to the first tee. Thanks to this mix of first-class facilities and course design, ODGC is generally credited with ushering in the modern era of Vietnamese golf.
As host to numerous national championships since its opening in 1996, and the annual Vietnam edition of the Faldo Series Asia competition for junior golfers, Ocean Dunes GC is also a perennial favourite for corporate and charity outings. This winter, the club will launch a major marketing cooperative that highlights golf, hospitality and recreational vitality of this coastal region.
“It’s both an advantage and a challenge to come to a course that already enjoys iconic status in the golf world,” notes Cassells. “Antoine and I eagerly anticipate the undertaking.”
For more information on green fees and outings, contact the Ocean Dunes GC sales office, sales@vietnamgolfresorts.com. For more information on the resort, visit www.oceandunesgolf.vn
