The bovine threesome help to manage the paddies by eating excess weeds and crops in the area that would otherwise require machinery and manpower to maintain.
One of Vietnam’s leading golf layouts, Laguna Golf Lang Co, has employed a special group of greenkeepers: a family of water buffalo.
The Nick Faldo-designed course between tropical jungle, ocean sand dunes, and rice paddies, is shared between man, machinery and beast.
“We are pretty sure it’s a first in this part of the world to have animals performing such an important role on the golf course,” said Adam Calver, director of golf at Laguna Golf Lang Co,.
Even on the quietest days, the three water buffalo are always out wading through the rice paddies and performing their duties.
“We looked at various methods to increase the aesthetics of the rice paddies between the harvests as continually mowing the fields to maintain vast rice terraces can consume a large amount of labour,” said Calver.
“The water buffalo act as bio-mowers while also protecting the traditional Vietnamese landscape.”
The bovine threesome help to manage the paddies by eating excess weeds and crops in the area that would otherwise require machinery and manpower to maintain.
The paddy though is not just for show. Harvested twice a year, they yield up to 20 tonnes of rice that are used to support the organic farm at Laguna Lang Co and donated to families and seniors in the area.
“We knew that having the holes weave through the rice fields would be a unique and memorable experience for golfers,” said Paul Jansen, the leading golf course architect who assisted Faldo with the design of the course.
“And also, there would be potential to give back to the community in a sustainable and regenerative fashion. All the best golf courses have character and sense of place and we felt if we could adapt our surroundings then we would be close to achieving something really good.”