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Robert Bicknell
Source: Vietnam News
Ok, one New year's
celebration down, one more to go…
The holiday season is
really aimed more at businesses than at individuals or families. Ok, sure, it
does give people the opportunity to get together with family members who live
far away, but there is no denying the fact that businesses wish Christmas was a
year-long holiday.
Every retailer,
manufacturer, restaurateur or golf course manager secretly sings "What a
Friend We Have In Jesus" during holiday season and most of them aren't even
Christian!
Still, if it wasn't for
the holiday season, most people would probably not take time to relax, so any
reason to spend time with the family, or play more golf, is fine by me.
Personally, I managed to sneak in a few rounds as the weather cooperated nicely
over New Year. It would've been nicer in Phan Thiet, but I guess we will have to
keep putting pressure on Jeff Puchalski and hope for a "Christmas
Open" next year.
As I mentioned in the last
column, I did bring my 15-month-old daughter to the Viet Nam News Christmas
party dressed as Santa Claus and she had a lot of fun. It turns out that a few
other parents had the same bright idea, so there were a few "little
Santa's" running around loose and a bunch of frantic parents trying to
figure out who was who, but a nice time nonetheless.
Driving yourself that
night through Ha Noi, which was one huge parking lot, is a sure way to lose your
mind. It seemed like every motorbike in the entire country was in Ha Noi and it
took two hours to get from Tran Hung Dao to West Lake…simply unbelievable. No
wonder Santa takes to the skies…
A friend of mine who
recently moved to Viet Nam was quite disappointed with the lack of "New
Year" festivities offered when compared to Christmas, but highly
appreciated the available golfing opportunities.
Little does he know that
in a few weeks, the entire country will come to a grinding halt as Tet [Lunar
Year] begins and the hangover he will encounter should reach epic proportions.
Tet will make him forget all about the Western "New Year".
Maybe I'm crazy, but does
it seem that the time between Christmas/New Year and Tet moves in slow motion?
The amount of golfers
remains high during this period. So, apparently people use this time to finish
old business and wrap things up before the Lunar New Year and take it easy for a
few weeks.
Like many others, I'm
doing the same, making plans for next year, playing a little golf, spending time
with the family and working on this year's Tet column.
I get many comments from
players at this time of year because most golf greens turn funny colours. The
reason for this is the types of grass used by courses here in Viet Nam.
Southern courses have a
pretty stable climate, so the greens stay green all year-long, whereas in the
north the climate is changeable. We call this a "transition-zone"
because cool weather grasses cannot tolerate the heat of summer, while hot
weather grasses cannot tolerate the cold winters.
For the most part, the
grass in the north goes to sleep for a short period of time each winter, but
recovers quickly once the warmer weather returns.
The golf course industry
has been trying to develop grasses which can handle the differences in
temperature and while they have created grasses which are a bit more tolerant,
they have been unsuccessful in finding grasses which can handle the extremes.
This is sort of the
"holy grail" for grass development companies. So far, they've managed
to create grasses which are more disease resistant, or can handle different
types of soil, but the temperature problem continues to elude them.
Now you know. — VNS
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