Major news for international tourism: Chhun On Golf Resort joins the big leagues
- La Rédaction
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
By signing a historic agreement with the British PGA, Chhun On Golf Resort reaches a decisive milestone. A closer look at the people behind an ambition that goes beyond the fairways.
Duncan Rougvie has seen golf academies across four continents. Facilities in Scotland, Spain, Thailand, and the Emirates. On the morning of June 19, looking out from the glass walls of the training building at Chhun On Golf Resort, the Commercial Director of the British PGA simply said:
“I didn’t expect this.” This may be the most accurate summary of what has been happening in Kandal province over the past two years—and of what the signing of an agreement with the world’s oldest golfing institution now officially confirms.
A complex that surprises even experts
Since its opening in 2024, Chhun On Golf Resort—or Chuun On, according to Khmer transliteration—has continued to impress observers of Asian golf. Owned by the Chun Chetna family, pioneers of golf in Phnom Penh since City Golf, the complex spans more than one thousand hectares in Ponhea Lueu district, with two hundred hectares dedicated to two championship courses designed by Brian Curley, one of the most respected architects on the global circuit.
The Lake Course, 7,350 yards, par 72, with its Zoysia Primo greens—a first in Asia at opening—and the Palm Course, inaugurated in April 2026 with Lynkz Zoysia greens, the first use of this technology in Southeast Asia, form a unique ensemble in the region. The Zoysia Zion fairway grass, chosen for its low water and chemical input requirements, reflects management’s ambition: to achieve excellence without compromising responsibility.
Fabrice Ho, the resort’s General Manager, originally from New Caledonia and appointed in 2023 after seven years in luxury hospitality in Siem Reap, summarizes the project’s founding vision with quiet precision:
“The Chhun Chetna family wanted to create something transformative for golf tourism in Cambodia. Not just another golf course.” This is not an ordinary building. I said it clearly during the ceremony and I repeat it: our members and international partners will be astonished when they see it.”
The PGA: 125 years of history—and a real surprise
Duncan Rougvie, the PGA’s Commercial Director, is not easily impressed. He has presided over inauguration ceremonies across four continents. The Ryder Cup, strategic partnerships, golf academies throughout Europe and Asia—this has been his daily work for years. Yet on the morning of June 19, looking out from the glass walls of Chhun On’s academic building, he readily admitted the visit exceeded his expectations.
“This is the best academy building I have ever seen—and I choose my words carefully. The size, the attention to detail, the capacity to host coaches and inspire young players… it is a world-class facility,” he said during the signing ceremony.
The PGA—important to note in order to understand the weight of this agreement—is the parent body of all professional associations bearing that name: the PGA of America, the PGA Tour, the PGA of Europe. Founded in 1901 in the United Kingdom, it celebrates its 125th anniversary this year and now has more than 8,000 members worldwide. When it designates a site as a PGA National Property, it grants official recognition, making it eligible to host major professional events—and includes it in a database consulted by tens of thousands of international golfers planning their trips each year.
There is only one PGA National per country. What this means in practice, Fabrice Ho expresses clearly:
“As soon as a professional event needs to be organized in the region, we are the first call.”
Khmer at heart, global in ambition
What stands out when visiting the estate is the symbolic density of every architectural detail. Neak Okhna Chhun On does not hide the depth of the identity-driven vision underlying the entire project. The future clubhouse—currently under construction—forms, when viewed from above, the silhouette of a romduol, Cambodia’s national flower.
The full-maned Nagas guarding the façades face the four cardinal directions, in accordance with a Khmer tradition of protection and unity. Water features, fairway elevations, landscaping—everything carries meaning.
Duncan Rougvie, who toured the course with the head greenkeeper, highlighted this uniqueness as a strong advantage for the international market:
“You don’t find this in most major global complexes—this desire to anchor a course in the identity of a place, a people, a history. It is a story we will tell worldwide.”
Across one thousand hectares traveled by electric cart, between lagoons with flat-bottomed boats and clusters of sugar palms—Cambodia’s national tree, omnipresent in the landscape—one senses something unusual in the world of golf resorts: a genuine connection to the land that feels entirely authentic.
Training the champions of tomorrow
The agreement signed on June 19 runs for ten years. It goes beyond course certification: it includes the permanent presence of an accredited PGA professional in Cambodia, tasked with sharing expertise daily with local players and coaches. Two members of Cambodia’s national golf team will also undergo a three-year program to become full members of the British PGA, qualified to work anywhere in the world.
Chea Bora, Secretary-General of the Cambodian Golf Federation, described the agreement as a “new hope” for the younger generation.
The reality driving this ambition is both stark and clear: for over a decade, Cambodia’s national team has fielded largely the same players. Without a structured training program, new talent has struggled to emerge. This is precisely the gap that the Chhun On academy, supported by PGA expertise, aims to fill within the next four to five years.
Fabrice Ho, who has spent twelve years in Cambodia and understands its realities better than many, remains measured in his outlook:
“This is not communication. This is long-term development.”
Cambodia: a leading golf destination?
Around 80 million people worldwide play golf. On average, they take one trip per year specifically for the sport. Thailand has long dominated this regional circuit. Vietnam joined about a decade ago. Today, with two Brian Curley-designed championship courses, an academy that has impressed one of the world’s most demanding golf organizations, and the country’s only PGA National designation, Cambodia is now entering the competition.
The international calendar is already taking note. From October 2026, Chhun On Golf Resort will host one stage of the Cambodia Golf Invitational, a multi-course competition that will also include Vattanac Golf Resort and Garden City Golf Club. Rougvie also openly mentioned ongoing discussions with international tours to organize professional events in the coming years.
The horizon is 2029: two hotels on-site—a luxury five-star and an apartment hotel for long-term stays by professional teams—will complete a complex whose final clubhouse, with its 400-seat ballroom, restaurants, spa, and 300-square-meter pro shop, promises to be one of the most impressive in Southeast Asia.
Before heading back to Phnom Penh, Duncan Rougvie offered one final remark with the calm smile of someone who recognizes a remarkable project: “We’ll be back. Often.”
At Chhun On Golf Resort, the ceremony had barely ended when golf carts resumed their quiet movement across the fairways. The rainy season covered the landscape in deep green. A Cambodian flag flew above the ochre dome of the clubhouse, above the Nagas watching in all four directions. Cambodia had just crossed a threshold.
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The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA), founded in 1901 in the United Kingdom, is the oldest professional golf association in the world. It now has more than 8,000 members and manages an international network of PGA National Properties across Europe, Asia, and beyond. Chhun On Golf Resort is the first PGA National Property in Cambodia.
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