They will be built in Can Tho City, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Thuan provinces, in southern Vietnam. 

Bui Xuan Huy (R), general director of Novaland signed an agreement with a Greg Norman representative. Photo by VnEpxress

The property company said: "The first course designed by golf legend Greg Norman will be built in Phan Thiet in the first quarter of 2019." Phan Thiet is the capital of Binh Thuan.

Novaland is one of Vietnam's biggest real estate developers with chartered capital of VND9.14 trillion ($393 million). The private firm has, over the last 26 years, developed more than 40 property projects in a range of segments.

Australian Norman is the chairman of the Great White Shark Enterprises, named for his nickname on the circuit during his playing days. One of its subsidiaries is the Greg Norman Golf Course Design, which has designed over 100 courses in 34 countries.

Greg Norman (L) in a working trip to Phan Thiet

Norman has been appointed Vietnam Tourism Ambassador for three years starting this year.

At the deal signing ceremony, Daniel Grassi, a representative of Greg Norman Golf Course Design, said he highly rates the potential of golf tourism in Vietnam. 

Visitors coming to Vietnam to play golf only account for 0.5 percent of international arrivals. The figure of Malaysia is 2 percent and it is 9 percent for Thailand, according to Ngo Hoai Chung, vice head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. 

The country received 14.12 million foreign arrivals in the first 11 months of the year, up 21.3 per cent year-on-year and exceeding last year’s 12.9 million, the General Statistics Office reported.