Le Trong Minh, editor in chief of the Vietnam Investment Review, one of the organizers, made the revelation on April 23 at the opening ceremony for the outing held at the Legend Hill Golf Resort in the Soc Son District of Hanoi.

The annual event raises money for scholarships and grants for students graduating from the nation’s high school, for teachers wishing to add to their expertise and for upgrades to schools, said Mr Minh.

He said the 150 participating golfers and quite a few businesses such as SeABank, Samsung Electronics, Vingroup, KinderWorld, Pegasus, and Coca Cola are responsible for the achievement, which is a significant increase over last year’s event.

"We had some generous sponsors and we had to cut it off at 150 players because more gets too confining and takes too long to finish," he said.

Over the past nine years, more than 12,000 scholarships and grants totalling in excess of US$470,000 have been provided to needy children and more than 40 school have received badly needed upgrades.

"We are committed to support the welfare of children in our community," said former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan in turn. "This is a good way to raise a substantial amount of money, and fun, too."