The review of the best golf-fields all over the world
Russia
The exceptionally lush green of the shores reflected in the crystal mirror of the Pestovskoye water reservoir quite recently was supplemented with the emerald glow of the 18-hole golf course "Pestovo" designed by architects Paul and Dave Thomas. Now golf balls are gliding over these shores next to the seagulls.
To make the dream about a championship-class arena come true, over 800,000 cubic metres of soil was placed on 70 hectares of overgrown wastelands. Like a theatre starts with the cloakroom, a golf course starts with the range. Usually ranges are flat and even, but in Pestovo the job was entrusted to true professionals, American shapers Ron McBeth and Brian Smith. So they made five greens, bunkers, training chipping-green… Just imagine the sheer fantasy! Each hole is also unique. Wide fairways, deep sand bunkers, elevated greens - Dave Thomas's brand-name design element plus the huge cups of the lakes will force the golfers to use everything in their arsenal, and play very carefully.
According to the ambitious plans of the developers, the arena was built "with the look in the future" - to be able to host Eurotour events and prestigious international tournaments. And this very year the amazing 6,487 square metres of the Pestovo golf course will be tested by professionals: on July 4-6 the club is hosting the Russian Seniors Open tournament.
Kazakhstan
One may say that Kazakh golf started off in 1992, when the director of the Alatau resort went to London and learned about an amazing game called golf. In spring, 1995 they started building the first golf club in the republic on the resort grounds, in Zailiyskoye Alatau - the Interluxe, later renamed into the Nurtau ("mountain beam"). The golf course was designed by the Japanese architect Mr Saito. Thanks to tight work schedule, in June, 1996 the President of the Kazakhstan republic Nursultan Nazarbayev hit the first symbolic strike on the 9-hole arena.
Nine years later, in September, 2005 the course which by then has grown to the championship-class 18-holes hosted the first in Central Asia European Challenge Tour for professionals. After the debut Kazakhstan Open, the country of mountains and steppes stopped being a mystery to a hundred professional golfers from about three dozen countries. And Kazakh hospitality and the Nurtau didn't just surprise the pioneers of the European Challenge Tour - they amazed them! Truth to be told, some of them expected to play on broken fairways, and instead got the emerald perfection later on unanimously voted "the best Challenge Tour course".
Meanwhile the most interesting things are yet to come. In 2007 a historic verdict was announced: following the three-year long history of faultless arrangements and financing of the championship by the Kazakh side, this year the Nurtau will host a mixed competition for the Challenge Tour and European Tour golfers, and in 2009 it will be the place for a full-scale European Tour championship!
The Ukraine
Just like Russia, the Ukraine is experiencing a veritable golf boom. On April 11, 2007 the memorial stone was laid to mark the beginning of construction work on the Royal Kyiv Golf Club – a classic early 19th century English-style parkland adapted to match the modern standards. In Lugansk the work is fully under way on the 18-hole championship-class arena of the First Ukrainian Golf Club: the official opening of the first "niner" is scheduled for May, and the plan is to have a five-day long opening ceremony, a kind of golfing festival.
As to the existing golf projects in the Ukraine, one simply can't help mentioning the brainchild of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation and the big fan of the ancient Scottish game, Mr Yuri Sapronov - the Superior Golf Club. Just in one year 29 hectares of overgrown wasteland near Piatikhatka village were transformed into something truly amazing. The groundwork started in May, 2006. The "academic zone" and then the "niner" were designed by Alexander Stepanov, a one-time chief pro of the Moscow City Golf Club, and Brian Smith who made a champion-class arena out of the potato field in Pestovo.
The end result was a hilly fairy tale with pot bunkers, uneven fairways, lows and highs, elevated greens and a broken "tongue" of the 2nd hole fairway were one has to be a very skilled player to put the ball between the scattering of bunkers with a driver. To keep your feet dry after the 7th hole's tee (par 5, 475 m) you must send the ball across the 180-metre sand lake! The 4th hole inclined to the right is also very interesting (par 4). To the left of its fairway the lake is blinding you with its steely glitter; a brook streaming out of it cuts the lawn in two. In a word, the course is designed to reward a good first strike. And if you make a mistake, you'll pay.
Cyprus
The azure expanse of the sea, two mountainous plateaus crawling to the shore, and a ravine. That's the island of eternal golf for you. That's where American designer Cabell Robinson (one of his better-known projects is the legendary Valderrama) has "grown" his championship-class field - the Aphrodite Hills.
The first hole of the Aphrodite Hills sets the tone for the whole course. In the middle of the fairway, to the great surprise of the players who get into Aphrodite's "golfing embrace" for the first time, lies a pile of stones. It's the remains of an ancient village oven for baking clay pots. An archaeological treasure not to be interfered with in any way - and a colourful local feature making the game more interesting. To the right of the stones there's a bunker, to the left - olive trees. And you still have only the normal four strikes to get past. After the two-hole warming-up the players "dive" into the canyon - only to climb the mountain at the other side where the third hole is located. If you start playing from the far-off - champions' tees, you'll have to send the ball across the 200-metre ravine at the first strike, and then get past several criss-crossing traps with the second one. At the last - seventh - hole on this side of the Hills (just 150 m) you'll have to admire Robinson's talent… or condemn him. It's the course's calling card, one of the most spectacular holes in Europe! The designer hid a large green surrounded by olive trees… at the bottom of the 30-metre deep ravine. In other words you'll have to hit practically straight up - and good luck choosing the right club for that.
An equally thrilling adventure will be waiting for you on the other "niner". For example, at the tenth hole the green is "captured" between the lake and the bunker, while the fairway at the approach to the coveted goal reminds of a bottleneck. At the twelfth hole you'll have to deal with a very strong - and very annoying - wind. At the sixteenth you'll be mercilessly tested by the fairway running to the right, and everything will depend on the second strike. At the final 18th hole, try to get past several fairway traps with the first strike - and they, of course, are right were the ball is likely to fall. And then you'll be rewarded by an amazing view - a casually thrown "tablecloth" of the emerald lawn and the blinding glitter of the lake closing the sculpted green reminding a man-made water body. Just a very small one. Very, very small one.
Dubai
The oil found in the '60s transformed Dubai - formerly a town of pearl divers and fishermen - into a cutting-edge megapolis. One of the signs of economic prosperity is golf courses.
The first grass course in the Middle East - the Mejlis (Emirates Golf Club) - is ruled by the bright-green fairways and the turquoise of the lakes. The designer of this oasis miracle is Karl Litten. The architect's work was highly appreciated by European Tour organisers who've chosen the club as the venue for one of the competitions, Dubai Desert Classic. Note that the first tournament in March, 1989 was named after the creator's father - Karl Litten Desert Classic.
Today it's one of the most prestigious Eurotour events: the prize fund is approaching €2,000,000, with some of the most famous golfers on the planet competing for the biggest slice of the "prize cake" - Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Thomas Bjorn, Mark O'Meara, Henrik Stenson.
The not especially wide fairways go labyrinth-like between date palms and sand dune roughs. Narrow and extremely fast greens, a few man-made lakes are not just a treat to the eye but make the heart beat faster. Like at the fourth hole (par 3) which is as beautiful as it is treacherous. The treachery is hidden deep in the lake alongside the fairway and in the two bunkers nearby. The slightest error at the first strike may bury any hope to get past it within par. At the next hole, the fifth (par 4) the water also interferes with the play - giving a lot of aesthetic pleasure and a lot of trouble. This one is considered the most difficult hole for a reason. Only players with confident and long drive will be able to deal with the situation: send the ball across the lake which in effect replaces the lawn. Mejlis's brand-name hole is the 18th (516 metres). Though it shouldn't present any problems judging by the difficulty index (12), better leave you driver alone if you want to stay on the fairway after the first strike. Otherwise there'll be a high risk of losing the ball among the palm trees or in the "quick" sands. The treacherous dog leg - the bend of the fairway - is almost 90 degrees!
The Emirates Golf Club has 36 various holes altogether, for any level of game and suitable for many different tactics. It’s a very interesting challenge for strategically-minded golfers.
Elena Georgieva
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