Russians are flocking to play golf at the moscow country club

The words "Russia" and "golf" may not seem compatible, not yet at least. In fact, looking at Russian lifestyles, the sporting life is not exactly the first impression that comes to mind.

But Russians are known for achieving the impossible. For instance, you can drive through any Russian city and not come across even one tennis court, but the country is quickly becoming a world powerhouse in that sport. Last year, Russia won the world’s top team event in tennis – the Davis Cup in Paris – beating the home team. Boris Yeltsin, a tennis fan himself, was among those cheering on the Russian team.

So could golf be the next Big Thing in Russia? Some enthusiasts in Moscow believe so, and they think it will catch on with a wide range of the population, not just with the elite crowd.

So far, there are only two fully developed golf courses in Russia, but more than 13,000 rounds are played each year at the 18-hole course at Le Meridien Moscow Country Club in Nakhabino, 15 km outside the capital.

John Wood, the man in charge, has seen many famous Russians try their hand at the invigorating sport. But while it’s becoming a favorite game of the rich, and you can surely find many a young billionaire on the greens with bodyguards in tow and caddies riding electric carts, there are also some young prodigies in the making – products of the club’s Junior Academy.

It is mainly a summer sport, of course, but even winter temperatures of 10 degrees or more below zero can’t keep some people away. Many show up at Nakhabino in full gear, hitting red balls, chasing them on snowmobiles and ice skates and then, after each hole, coming for the celebratory slug of vodka at the ice bar in Russia’s most famous golf course.

But when the weather gets better, that’s when things heat up at Nakhabino. Parking places and tee times on weekends are sometimes hard to find at the course, which is managed by Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts. It’s quickly acquiring the reputation for being Moscow’s hottest ticket on summer weekends, according to one American enthusiast.

Such is the popularity of the sport that corporations are lining up to book the whole season in advance. And companies such as BMW, Mild Seven (a brand of Japan Tobacco), Visa International and other international corporations have given a big impetus to golf in Russia through sponsorship programs.

[E]ven winter temperatures of 10 degrees or more below zero can’t keep some people away Wolfgang Schlimme, Russia managing director for the makers of what could be the country’s favorite car, the BMW, has made Le Meridien Moscow Country Club his residence. He’s a major force behind the drive to give the sport a proper image in Russia – and he knows a thing or two about the importance of image. A few years ago, almost every young man who had the money to do it used his first large earnings in post-Soviet Russia to buy a black BMW. Slowly, it became the symbol for the nouveau riche, the black-attired, gold-chained, Rolex-wearing young who made obscene amounts of money in the 1990s.

"We have to change the image of our car," mused Schlimme four years ago during a marketing session. "[We must] get away from the impression that the car is only a favorite of people with questionable sources of income to that of a vehicle for people who can afford and enjoy comfort, luxury, safety and the driving experience and proudly display it."

Schlimme teamed up with marketing guru Hans Koeleman of AMS, and the two Europeans embarked on one of the riskiest marketing strategies to help change BMW’s image.

Four years later, the 5 and 7 series BMWs are the favorite of top Russian business executives and government functionaries. In the process of getting there, Schlimme and Koeleman used their image-enhancement skills to help spread golf’s popularity in this country.

And the sport has, indeed, come a long way in the past four years from the days when only a handful of expatriates would show up at the Moscow City Club that was started by Swedish entrepreneur Sven Tumba.

Area steeped in Soviet history

The Park Hotel in Nakhabino, during the Soviet era, was a retreat for diplomats, owned and operated by GlavUkdK, the main administration for services to the diplomatic corps. It was a distant and mysterious place.

In 1996, Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts was engaged to run the resort and, after extensive renovations and enlargement, Le Meridien Moscow Country Club was born. Soon, many major Russian companies began using the resort’s facilities. Now, Fridays and, occasionally, midweek days are dedicated to corporate tournaments in the summer months.

On weekends, club members either play against each other or participate in club tournaments.

By summer of 2002, Wood, general manager of Le Meridien – who after only a year in charge has seen double-digit sales growth – had to start thinking about crowd control when record numbers of people flocked to the course to watch the final two rounds of the BMW Russian Open.

This year’s Open should be even more dramatic, as the prize pool has been increased to 400,000 euros from last year’s 180,000 euros and as the tournament qualifies as a dual ranking event on the PGA European Tour and the PGA European Challenge Tour.

Some of Europe’s top golfers are expected to participate in the event, scheduled for Aug. 14-17. With crowds expected to again be at record levels, organizers will erect three grandstands instead of just one as in previous years to allow better viewing access for fans.

So, as the big money comes into the sport, many enthusiasts hope Russia will soon have golf superstars on the world stage to match the celebrity status of tennis’ Anna Kournikova, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin.

As for Wood, he clearly enjoys hosting the new favorite sport of the well-off in Russia, and he longs for the day when a Russian will win the BMW Russian Open.