Siberia's first golf course

My team mate Tim is a bit of a sports enthusiast and quite talented to boot at a few sports. This year he discovered Siberia's first ever golf course. The founder is a successful business man. He had never played golf before 2006. But like many elite Russians he holidays in Thailand in the Winter time. That's where he discovered golf.

Aside from his business (of which I know nothing) he has now founded Siberia's first ever golf course. There are 8 golf courses in the Moscow area now, this is the first here, just outside Krasnoyarsk. It is his vision to develop the sport here.

The course is quite long, and therefore probably the hardest golf course I have ever played on. There was one hole I was unable to successfully complete. The longest hole on the course is 700 metres and is a par 7. But this is not the longest hole in the world. There is some dispute as to whether this record is held by Chocolay Downs in Michigan (1007 yards), Satsuki in Japan (964 yards), or Legends Golf and Safari Resort in South Africa (830 metres).

Normally 9 holes of golf should take about 2 hours to play. This course took us 4 hours to play 9 holes. And every hole was a steep walk. My legs are aching this evening.

The first 9 holes have been built. The second nine are still in the planning stages.

Our neighbours saw this and laughed at the phallic reference. Whilst I can't deny that it is probably there, I explained that this is a very regular shape for a golf hole, therefore it never occurred to me. 700 metres, par 7 is definitely the longest hole I have ever played.

Pretty much every hole was long, even the par 3 holes (2 of them) were much longer than a regular par 3.

I liked the fact though that the fairways are nice and wide.

The scenery is quite picturesque and classically Siberian.

This would have to be the deepest bunker I have ever seen in golf. No sand has been added yet. I joked that it was more like a world war 1 trench.

Try this hole on for size and difficulty. It is a "par 3". You have to hit the ball over the trees to get on to the green. I told Tim that never in a million years could I make the shot. He struck the perfect wood shot and just cleared the trees.

Many of the holes were quite steep, but this may have been the steepest.

Making golf greens is an art and a science. I am sure it takes a lot of practice and perfecting. Tim used to be a green keeper in the US. He has some advice for the club owner, but I guess it will take time. Yes this is Tim on one of the greens. They are quite rough, and as such I did not count my strokes on the green. But I actually putted in, in 2-3 strokes on every green.

A good team building exercise. :)  Thanks Tim for a great round of golf.

 It took me 6-7 strokes on most holes, but then I didn't hit them all cleanly. But still I did play some good strokes. A good day's golf for me includes, a nice walk, some sunshine, not losing the ball, some good strokes played and good company. All of these happened today, so it was the perfect day's golf. And who would have ever thought I would be playing golf in Siberia!

The Pro-Shop. Why is that written in English?  English is a fashionable and prestigious language in Russia.

Have a look at the golf course's website here:  Eagle Hills Golf Club, Krasnoyarsk.