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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Golf Club as an Attribute of a Capital City

27 April, 1999 - 00:00

  Interviewed by Liudmyla HUMENIUK, Petro
MARUSENKO, The Day
 

 

 

The Ukrainian capital seems to be faced with a multitude of pressing problems,
other  than founding a golf club. There is Chornobyl, economic collapse,
poverty, and a lot of other sad priorities which make up Ukraine's current
image in the West. And so when the General Directorate for Services to
Foreign Representatives turned to a Norwegian investment company with the
idea of setting up Ukraine's first golf club, at first it was taken as
a joke. Later, Gerold Hauser, a noted golf architect, recalled that the
A320 Australian Airlines airbus to Kyiv never lands with any vacant seats
and that the Ukrainian capital accommodates representations of more than
5,000 Western companies, with over 3,000 foreigners working on seventy
embassy staffs. All this made him eventually take the idea seriously. He
agreed to work on the project.

Below is The Day's interview with Pavlo Kryvonis, head of the
Kyiv Administration's department for services to foreign representatives.

The Day: Why golf of all things? This sport is little known
in Ukraine.

P. K.: All civilized capitals have golf clubs. This is only natural,
like a television or refrigerator in every family. A golf club is a must
in a capital city, a requisite of any country. It's part of today's lifestyle.
In the West, golf is mostly associated with prominant and affluent people.
They use the game to discuss business and politics, to make important deals.
Remarkably, the atmosphere proves more favorable for coming to terms than
any round table talks. We conceived the golf club idea over six years ago.
We studied Moscow's experience, visited other capitals, and prepared dozens
of draft projects for Kyiv.

The Day: Where is the golf course to be located?

P. K.: We offered our Norwegian colleagues several options (they
are recognized experts in the field). We all know that Kyiv has many scenic
locales. We would take them to different sites and they admired them all,
but when they saw the Obolon Urochyshche boundary area they were speechless
with delight. They said there is no such landscape anywhere else in Europe.
Imagine an oak grove overlooking the Dnipro and pleasantly diversified
environs, each distinction harmoniously blending with the next. And all
this within the city limits! The site meets every international standard.

The Day: And public opinion? This sport is new here.

P. K.: When we came up with the project at the City Council some
of the deputies were outraged. What do you mean? Taking so much of the
land away from Kyivans and giving it to the bloody capitalists (the project
takes 127 hectares)? We said sorry, but not a single resident can get to
the site normally, for access on one side is blocked by the Dovzhenko Film
Studios and on the other by an empty lot frequented by homeless people.
In a word, the place is not used by anyone and the city budget has not
received a cent from or for it, yet there turned up quite a few opponents
of the project. Why? Because most Ukrainians know little about golf. Many
thought we were trying to push through another stupid idea and that the
place should be left municipal property, so residents could use it as a
beach. Well, we have beaches, more than any other capital anywhere in the
world. Take Trukhaniv Island! In other words, we are not taking anything
away from anybody. The project costs a great deal and the place will look
much better than it does now.

The Day: And the municipal budget will benefit too, won't
it?

P. K.: Of course it will, but I would like to stress that we
are not building a supermarket or garages. Our project means investment
in the first place. One has to remember that that golf club means people
flying from abroad to play, making hotel reservations, visiting cafes and
gift shops. Of course, there will be money for the city budget from the
land rental charges and golf club proceeds. In addition, our Norwegian
partners plans to reinvest their revenues in Ukraine.

The Day: What made you choose the Norwegians?

P. K.: There are very many golf clubs in Norway and their climate
is like what we have here in Kyiv. Our Norwegian partners have attracted
to our project topnotch golfers from Austria, Great Britain, and the United
States.

The Day: There aren't such expert players in Ukraine, are
there?

P. K.: Yes, at least that we could find after circulating special
questionnaires. There are those that have visited other countries and taken
up golf. They would like to continue playing here. And one can already
buy golf equipment and gear in Kyiv stores. What we lack is a real golf
course.

The Day: How many holes will the golf course have?

P. K.: Eighteen. This year there will be only nine. And the place
will have tennis courts, bungalows, bars, restaurants, a car rental, a
beautiful landscape park - the works. The project's next round envisions
a small hotel.

The Day: Who will make up the bulk of your customers?

P. K.: Diplomats. The first thing they ask about arriving in
Kyiv is whether we have a golf club. Our questionnaires show that this
is their lifestyle. It is their place for meeting guests and conducting
talks. We are also planning children's playgrounds and here Moscow's experience
comes in handy. When they built the first golf club the project was at
first opposed by the people and local bureaucrats. They were afraid that
construction teams would come and start chopping down trees, ruining the
environment. But then the golf club started functioning and formed a junior
team from among homeless and problem family children. Now they are Russia's
hopefuls in this sport. We want follow their example, so our children will
know about golf not only from books and television.

 

Kyiv builds golf course unrivaled in Europe
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