THE MAGNIFICENT SUPERIOR RESORT, NEAR KHARKIV, UKRAINE
THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE HAS SHOCKED THE WORLD, AND THE THREATS TO NATO COUNTRIES BY VLADIMIR PUTIN HAS SENT A CHILL DOWN MOST PEOPLE'S SPINE, BUT THE UKRAINIANS ARE FIGHTING HARD AND THE WEST HAS IMPOSED PUNISHING SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA IN AN EFFORT TO CRIPPLE ITS ECONOMY AND RESTRICT THE FINANCES PUTIN HAS TO FUND HIS RECKLESS MISSION IN THE COUNTRY. IT MAY NOT SEEM SO RIGHT NOW, BUT ONE DAY THIS WILL BE OVER, AND UKRAINE WILL BE A FREE NATION ONCE AGAIN, AND WHEN IT IS I FOR ONE HOPE THAT GOLF PLAYS A PART IN REBUILDING THE NATION.
FOR MUCH OF THE LAST 30 YEARS THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP THROUGH THE DP WORLD TOUR AND CHALLENGE TOUR HAS LOOKED TO GROW ON A GLOBAL SCALE, WITH TOURNAMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, AUSTRALASIA AND AFRICA, MUCH OF THE TIME AT DETRIMENT TO GROWING THE GAME IN THE CONTINENT IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 50 YEARS AGO.
UKRAINE IS A DEMOCRATIC NATION, FOR NOW AT LEAST, AND HAS CO-HOSTED ARGUABLY THE THIRD BIGGEST SPORTING EVENT IN THE WORLD. THE UEFA EURO 2012 CHAMPIONSHIPS SAW UKRAINE STAGE 17 MATCHES INCLUDING THE FINAL BETWEEN SPAIN AND ITALY, SO I AM SURE THE COUNTRY COULD EASILY STAGE A GOLF TOURNAMENT ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR. THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP SHOULD LOOK AT ESTABLISHING MORE REGIONAL SATELLITE TOURS ACROSS EUROPE, IN ADDITION TO THE PGA EUROPRO TOUR, ALPS TOUR AND EPD TOUR. AN EASTERN EUROPEAN GOLF TOUR COULD BECOME THE PLATFORM TO GIVE ASPIRING GOLFERS IN THE REGION A CHANCE TO COMPETE, AND THEN GET PROMOTION TO THE CHALLENGE TOUR AND THEN THE DP WORLD TOUR.
A NATIONAL UKRAINE OPEN ON THE DP WORLD TOUR COULD INSPIRE A GENERATION OF UKRAINIAN GOLFERS, AND SUCCEED AND LEAVE A PROPER LEGACY, UNLIKE THE FAILED RUSSIAN OPEN, WHICH CEASED TO EXIST IN 2015. BUT FOR THAT TO BECOME A REALITY GOLF NEEDS TO INVEST IN UKRAINE, IT NEEDS TO CREATE AN INDUSTRY WITHIN THIS VAST EUROPEAN NATION. GOLF EMPLOYS MANY PEOPLE ACROSS A WIDE SPECTRUM OF ROLES, AND COULD HELP BOOST THE UKRAINIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY IN THE FUTURE, ONCE PUTIN'S FORCES HAVE BEEN DEFEATED.
FOR MUCH OF THE LAST 30 YEARS THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP THROUGH THE DP WORLD TOUR AND CHALLENGE TOUR HAS LOOKED TO GROW ON A GLOBAL SCALE, WITH TOURNAMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, AUSTRALASIA AND AFRICA, MUCH OF THE TIME AT DETRIMENT TO GROWING THE GAME IN THE CONTINENT IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 50 YEARS AGO.
UKRAINE IS A DEMOCRATIC NATION, FOR NOW AT LEAST, AND HAS CO-HOSTED ARGUABLY THE THIRD BIGGEST SPORTING EVENT IN THE WORLD. THE UEFA EURO 2012 CHAMPIONSHIPS SAW UKRAINE STAGE 17 MATCHES INCLUDING THE FINAL BETWEEN SPAIN AND ITALY, SO I AM SURE THE COUNTRY COULD EASILY STAGE A GOLF TOURNAMENT ON THE EUROPEAN TOUR. THE EUROPEAN TOUR GROUP SHOULD LOOK AT ESTABLISHING MORE REGIONAL SATELLITE TOURS ACROSS EUROPE, IN ADDITION TO THE PGA EUROPRO TOUR, ALPS TOUR AND EPD TOUR. AN EASTERN EUROPEAN GOLF TOUR COULD BECOME THE PLATFORM TO GIVE ASPIRING GOLFERS IN THE REGION A CHANCE TO COMPETE, AND THEN GET PROMOTION TO THE CHALLENGE TOUR AND THEN THE DP WORLD TOUR.
A NATIONAL UKRAINE OPEN ON THE DP WORLD TOUR COULD INSPIRE A GENERATION OF UKRAINIAN GOLFERS, AND SUCCEED AND LEAVE A PROPER LEGACY, UNLIKE THE FAILED RUSSIAN OPEN, WHICH CEASED TO EXIST IN 2015. BUT FOR THAT TO BECOME A REALITY GOLF NEEDS TO INVEST IN UKRAINE, IT NEEDS TO CREATE AN INDUSTRY WITHIN THIS VAST EUROPEAN NATION. GOLF EMPLOYS MANY PEOPLE ACROSS A WIDE SPECTRUM OF ROLES, AND COULD HELP BOOST THE UKRAINIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY IN THE FUTURE, ONCE PUTIN'S FORCES HAVE BEEN DEFEATED.
CHECK OUT THIS GOLFPUNK FEATURE ON GOLF IN UKRAINE.
UKRAINE HAS 8 GOLF COURSES AND 2,384 REGISTERED GOLFERS, WHICH FOR A NATION THIS LARGE AND WITH A POPULATION OF OVER 40 MILLION PEOPLE, IS A POOR REFLECTION NOT ONLY ON GOLF DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE, BUT ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION OF EASTERN EUROPE, WITH RUSSIAN AGGRESSION AND INTIMIDATION MAKING UKRAINE UNATTRACTIVE FOR VISITORS AND FOR INVESTMENT. THE UKRAINIAN GOLF FEDERATION WAS FORMED IN 1997 AND JOINED THE INTERNATIONAL GOLF FEDERATION AS A NATIONAL MEMBER IN 2011.
UKRAINE IS AN UNTAPPED DESTINATION FOR GOLF, AND UNTAPPED POTENTIAL FUTURE PLAYER IN THE SPORT AT EVERY LEVEL, AND IF THIS COUNTRY CAN PRODUCE VITALI KLITSCHKO, WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO AND ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO (THE LAST 2 BOTH PLAY GOLF), THEN WHY CAN IT NOT PRODUCE A MAJOR CHAMPION IN GOLF? IT CAN. IMAGINE IF WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO AND ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO CAME TOGETHER TO HOST A TOURNAMENT IN UKRAINE ONCE THE WAR HAS BEEN WON, IT COULD BE INSPIRATIONAL TO MILLIONS.
UKRAINE'S PRESENT IS APPALLING, TERRIFYING AND SAD, ITS FUTURE COULD BE FANTASTIC, IF GOOD CAN WIN OVER EVIL.
UKRAINE IS AN UNTAPPED DESTINATION FOR GOLF, AND UNTAPPED POTENTIAL FUTURE PLAYER IN THE SPORT AT EVERY LEVEL, AND IF THIS COUNTRY CAN PRODUCE VITALI KLITSCHKO, WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO AND ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO (THE LAST 2 BOTH PLAY GOLF), THEN WHY CAN IT NOT PRODUCE A MAJOR CHAMPION IN GOLF? IT CAN. IMAGINE IF WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO AND ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO CAME TOGETHER TO HOST A TOURNAMENT IN UKRAINE ONCE THE WAR HAS BEEN WON, IT COULD BE INSPIRATIONAL TO MILLIONS.
UKRAINE'S PRESENT IS APPALLING, TERRIFYING AND SAD, ITS FUTURE COULD BE FANTASTIC, IF GOOD CAN WIN OVER EVIL.
