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In 15 years time there will be 40 golf courses in
Bulgaria - on
the Black Sea coast, around
Sofia, Elena, Gabrovo, Trun, and Miroviane. There will be new
houses and apartments built around the new courses, which will serve
as a “carrot” for buyers.
Manuel Ferry Sanches, president of Spain’s Ferry Group, signed a
contract with Sofia municipality, confirming his company’s plan to
invest 150 million euro in the next three years in the Kuttina golf
resort project, which will include a multifunctional modern golf
centre, commercial centre, and recreation area with a sports centre
including swimming pools and tennis courts.
Sport Center Kuttina received a first class investment
certificate from Invest Bulgaria Agency in accordance with the
Investment Promotion Act.
During the construction phase, there will be about 2000 jobs, and
about 700 permanent jobs after the project is completed.
Sanches, who has 20 years experience in the golf industry, said
that in Europe municipal golf courses were common.
He said that golf is not elitist, and is not only a sport - it is
a business, an industry in its own right. He does not agree that the
golf course should be built before the houses; in Spain there is a
similar problem with investors who cannot complete the building of
their golf course. Sanches said that Bulgarian investors should stop
waiting for help from the state and for grants. They should start to
act, said Sanches. To him, not only is golf is a sport, but it also
encourages protection of the environment and land regeneration. Golf
additionally supports the property and tourist sector and is a
separate and independent industry. A lot of people live in golf
complexes, yet do not play golf; they live there because of the
pleasant environment, he said.
More than 65 million people in the world play golf. The
United States is the
world leader with more than 156 000 golf courses. More than 27
million Americans play; in both Europe and
Canada, about 4.5
million. In Japan
the sport is very popular - there are about 16 million players. In
Africa, however, there are only 58 golf courses. Land and location
need to be optimal for a golf course, and a golf school should be
created, in Sanches’s opinion. He said that golf is not sold through
advertising, but by word of mouth. Golf should be freed from the
label of an “elitist sport”. It is not necessary to be a millionaire
to play golf, he said.
Three famous golfers, Gary Player, Ian Woosnam and Jack Nicklaus
are currently involved in designing five golf courses in Bulgaria.
These three professional players are the team captains of Europe,
the US and the Rest of the World. Welshman Woosnam was in Bulgaria
on November 1 2005, when building work was started on two courses he
designed - Lighthouse near Balchik and Pirin, near Bansko and
Razlog.
The golf project near Kavarna, Thracian Cliffs, designed by
Player, will be able to accommodate 3150 people in its hotels and
villa complexes. Spa facilities will also be available. Another golf
project, Black Sea Rama, near Balchik, is also Player’s and will be
completed in June 2006.
All the new five will be open for business in 2007-2008, bringing
tourism not only to the golf courses but also the hotels, spa,
villas and apartments in the surrounding areas. The value of this
project is about 70 million euro. Woosnam’s Pirin and Lighthouse
projects are both valued at about 118 million euro.
Lilyan Todorov, the chairman of Air Sofia which owns three golf
courses, said that Bulgaria’s golf courses should be located around
bigger towns and resorts. Air Sofia is currently planning to build a
golf course about 10km from Sofia. There are already foreign
residents in Ihtiman, who have bought property near to the existing
golf course.
One of the projects between Balchik and Kavarna is managed by
Swedish people. Golf is a widely-enjoyed sport among many people in
Sweden, which
boasts half a million golfers. Furthermore, it is not expensive to
be member of a club here in Bulgaria, according to the executive in
charge of the Cliff Golf project. The summer season on the Black sea
coast, in his opinion, could be extended to eight to nine months
through golf tourism. The company also plans to build a hotel and
marina - a full tourist package to suit every taste. The investors
predict that English, Scandinavians and Bulgarians from Sofia and
Varna will come to their complex.
Current golf courses in Bulgaria:
- 1.Ihtiman, owner Air Sofia
- 2.Sliven, owner Air Sofia
- 3.Ravno Pole, near Sofia.
Future Golf courses:
- 1.Balchik - Black Sea Rama, designed by Gary Player, expected
date of completion June 2006
- 2.Kavarna - Thracian Cliffs, designed by Gary Player, expected
date 2007-2008
- 3.Balchik - Lighthouse, designed by Ian Woosnam, expected date
2007-2008
- 4.Banya and Razlog, near Bansko Pirin, designed by Ian
Woosnam, expected date 2007-2008
- 5.Dolna Banya near Borovets, designed by Jack Nicklaus,
expected date - 2007-2008
- 6. Kuttina golf resort designed by Manuel Ferry Sanches,
expected date 2009.
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