Walter Prochorenko is a Ukrainan-American golfing enthusiast with a serious handicap - he's stuck in the very middle of a country which is totally devoid of golf courses! As General Director of the Golden Gate Golf Club project, it's a problem he is attemp to resolve. He's not the only one either. There are a number of project currently under way which are geared at building golf courses in and around Kyiv.

The question remains, though, of just how a super-sporty nation like Ukraine with such famously lush greenery could still be without a single golf course nearly eleven years after Independence. On closer inspection, the Ukrainian golf course story is a customary post-independence tale of big money ambitions, labyrinthine bureacracy, rampant corruption, and unrelenting enthusiasm that dates back to the very early days.

Suprisingly, there has actually been a Ukrainan Golf Federation sinced 1992, when it was established by the then-Minister of Health Yuriy Spizhenko. In ten years, however, the organisation has not managed to set up a corse, focusing efforts instead on mini-golf.

Other group have moved somewhat faster. Walter, who came to Ukraine in 1995 with a view to setting up a golf course after years of experience building courses in the Far East, first came close to setting up a course in the late 1990s, only to see the land he'd ear-marked for the course get snapped up by oligarchs looking for prime dacha locatins. That was out in Konche Zaspa, and Prochorenko's dream remains to establish a course in the stunning countryside to the south of Kyiv.

The proposed site for the Golden Gate Golf Course, as his dream will one day be known, is located in Konche Zaspa and occupies 76 hectares of government reserve between a tributary of the Dnipro and an elite riding school. On the opposing bank of the river stand rows of million dollar dachas owned by the richest men in the land. "Brodsky sold that one to Praveks Bank recently", explains our guide, pointing to a palatial property featuring a waterfall in the back garden and security guards on the ratio. The plot of land set aside for the golf course is about as exclusive as you could hope to get, situated right in the middle of one of the most sought-after real estate areas on the fringes of Kyiv, an area thar will surely have become exclusive suburbia within a few years. Indeed, while it used to be fairly uncontroversial to talk about the absence of a middle class in Ukraine, in the last couple of years yhe number of peaplewith substantial disposable incomes has increased signifinatly as the stable economic situation begin to bear fruit. Studies have estimated that ther are twenty-five thousand potential golfers in Ukraine, enough to fill the clubhouses of up to ten courses. for the time being, though, Kyiv's golf fans would settle for just one.

Prochorenko is hopeful of getting the final clearance and permission he needs to start building and landscaping work, but a few bureacratic stumbling blocks remain, and he is fast losing patience with corrupt local officials. "You think you're coverd then a new guy comes in with a whole new set of requirements", he comments, complaining of being 'bounced around' within various government structures. It has reached the point where Prochorenko is ready to call it a day if he doesn't see results by the end of the year. "I've been here seven years trying to do this; I can't wait any longer!" he says. Prochorenko actually feels that Ukraine is selling itself short with its lack of golf courses, arguing that many forign companies, particulary Asian, will not locate offices in Ukraine or invest in the country until executives can enjoy the leisure options offered by a golf course.

Interestingly, whenever Kyiv does finally get its own golf course, it will not be the first ever in the Ukrainian capital, as legend has it that there was a course in Kyiv at the end of the nineteenth century. Apparently the course was built by a Russian aristocrat, but its location remains a mystery. For golfing enthusiasts desperate to get a round in, this talk of lost courses will be of little comfort. There is, however, talk of holding a six-hole tournament this June on the territory of the future Golden Gate Golf Club, so watch this space for more news.

May, 2002
Magazin"What's On"