Golf in Bulgaria - luring the buyers

The Sofia Echo, Article by Petya Raykova, 10th April 2006

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 InvestBulgaria 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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