to talk with the colonel at a military base close by. About 100 Rus-
sian soldiers came over and walked each hole in a line, picking up
all the small stones.
- OPEN FOR BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER 1993
A nine-hole tournament takes place in 1993. It’s exclusively for
Russians, to ensure that the first champion is a native.
Copetas: The one thing that the Russians demanded from day
one was that once the club opened, they wanted a Russian golf pro,
of which there were none. So the Russians did some kind of hunt
through the sports academy to find anyone who had any knowledge
of golf whatsoever, and they found this kid and made him the golf
pro. I asked him, “How did you get involved in golf in Russia, where
there’s no golf ?” He said that prior to the club opening, he had been
on an exchange program in Florida. One morning, he woke up very
early and decided to take a walk. He wanders into this beautiful park
area. All of a sudden, he hears voices screaming at him very loudly.
And he doesn’t understand English that well. He looks up in the air
and sees this white sphere coming at him that hits him in the head
and knocks him out. He took that as a sign from God that he should
learn about golf. And thus was born the first Russian golf pro.
The inaugural Russian Open championship, a 54-hole event, takes place
in September 1994. It features a mix of accomplished players and not-so-
accomplished players.
Jones:Speeches were made. The local mayor, who knows noth-
ing, gave a long-winded speech. Then Michael Bonallack, who had
come from the R&A to help open the course, was invited to speak.
He got up and said, “On behalf of the Royal and Ancient Golf Soci-
ety that was founded in St. Andrews in 1754, we welcome all of the
people of Russia to our sport,” and sat down. That’s it. I thought
that was perfect. Then Deputy Foreign Minister Sergeyev got up
and said, “Comrades, I am the trained engineer responsible for the Cl
oc
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CourtesyRobert^ TrentJones^ Jr.^
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