Bulgarian Prime Minister, Mr Boyko Borisov officially opened Pravets Golf Club on Saturday 14 May, cutting a ceremonial ribbon with Mr Ian Randall, Chief Executive of the PGAs of Europe and Mr Vassil Zlatev, from the owning company, Terra Tour Services.
The ceremony took place in front of over 350 guests on the terraces of the stunning new clubhouse over-looking the Peter Harradine course and Pravets Golf & Spa Resort. The Prime Minister was then invited to make the first putt on the spectacular 9th and 18th double green. Pravets Golf Club also presented the Prime Minister him with golf clubs and golf shoes.
In an earlier press conference, Ian Randall commented “golf is a game for all and a game and for life and I am impressed by the philosophy and motto of the Pravets Golf Club ‘Anyone Can Play’ ”. Besides taking part in the opening ceremony and first 18 hole tournament, Mr Randall had another reason to visit the golf club in Pravets, to check the progress of the golf course in preparation for the hosting of the PGA Professionals Championship of Europe – the most prestigious events in the calendar for the PGAs of Europe, which will be held in Pravets between 27 – 30 September, 2011.
Peter Harradine, the golf course architect commented “the team have done a fantastic job to get the golf course in such a great condition and the greens are some of the best I have seen for such a young golf course”. Peter went on to add “It is an emotional moment to see the course fully open and I was very pleasantly surprised when I realized that 132 people were playing in the very first 18 hole event”.
CEO of the owning company Terra Tour Service, Mr Lachezar Todorov thanked all participants in the project and pointed out the key benefits for the Pravets area being the creation of jobs with currently over 50% of the staff coming from the town of Pravets, the development of quality tourism in Bulgaria and the increased financial impact on the local economy.
The opening event was the inaugural “Braemar Golf Team Challenge” held on Sunday 15 June, with the winning team from Golf Club Bulgaria, taking home the traditional ‘Scottish Quaich’ trophy. The day included junior clinics using SNAG Golf equipment, clinics for the sponsors Renault and sponsored holes from Chivas Regal and Domaine Boyar, which were greatly appreciated by the players.
Pravets Golf Club www.pravets-golfclub.com
Harradine Golf www.harradine-golf.com
Braemar Golf www.braemargolf.co.uk
PGAs of Europe www.pgae.com