Billionaire plans Moscow course
8 September 2010
Yelena Baturina, Russia’s richest woman, is to build a golf course on the outskirts of Moscow, according to reports in the local press.
Inteco, a building conglomerate owned by Baturina, has apparently bought a 35 hectare plot of land in the western part of the city, and plans an 18 hole course for the property, which is zoned for ‘specialised sports and public recreation’. Inteco already owns the Grand Tirolia golf and ski resort in Kitzbühel, Austria.
A spokesman for the company told Russian media sources that Jack Nicklaus’s company had been invited to bid for the design of the course. However, industry experts in the West point out that 35 ha (86 acres) is an extremely small plot on which to build a modern golf course. “It will need a very creative design solution,” one industry insider told GCA.