Winners BBCU Golf Day

Saturday 26th June was a great day out for the British Business Club in Ukraine. The weather was on our side and we enjoyed our annual BBCU Golf Day.

This was not just a day for golf players, oh no. We successfully managed to convince many of our members to come along and try the game of golf. So many people turned out, we were afraid we would run out of available golf clubs. Maybe the reason we had such a great turnout was due the fact that we reduced the entrance fees as much as we could, to show people that Golf is not just a game for the rich in Ukraine. We feel that too many people still want it to be a game for the elite. Golf can be enjoyed by many people.

One of the reasons we introduced ‘Pay as you Play’ at Royal Kyiv Golf Club was to attract people to come along without the burden of very high membership fees. So far our strategy is working. Many of our members now know what is a ‘Driving Range’, ‘Putting Green’, ‘Chipping Green” and the difference between a ‘wood’, ‘putter’ and ‘wedge’ etc. Moreover, they actually played golf for the first time.

The winners for the day. Having just returned from watching the US Open, local expat in Kyiv, Stuart McKenzie was the outright winner of the BBCU Golf Day Tournament. (Just 9 over par). Plus in the afternoon he succeeded further by capturing the trophy for the ‘Texas Scramble’. (Team of three players, one good player, one average and one beginner).

One of the most interesting tournaments for our beginners was the BBCU Academy Tournament, played on a special six hole course designed for beginners.
The winner – Sergey Maklakov with a score of 24 (just 6 over par) was delighted to take away the Academy Trophy.

Congratulations to all our winners and to all those brave enough to try the game for the first time. I would like to thank many of the people who made the day a great success including our Director of Golf – Mr Bill Bennett and his wife Svetlana, Peter Flanighan, Dina Melynk and Mr Clem Young – Director of Golf at Royal Kyiv Golf Club and his partner Olga Sokolova.

The day was also enjoyable thanks to the great BBQ kindly supplied by Mr Peter Davis.
Peter is another well known expat in Kyiv and we thank him very much for the support provided by his catering team.

I started the day by explaining to people that the game of golf is like a drug. Once you get the taste, you want more and want to keep getting more. Now we need to find enough golf instructors for all those now wanting to have regular lessons.