{"id":25613,"date":"2012-03-28T20:30:31","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T20:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.golf1.is\/?p=25613"},"modified":"2012-03-30T09:51:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-30T09:51:00","slug":"introducing-sergei-revinenko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/introducing-sergei-revinenko\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing: Sergei Revinenko from Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 3rd – 5th 2011\u00a0C\u00e1diz Turismo in Spain invited\u00a0golfwriters and travelagents from all over Europe to participate in a meeting held at Arcos Gardens on tourism in the region, with special emphasise on golf. On behalf of Iceland the Icelandic travelagency World Tours (in Icelandic: Heimsfer\u00f0ir) and the golfwebsite Golf1.is were invited to participate.\u00a0Whilst at Arcos the participants were invited to play 3 of the wonderful golfcourses of C\u00e1diz, i.e. one course each day.<\/p>\n

I was so fortunate to be paired with Sergei Revinenko<\/strong>, owner of the only golftravelagency in Russia and Fjodor from Golf Digest in Russia. When does a golfer from Iceland get to meet, much less to play golf with golfers from Russia? \u00a0This was a rare opportunity to interview Sergei, who also is an international golf referee.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, I knew nothing about golf in Russia before I played golf with Sergei and Fjodor first at the San Roque golfcourse on the 3rd and than at Costa Ballena on the 4th of May 2011. On the third day of this wonderful invite from C\u00e1diz Turismo, i.e. on the 5th of May 2011, the highlight of the trip, the C\u00e1diz Cup was held at Arcos Garden.<\/p>\n

Afterwards Golf1.is interviewed 7 of the participants a.o. Sergei. \u00a0Four of the interviews have already aired i.e. the first with\u00a0twice amateur champion Krisztina Batta<\/strong> from Hungary, who won the tournament, the second with Mauricio Veloccia<\/strong> golf-pro from Italy and the third with Julien\u00a0Bacqu\u00e9s<\/strong>, \u00e1 Frenchman living in Austria, who works in the sales department of \u00a0TGR-Golfreisen in Vienna, Austria, i.e. a travelagency specializing in Golf Tours. And then the fourth with Sasha Zelenka<\/strong> author of a comprehensive golf guide about the beautiful golfcourses of Austria.\u00a0The other 3 interviews will be published shortly.<\/p>\n

The first one of those 3 interviews that are left aires tonight and is the one with Sergei Revinenko<\/strong>. \u00a0What a surprise to learn that there are over 1 billion people living in Russia (1050 million) but that only 6000 lucky ones get to play golf. Who would have known that there are only 15 golfcourses in all of \u00a0Russia and 2 being built? \u00a0Compare this to Iceland, the golfcrazed country with only \u00a0319.090 inhabitants (by the end of 2011) where 17.000 people (according to latest statistics) are affiliated to golf clubs\u00a0and it is estimated that many more play golf. One even hears rumors that supposedly 1\/3 of the nation, around 100.000 people know how to play golf in Iceland. \u00a0And… Icelanders \u00a0have 66 golfcourses to choose between.<\/p>\n

But then on the other hand Iceland has more of a golfing tradition than Russia. The oldest golfclub in Iceland was founded 1935, but the cornerstone of the oldest golfcourse in Russia was laid in September 1987. \u00a0People have only been playing golf in Russia for some \u00a020 years (from 1991) and it\u00b4s not a public sport like in Iceland but a sport art confined to the well off in Russia and it is very elitarian. \u00a0How sad that the former communists didn\u00b4t recognize the healthy lifestyle golf offers, but only stamped it off as bourgeois way of life, which it historically most certainly is. Today only the rich can afford the high membership fees on the few golfcourses in Russia and only the super-rich travel, and even build their own private golfcourses \u00a0like\u00a0Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich<\/strong>, metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska<\/strong> and\u00a0Vladimir Potanin<\/strong>, who made his money from Russia’s vast nickel reserves, aswell as Elena Baturina<\/strong>, Russia’s richest woman.<\/p>\n

(Golf 1 will introduce all of Russias courses (apart from the privately owned) these next few days – in Icelandic – and the first article on the Agalarov Golf Estate has already been published.)<\/p>\n

Well, what a long intro to the interview with Sergei, but here it goes:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sergei and Fjodor among the beautiful flowers of the San Roque course in C\u00e1diz. Photo: Golf1.is<\/p><\/div>\n

Name:<\/em>\u00a0Sergei Revinenko.<\/div>\n

Where were you born?<\/em>\u00a0In Kharkov, Ukraine, August 5th 1948.<\/p>\n

Where were you raised?<\/em>\u00a0 In Moskow.<\/p>\n

What is your familystatus and does anyone in your family play golf? \u00a0<\/em>I am married and have 1 son. We all play golf.<\/p>\n

When did you start playing golf?<\/em>\u00a0In 2005.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sergei feeding the ducks on the 11th tee at Costa Ballena. Photo: Golf1<\/p><\/div>\n

Why did you start playing golf?\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0That was by coincidence. I started selling golftrips and golfvacations and I thought I needed to know a little bit about golf.<\/p>\n

What is your occupation?<\/em> I am the owner of a golftravel agency in Russia.<\/p>\n

How many play golf in Russia and what are the most popular golfdestinations among Russian golfers?<\/em> I guess that there are around 6000 that play golf in Russia and the most popular golfdestinations are Jamaica, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Malaysia and Thailand. And we have trips to Egypt.<\/p>\n

What do you prefer parkand or links style golfcourses? <\/em>\u00a0I like both of them – I find parkland courses enjoyable but I am crazy about linkses.<\/p>\n

How many golfcourses are in Russia?<\/em>\u00a0Sergei thought they were 10 (five 18 hole courses and five 9 hole courses) \u00a0– but according to information gathered by Golf1.is they are 15 and 2 beeing built (one has to take into account that almost 1 year has passed from the interview with Sergei).<\/p>\n

What is the best golfcourse in Russia?<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Tseleevo Golf & Country Club. (It is designed by Jack Nicklaus, who himself thinks it\u00b4s one of his 10 best designed golfcourses worldwide).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

From Tseleevo GC near Moscow in Russia.<\/p><\/div>\n

What is the oldest golfcourse in Russia? \u00a0<\/em>That is Moscow City Golf Club on Dovzhenko street, but the cornerstone to that course was put down by the Swedish hockeyplayer, Sven Tumba Johanson, on September 15th 1987.<\/p>\n

How do people go about becoming members in golfclubs in Russia?\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 By invitation or reference – this is still a sport of the elite and it is not a public sport. It is very difficult to convince people that this is a sport for the whole family which is good for ones health and not reserved for the elite.<\/p>\n

What is\/are your favorite golfcourse\/s in the whole world apart from Russia?<\/em>\u00a0The Halmstad golfcourse in Sweden; the golfcourse by the European PGA Club in Ireland and in fact all of the Irish linkses, for example Doonbeg.<\/p>\n

What is the most special golfcourse you have played and why?\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Wild Coast Sun GC in South-Africa because of the caddys and the women.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Wild Coust Sun Country Club in South-Africa - the most special golfcourse Sergei has played golf on.<\/p><\/div>\n

What is your handicap?<\/em>\u00a026.<\/div>\n

What is your lowest score in golf and on what golfcourse did you achieve it?<\/em>\u00a0I think it was a 95 on the Pirogovo golfcourse in Moscow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

From the Pirogovo golfcourse near Moscow, in Russia.<\/p><\/div>\n

Have you participated in other sports?<\/em>\u00a0 Yes, in basketball and tennis.<\/p>\n

What is your favorite food, your favorite drink; your favorite music; your favorite movie and your favorite book? <\/em>My favorite food is\u00a0Pirogi<\/strong>; my favorite drink is\u00a0\u00a0tea with lemon<\/strong>; my favorite music is\u00a0jazz og classical music for example Rachmaninov<\/strong>; I have no favorite movie and my favorite book is:\u00a0\u201ePsychology of Golf\u201d <\/strong>by\u00a0Bob Rotella.<\/p>\n

Who are your favorite golfers, name 1 male and 1 female golfer?<\/em>Male\u00a0: P\u00e1draig Harrington. \u00a0Female:\u00a0 S\u00f6renstam \u2013 I have heard alot about her and I like her attitude towards golf.<\/p>\n

What\u00b4s in the bag and what is your favorite club<\/em>? In my bag is a TaylorMade driver; my Odyssey putter; Pine Meadow irons, I prefer Adams rescue clubs to trees and my favorite club is my PW.<\/p>\n

What is your maingoal in life?<\/em> I would do anything for my son to be happy.<\/p>\n

And at last: What do you like the most about golf?<\/em>\u00a0There are many things I like about golf. For example the walk in the nature and new golf destinations. One can experience the wild nature and rich fauna and flora, and the various bird and wildlife. A golfcourse in Nepal is for example especially memorable but there I played golf surrounded by monkeys and deer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On May 3rd – 5th 2011\u00a0C\u00e1diz Turismo in Spain invited\u00a0golfwriters and travelagents from all over Europe to participate in a meeting held at Arcos Gardens on tourism in the region, with special emphasise on golf. On behalf of Iceland the Icelandic travelagency World Tours (in Icelandic: Heimsfer\u00f0ir) and the golfwebsite Golf1.is were invited to participate.\u00a0Whilst at Arcos the participants were invited to play 3 of the wonderful golfcourses of C\u00e1diz, i.e. one course each day. I was so fortunate to be paired with Sergei Revinenko, owner of the only golftravelagency in Russia and Fjodor from Golf Digest in Russia. When does a golfer from Iceland get to meet, much less Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","cat-7-id"],"acf":[],"views":1605,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.golf1.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}