Russian Open

Russian Open
Tournament information
Location Moscow, Russia
Established 1993
Course(s) Skolkovo Golf Club
Par 71
Length 7,025 yards (6,424 m)
Tour(s) European Tour
Format Stroke play
Prize fund €1,000,000
Month played September
Final year 2015
Tournament record score
Aggregate 265 Per-Ulrik Johansson (2007)
To par −23 (as above)
Final champion
England Lee Slattery
Moscow
Location in Russia

The Russian Open was a golf tournament on the European Tour. The event was established in 1993, and was first held at the Moscow Country Club in Nakhabino, just outside Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

History

Originally contested over the first nine holes at the Moscow Country Club as an amateur tournament while the rest of the course was still under construction, the Russian Open became Russia's first professional golf tournament in 1994. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, through its Secretary, Sir Michael Bonallack, officially recognized the tournament along with the 18-hole course opening in September 1994. It became an event on the second-tier Challenge Tour in 1996, and was added to the European Tour schedule from 2003. Between 2003 and 2005, it was an official money event on both tours, and from 2006 to 2008, it was solely an event on the European Tour calendar.

Through 2006, it was held on the same weekend in August as the PGA Championship, one of professional golf's four majors, which automatically made it a secondary event. In 2007, was held the weekend before the PGA Championship, but remained an alternate event, this time to the Bridgestone Invitational, a World Golf Championships event. In 2008, it was held the week after The Open Championship.

The 2005 prize fund of $500,000 was around a tenth of those of the leading events on the European Tour, even leaving aside the major championships and World Golf Championships. However, it was one of the richest tournaments of the season on the Challenge Tour. In 2006, when it became a European Tour only event, the prize fund doubled to $1 million, doubling again the following year, to $2 million.

The tournament was not played from 2009 to 2012 but returned in 2013 at the Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club. Tseleevo had hosted a Challenge Tour event, the M2M Russian Challenge Cup, from 2010 to 2012. The Russian Open moved to the Skolkovo Golf Club in 2015 where Andrey Pavlov made history when he became the first Russian to make the cut in a European Tour event. He finished 71st, last of those who made the cut.[1]

Winners

European Tour (dual-ranking with Challenge Tour from 2003–05)

YearWinnerCountryScoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner(s)-up
M2M Russian Open
2015Lee Slattery England269−151 strokeArgentina Estanislao Goya
2014David Horsey England275−13PlayoffRepublic of Ireland Damien McGrane
2013Michael Hoey Northern Ireland272−164 strokesFrance Alexandre Kaleka
England Matthew Nixon
Inteco Russian Open Golf Championship
2009–12: No tournament
2008Mikael Lundberg (2) Sweden267−212 strokesSpain José Manuel Lara
Russian Open Golf Championship
2007Per-Ulrik Johansson Sweden265−236 strokesNetherlands Robert-Jan Derksen
Imperial Collection Russian Open
2006Alejandro Cañizares Spain266−224 strokesScotland David Drysdale
Cadillac Russian Open
2005Mikael Lundberg Sweden273−15PlayoffEngland Andrew Butterfield
BMW Russian Open
2004Gary Emerson England272−162 strokesAustria Markus Brier
2003Marcus Fraser Australia269−19PlayoffAustria Martin Wiegele

Challenge Tour

YearWinnerScore
BMW Russian Open
2002England Iain Pyman (2)269 (−19)
2001Wales Jamie Donaldson270 (−18)
2000Italy Marco Bernardini269 (−19)
1999England Iain Pyman273 (−15)
Moscow Country Club Russian Open
1998England Warren Bennett270 (−18)
Sovereign Russian Open
1997Italy Michele Reale280 (−8)PO
1996England Carl Watts203 (−13)

Pre-European & Challenge Tour involvement

YearWinnerScore
General Motors Russian Open
1995England Simon Clough[2]294 (+6)
Phillips Russian Open
1994United States Steve Schroeder
Russian Open
1993Russia Konstantin Lifanov

Notes

  1. ↑ Inspirational Pavlov the Pride of Russia
  2. ↑ "Briton Wins Russian Open". The Moscow Times. 5 September 1995. Retrieved 22 October 2008.

Coordinates: 55°41′38″N 37°22′37″E / 55.694°N 37.377°E / 55.694; 37.377

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.