At the present time there are only three golf courses in the whole of Bulgaria: one at Elin Pelin, near the capital, Sofia, and two owned by Air Sofia. These are located at Ihtiman, opened in 2000, 40km from Sofia, and at Sliven, opened in 2004, 90km from the Black Sea.
Because of the increasingly rapid rise in foreign interest in Bulgaria recently, several more golf courses are proposed. One of these will be located at Razgrad, in the north-east, about 90km from the Black Sea. More are scheduled to open in the next few years: two at Kavarna and one at Primorsko, near Sozopol.
Mountain and ski areas will be represented by a golf course in the ski town of Bansko this year, and a very large golf complex between Kostenets and Borovets, the country's foremost ski resort. This is scheduled for 2007, the year of Bulgaria's entry into the European Union, and will be located at Dolna Banya, already near Bulgaria's first golf course at Ihtiman.
Bulgaria Properties Ltd has purchased almost 6 acres of prime development land adjacent to the proposed golf course at Dolna Banya. The plans are to construct about 220 apartments around a comprehensive sports complex, with access to the golf course by a short footpath. The amenities on site are to include tennis, volleyball, squash, badminton, lawn bowls, boules (boccia), shooting, archery, croquet, mountain biking, and fishing nearby. Indoor facilities will include a 140-seat main restaurant and cabaret stage, a huge main bar (perhaps the largest in Bulgaria), a sports bar with projection TV, snooker, pool, table football, table tennis, a Chinese restaurant, Indian restaurant, fast food cafeteria, pizzeria, gymnasium, sauna, massage parlour, clinic, chemist, sports shop and minimarket.
Steve Avery, a Director of Bulgaria Properties Ltd, said, “It may sound like a cliché, but we really were in the right place at the right time! After two years in this business, I just couldn’t believe my luck to find such a gem. Anyone involved in this project should make a serious return on their investment.”
|
Golf Grabs Bulgaria! 
