MillCreek

Situated an hour’s drive northeast of St Petersburg city centre, the golf course at MillCreek is the centrepiece of a large residential development that also includes a 5-star hotel with spa and swimming pool. There’s also a beach club on the main lake within the property but if beach volleyball sounds a bit too strenuous for you then perhaps the nearby fishing club will fit the bill instead.

Ross McMurray from European Golf Design was the architect behind a highly innovative golf project which also features extensive practice facilities and a 3-hole academy course. The landscape is pretty flat with a high water table but the excavation of several lakes provided sufficient amounts of sandy soil to raise the fairways and shape the holes.

There are two separate teeing areas on each hole, creating a Red and Blue course, both of which have been certified by the Russian Golf Association. Not only that, by cutting across playing corridors and using greens that can be approached from different directions, alternative courses can be played when these cross-country options are utilised.

It’s been called “Kaleidescope Golf” by owner Sergey Borisov and the club’s website now lists the seven most popular options, which include “Joker’s Course” and St Andrew’s Cross Course” in tribute to Jeremy Slessor and Ross McMurray of EGD. Many will no doubt endorse the words of Ross McMurray when says MillCreek is “a testament to the aspirations and enthusiasm of a client who has not been afraid to push the boundaries that traditional golf developments offer.”