Raevo - Russia

The course at Raevo Golf & Country Club is the third Jack Nicklaus design project to open in the Moscow region. Previously, the Golden Bear had worked at Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club (2008) and Skolkovo Golf Club (2014) and this 18-hole layout took an arduous three years to complete, thanks mainly to the short construction season, before opening in 2019.

Set within a densely wooded area close to the capital, the course has been built to a very high specification, with the installation of sand capping and an extensive network of drainage to help get play under way quickly after the long winter. Tees, greens and fairways are carpeted with creeping bentgrass and rough areas are a mix of bluegrass and fine fescue.

Conditioning and presentation are second to none here but players must beware of straying into either the bunkers or the rough – for sure, Raevo isn’t set up for resort-style golf. “The golf will be challenging, but more importantly, it will be natural, playable, memorable,” says Jack Nicklaus. “That’s what you want in a good course. You want to be motivated by the test of golf but inspired to come back.”