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Modry Las Golf Club Poland

Gary Player Inaugurates Modry Las - His First Golf Course Design For Poland

Press Release – July 9, 2009

On July 3, international golf legend Gary Player arrived in Choszczno, Poland, to inspect and then inaugurate the 18-hole, par 72 championship course Modry Las that he had designed. The last time he had visited, only nine holes were completed and he had discussed numerous changes and modulations in the undulating landscape as the course took shape. He was enthused and inspired. But this time, as he crossed the expanse of the rolling fairways that stretched along the lakes and forests, he grew ecstatic. “This is an outstanding golf course,” he said to the team that accompanied him. “I always thought it would be good. But this is outstanding!”

The plan had always been to build a world class golf course on par with Ria Bintan in Indonesia or The Links at Fancourt in South Africa. Modry Las, which means blue-green woods in Polish, alluding to the forest of pines, oak and elm trees that edge the course, grew out of a dream to transform the fallow farm land and fields in this northwestern region of Poland to its pre-war status as a place for country leisure for affluent families from Berlin and Szczecin. Since the course opened in 2008 as a private golf club that is open to the public, it has seen a growing number of golfers from Germany and Scandinavia come to play as news spread about Modry Las. Tournaments are scheduled weekly, including those of the Polish PGA.

As Gary Player crossed the course on this visit, he remarked on the natural beauty of the course, admiring the fields of wildflowers and fescue that edge the fairways. Ponds and the fingers of spring-fed lakes reach across some fairways, such as on the large curve of the second hole, cutting a challenge before the green. Reeds and the sparkle of Lake Radun spread behind the green, stretching across to tall trees and prairies on the other side of the water. “One of the great secrets of golf design is contrast. I see it here,” Player explains to his team. “It is a wonderful surprise for me.” The fairways here are all wide, another feature that pleases its designer. And each course is marked by the characteristic deep bunkers that have become a Player trademark. “These bunkers are as good as you can find in the world. They are in the top 10%,” he said.

Certain greens, like that of the 15th and 16th holes, are set like jeweled crowns edged by walls of stones from the land, rising above water. Player had said on his previous visit that hole 15 would attract players from afar. But when he steps onto the white tee of the par five 16th hole, he stops and takes in the long expanse of the rolling fairway that leads to a crowned green beyond a pond where swans have nested. “That’s the best green on the golf course,” he exclaims. “It is perfection.”

During his three-hour visit of the course, his requests for changes were limited. He thought the grasses could grow longer in some spots and the sands in the bunkers could be a bit smoother. He asked that one tree be removed so as not to bother the play of golfers approaching one green and suggested that the 18th hole fairway be widened as it bent toward the green. Player wants to be sure that when a golfer plays his course he will experience pleasure as well as challenge. This course is meant to please golfers of all levels. As he walked off the course, his satisfaction was clear. “It is magnificent. I have fallen in love with this golf course. It is world, world class. You don’t find better,” he said, congratulating the Modry Las team.

The following day, over 400 people turned up to share in a day of festivities to inaugurate Modry Las. The Vice Minister of Sport and Tourism Adam Giersz joined the Mayor of Choszczno Robert Adamczyk and the President of the Polish PGA Marek Podstolski to welcome Gary Player, along with a large audience and many members of the press. Golf is a relatively young sport in Poland, yet in recent years the number of golfers has been growing rapidly. It doubled in the last six years with 2500 registered among the estimated 12,000 people playing the game. There are 18 courses with four more under construction, although consensus among golf professionals in Poland puts Modry Las at the top in quality and design. There are 50 golf facilities spread around the country, including golf academies like that at Modry Las which attract a growing clientele, many of them younger golfers. Two years ago the government approved a measure to make golf a school sport so it is now taught in the high schools.

It seems already to be having an impact. Poland’s youngest junior champion, Jakub Szyja, 12, was introduced to Gary Player at the Inauguration of Modry Las and took a lesson from the champion during his clinic. Later he was a member of the winning team of the Texas Scramble tournament played that afternoon by 72 golfers. Thirteen year old Robert Nowosad, who has a handicap of 7.2, shared the prize. The result could not have pleased the golf champion more. He is outspoken about his belief that golf is a sport for family, attractive for family members of all ages. With typical energy, he greeted each player of the tournament at the 3-par 15th hole and challenged them, generously offering advice to them after they teed off. When he witnessed the swing of the young Nowosad, he announced that he had the making of a future Polish golf champion.

At the end of his 48-hour visit to Modry Las, Gary Player headed to the airport near the port city of Szczecin with his wife Vivienne and son Marc who runs his business based in the United States. They were headed to a Master’s tournament in Scotland to benefit his Foundation. He was clearly fatigued following the grueling schedule he had followed during his stay in Poland, but nonetheless positive and satisfied when speaking about his visit. His very first golf course design for Central Europe was now a reality and for him it is just a matter of time to see it make its place among the best in the world.

Multimedia related to the Grand Opening

Modry Las Photo Gallery
Film on YouTube

Available materials related to the Grand Opening

Download the first press release (before the opening)
Download the Grand Opening tournament program (in Polish)
Download the Grand Opening tournament starting list (in Polish) 
Download the press release above (after the opening)