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.

M2M Russian Open
Tournament information
LocationMoscow, Russia
Established1993
Course(s)Skolkovo Golf Club
Par71
Length7,025 yards (6,424 m)
Tour(s)European Tour
Challenge Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund1,000,000
Month playedSeptember
Final year2015
Tournament record score
Aggregate265 Per-Ulrik Johansson (2007)
To par−23 as above
Final champion
England Lee Slattery
Location map
Skolkovo GC is located in Russia
Skolkovo GC
Skolkovo GC
Location in Russia
Skolkovo GC is located in Central Federal District
Skolkovo GC
Skolkovo GC

History

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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. 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.

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

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Year Tour(s)[a] Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ()
M2M Russian Open
2015 EUR   Lee Slattery 269 −15 1 stroke   Estanislao Goya 166,660
2014 EUR   David Horsey 275 −13 Playoff   Damien McGrane 166,660
2013 EUR   Michael Hoey 272 −16 4 strokes   Alexandre Kaleka
  Matthew Nixon
166,660
Inteco Russian Open Golf Championship
2009–2012: No tournament
2008 EUR   Mikael Lundberg (2) 267 −21 2 strokes   José Manuel Lara 210,237
Russian Open Golf Championship
2007 EUR   Per-Ulrik Johansson 265 −23 6 strokes   Robert-Jan Derksen 244,251
Imperial Collection Russian Open
2006 EUR   Alejandro Cañizares 266 −22 4 strokes   David Drysdale 130,642
Cadillac Russian Open
2005 CHA, EUR   Mikael Lundberg 273 −15 Playoff   Andrew Butterfield 67,600
BMW Russian Open
2004 CHA, EUR   Gary Emerson 272 −16 2 strokes   Markus Brier 67,903
2003 CHA, EUR   Marcus Fraser 269 −19 Playoff   Martin Wiegele 66,660
2002 CHA   Iain Pyman (2) 269 −19 1 stroke   Benn Barham
  Guido van der Valk
30,000
2001 CHA   Jamie Donaldson 270 −18 3 strokes   Michael Archer
  Mikael Piltz
27,147
2000 CHA   Marco Bernardini 269 −19 3 strokes   Erol Şimşek 26,396
1999 CHA   Iain Pyman 273 −15 1 stroke   Hennie Otto 20,467
Moscow Country Club Russian Open
1998 CHA   Warren Bennett 270 −18 7 strokes   Max Anglert
  Ricardo González
20,467
Sovereign Russian Open
1997 CHA   Michele Reale 280 −8 Playoff   Heinz-Peter Thül 20,467
Russian Open
1996 CHA   Carl Watts 203 −13 2 strokes   John Mellor 14,624
General Motors Russian Open
1995   Simon Clough 294 +6
Phillips Russian Open
1994   Steve Schroeder
Russian Open
1993   Konstantin Lifanov

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ CHA − Challenge Tour; EUR − European Tour.

Notes

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