Georgia, the Republic, is not to be confused with Georgia the US State. Once part of the former Soviet Union, Georgia naturally shares its border with Russia as well as Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia. The highest mountains in Europe dominate Georgia and the Likhi Range divides the country in half. As well as majestic mountains, Georgia also has a number of glaciers, high plateaux, lakes and hot springs. Georgia’s diverse climate creates an unusual landscape of marsh forests, swamps, rain forests, eternal snow and glaciers. Georgia also has fantastic architecture with stone watchtowers, carved wooden balconies, richly frescoed churches and Art Nouveau.

We think Georgia, the land of the Golden Fleece, has such an amazing landscape that it could provide the ground for one of the world’s most dramatic golf courses. We’re sure their clubhouse would serve delightful, vibrant and savoury food but Georgia is a country that is struggling to its feet after its disintegration from the Soviet Union. The country has not yet developed a tourist infrastructure but slowly things are changing.

In 2014 the first modest 9-hole golf course opened in Georgia at the Ambasadori Hotel in Kachreti and at the end of 2017 an 18-hole course at Tblisi Hills Golf & Residences debuted. Designed by Lassi Pekka Tilander, the layout nestles in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, where the developers intend to showcase it as the sporting centrepiece of a real estate site that will also feature an hotel and other leisure facilities. It’s now one of a select number of world-wide destinations operating within the framework of the European Tour Properties portfolio.

Golfplan’s 9-hole layout at Tabori Golf & Spa Resort in Tbilisi was scheduled to open in the summer of 2021, part of a $60 million project next to the National Botanical garden of Georgia that also includes a new luxury hotel. Intriguingly, the clubhouse includes a gondola station which conveys golfers to and from Tbilisi’s Old Town.