Major golf tournament outside Moscow

Winners of major domestic contests will constitute Russian team on a major international BMW Russian Open tournament, to happen in suburban Nakhabino between August 8 and 11. The event will be hosted by Moscow Country Club within the framework of European challenge-tour, sponsored by Professional Golf Association (PGA).

Total value of prizes amounts to 180,000 euros. The winner will get 30,000.

Konstantin Lifanov, winner of 1993 Russian Open; Artyom Nesterov, 2002 amateur champion; and the youngest of the strivers Dmitri Vinogradov, 16, constitute the Russian team.

In this year, the event attracted best golf players from the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina. Among the most celebrated candidates are Lee James, British leader of this year's European challenge tour, and his compatriot Ian Pyman who won BMW Russian Open in 1999.

A total of 153 pros and 3 amateurs will meet in Nakhabino. The first two days will determine 50 best athletes who will strive for the main prize.