The course and the temporary clubhouse, built on 64 hectares, are expected to be completed by summer of 2007. Later, the clubhouse will be expanded and a hotel and a complex of suites will be built, Gyula Szalay, a member of Royal Balaton Golf and Yacht’s board said.
The project is one of several golf courses and resorts currently being built in Hungary. On 174 hectares near Lake Velence, Swedish investors are building a Ft 10 billion golf course and resort to be completed by 2008. In addition to golf, the resort will offer visitors horseback riding, a football pitch, tennis courts and other forms of entertainment. Also not far from the Balaton, near the resort town of Hévíz, a group of Irish and Hungarian investors are building a Ft 20 billion golf course and resort on 180 hectares. The Zala Springs resort, to be completed by the end of 2007, will include 195 vacation homes.
Currently, there are six 18-hole golf courses in Hungary. According to he Hungarian Golf Association, only about 3,000 Hungarians are active golfers, but the association expects this number to reach 10,000 in just a few years.