Yes, the Royal & Ancient game is back into Russia in a substantial way with seven courses catering for 5,150 registered players.

Of course, golf isn't new to Russia. One has always been amused by the book The Royal & Ancient Game, edited by Harold Hilton and Garden Smith in 1912, which was published in a limited edition of 900 copies, of which Number 526 has been owned by yours truly for many years.

The list of subscribers to the publication is printed by way of a preface and serves as a silent commentary on the social structures of the time as all subscribers are not treated equally. The list starts with royalty, descends through lords and colonels to mere esquires. Before showing the book to a visitor, I always asked them to guess from what country the first listed patron of this book hailed. Nobody ever succeeded because the first patron came from a country nobody associated with golf back then. HRH Grand Duke Michael of Russia!

So, golf was known to the Russian aristocracy in those days but hardly played at home. Our hero Grand Duke Michael was banished from the country in 1891 when he contracted a morganatic marriage . . . one between people of unequal social status and which, while legal, prevents the passing of titles and property rights to the offspring . . . and he spent the rest of his life in England, venturing north as far as North Berwick, which is a haven of golf, and in the French Riviera where he was the founder and president of the Cannes Golf Club.

His parents had found him to be troublesome and he was considered the least gifted of the seven children to such an extent that his mother openly referred to him as stupid.

Some would say it's an ideal qualification for golf.

In any event he didn't seem to be bothered as he spent his time at endless parties, dancing, gambling and falling into and out of love with a long succession of titled beauties. He proposed marriage to at least five of these but was rejected every time. He showed the staying power of a golfer. At last a wife came galloping into his life one day when he saved Countess Sophie of Merenberg, a grand daughter of the renowned poet-author Alexander Pushkin, from a horse that had run away with her.

Wise by now, he didn't seek the permission of his parents or the Tsar, but proceeded into marriage. This caused quite a stir at home and he was deprived of his military rank. His mother suffered such a shock at the news that she collapsed and went by train to the Crimea to recover but instead suffered a heart attack and died and Michael was blamed and forbidden to attend her funeral.

The Russian royalty frequented Cannes in the following years and golf was undoubtedly part of the agenda as Michael played regularly. One happy consequence of his golfing habits was that he was not at home for the Russian Revolution and lived comfortably until 1929.

So, it is with such a sadly romantic background that one observes golf 's arrival in Russia almost a century later.

It is expected that Russia's golfing population will grow to 25,000 over the next few years as two new courses are set to open in Moscow and others are planned for St Petersburg, and for regional capitals Tver and Krasnodar.

The Russian Open has taken place annually since 1996 and is growing in importance. It seems such a pity that Grand Duke Michael lived too soon to see it all.