Kazakhstan...Really?

The European Challenge Tour (for the US readers, that's the equivalent of the Nationwide Tour) had its event this week in Kazakhstan. It's the third year for this event, but I'm not normally up on my Euro Challenge Tour schedule. Naturally, this caught my eye. Being a Russian history buff, I at least knew where the country was - unlike that guy in the FedEx commercials with China. But, just in case you're curious, here are some facts about Kazakhstan courtesy of Wikipedia:

• The economy has been growing significantly in recent years - almost double digits. The government hope to double 2000 GDP by next year and triple it by 2015.
• There are a lot of natural resources in the country, including crude oil.
• The literacy rate is 99.5%. That's better than the United States.
• Kazakhstan is one of the few countries in the world to see a population reduction in the past 15 years.
• The country has a lousy human rights record - ranked as "not free" by the US embassy.
• Their best sport as a nation is boxing, then hockey. Don't know where golf comes into it.
• Only 400,000 computers had internet access in 2005. That means that there's a pretty good chance that no one from Kazakhstan will come in and dispute what I'm saying.
• You may want to learn Russian if you go there, since they don't speak a lot of English.
  

How about Kazakhstan and golf? What's the connection? Well, according to the Telegraph, "The President, Nursultan Nazabraev, has become a golf nut and the Prime Minister, Nurtay Abykaev, on the basis of being the President of the Kazakhstan Golf Federation, has pulled rank and is actually playing in the tournament." The shady government not only brought the event in for their love of golf, but they also brought in the big bucks. This event - believe it or not - has the highest purse for a standalone Challenge Tour event.

You learn something new everyday!