Stage one of Gazprombank Private Banking Golf Tournament 2019
19 July 2019
June 23 marked the beginning of the first stage of the Gazprombank Private Banking Golf Tournament in Luxembourg. This event has been held for four years in a row and is becoming increasingly popular. Over the years, tournaments have taken place in Spain, Cyprus, Moscow and St. Petersburg.
This year, the venue for the tournament was the Kikuoka Country Club in Luxembourg, an 18-hole championship golf course, where many national and international competitions are held, including the European Tour stage of the PGA Challenge Tour.
Aside from the golf tournament per se, the guests had chance to take part in an action-packed three-day program, including sightseeing around the city, lunches and dinners in Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as a boat ride on the Moselle River to Schengen village along the route of the Princess Marie-Astrid ship, where the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985, and tasting local wines.
Gazprombank Private Banking weekend in Luxembourg was timed to coincide with a public holiday – the Grand Duke’s Official Birthday. The guests had the opportunity to attend a large military parade, which was visited by the entire royal family, take part in evening festivities, see the traditional torchlight show, dance programs and an amazing salute accompanied by music. Some guests discovered for the first time one of the smallest state in Europe, which nevertheless has vast business potential and is one of the world's financial centers.
On the day of the tournament, the weather was great, the club’s atmosphere was cordial, and over a space of two days the guests had time to meet and find common interests, aside from golf. After the traditional snapshots taken at the event, the golfers separated to tee off, and the competitive part of the event got under way. As for the guests who had their first experience with the world of golf, a golf academy was opened, where seasoned instructors helped those who wanted to take their first steps in this sport. All the others had chance to participate in a whole series of entertainment, ranging from master classes in croquet and archery, making female accessories, to tasting Luxembourg Rieslings and Cremants, Torcedor show and much more.
This eventful day ended with a gala dinner in honor of the tournament attendees. All together honored the winners who showed the best results in play. Also, the youngest guest, who was only four months old, and the oldest participant of the tournament, a 77-year-old golfer, were also awarded mementos.
“Golf is more than sport, it’s a lifestyle. We share the values and hobbies of our customers. Such events make it possible to socialize in a friendly atmosphere, which helps people understand each other even better. The customers themselves are happy to get to know each other and find new partners. Golf and business are organically combined. You can get to know a person quite well during five hours of play. Moreover, we achieve specific business goals: we strengthen informal ties between personal managers and customers, maintain awareness of the Bank offers, boost the loyalty of existing ones and attract new customers. No meeting in the office can produce such an effect. It has long been known that many multi-million-dollar contracts are sealed on the golf course.
The legendary golfer Tiger Woods once remarked that the hardest thing in golf is “to feel a childlike joy during the game”. We believe that Gazprombank Private Banking tournaments allow us to experience these emotions, which ultimately serve to strengthen mutually beneficial trust relationships between the Bank and our customers”, commented Sergey Potapeyko, Head of the Private Banking Department.
These events were held with support of Bank GPB International S.A. and Mastercard.
Bank GPB International S.A. was established in Luxembourg in 2013 and is focused on large corporate and private customers serving, as well as rolling out financial and investment banking services of the Gazprombank Group in EU countries and global financial markets.
The Michelin Red Guide (in French – ‘Michelin, Le Guide Rouge’), sometimes also referred to as the Red Guide is currently the most famous and influential taste maker for the world’s best restaurants. The first guide was released in 1900 by André Michelin, a co-founder of Michelin.