The Crete Golf Club

Although Crete is the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean and the largest Greek island, it only has one 18-hole golf course (The Crete Golf Club) and one 9-hole, par-3 course (Elounda Golf Club). It is also the second biggest island in the East Mediterranean, after Cyprus. By comparison, there are already three golf courses in Cyprus and the Greek-Cypriot government has announced that 11 more licences will be granted following a specific procedure that has been already announced; permissions for resort / real estate developments will also be granted for each golf course. Athens-based attorney-at-law Michael Vranas has been the visionary moving force in opening the way for The Crete Golf Club (which opened in 2003) and the new era of golf development in Greece. He and several major Greek entrepreneurs are now trying to persuade the government to amend the current land-use legislation that regulates the development of golf courses in combination with residential real estate (housing communities) in Greece.