From Russia With Clubs

Verchenova’s trajectory was steep. In 2004, aged 18, she won the Russian Amateur Championship and the next year secured victories at the Latvian and Slovenian Amateur Championships. By the time she won the Russian title again in 2006, Verchenova was ready for a run at the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School.
“I was sick of competing almost against myself only as an amateur and wanted to get better, so I decided to try to qualify for the tour. Just about everyone at home was against it, telling me I needed to get more experience but I went ahead and gave it a go,” she remembers. “I got through the first stage with my mum caddying for me and told her I’d give up the game if I didn’t get through [the final qualifying stage]. I went to the second stage and got my card. I couldn’t work out why everyone was so against it.”
Maria has kept her card through the first four years of her LET career, playing over 50 tournaments and has a sprinkling of top-10 finishes to her name. However, she is hell bent on making her name based on her achievements with her golf clubs and not just for her striking looks. From her rookie year onwards, she has been dubbed the “Maria Sharapova” of Russian golf by the media, which was something she understood but it still irked. “I don’t blame them because I had a good second year and being the only Russian player, it was probably convenient to compare me to her,” she says.
Verchenova isn’t naïve though. Being beautiful is rarely a hindrance and it has, she admits, helped her secure the kind of sponsors that wouldn’t have looked twice had she not been so biologically blessed.
At the ANZ Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast this February, I had the opportunity to witness at close quarters how Verchenova is progressing towards her goal of being recognised purely for her golf game. After originally arranging to interview Maria, the opportunity to caddie for her came up on the Monday afternoon. After some swift rearranging of my schedule, I was on the bag for the tournament. We got the formalities of the interview out of the way after nine holes on Tuesday, where Maria told me with a laugh about one of the first year lessons she learned on tour: “never trust a journalist!”
Verchenova has made a significant professional and lifestyle decision by deciding to move from her native Russia to Munich, Germany a little over 12 months ago. “It’s very tough to practice back in Moscow, the weather only allows me to play from around the end of March for around five months a year,” she explains. “I have a new coach, my management company is there and I have many friends in Munich, which makes it a lot easier for me.”
The evidence that she has the game to succeed on the LET is certainly there. Her ball striking in the practice rounds and Pro-Am was impressive and she is a surprisingly long hitter for one so lithe. She had managed to straighten out her long game from the previous week where she missed the cut at the Australian Open, but it was her putting that let her down in the first round.
She regularly left putts short on the grainy, Bermuda greens at the Royal Pines course. 36 putts in the first round, including three putts on each of the last two holes, contrasted with co- leader Karrie Webb’s 25 in the Aussie’s round of 66. Playing in the afternoon wind, Maria hit more greens in regulation than the LPGA Hall of Famer did in the calm morning conditions. Not bad for someone who only learned that golf could be played professionally six years ago!