Aya on a visit from Russia with glove

Feb 26 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

IF GOLF in Moscow takes on something of the British style in the coming months, it is likely to owe something to Aya Sadykova, a young lady who has been on a golf observation, meet-the-people and fact-finding visit to Merseyside and Cheshire which she hopes will bring rewards to golf in Russia.

It is, of course, not the first place that comes to mind when we think of rolling fairways and manicured greens.

Indeed golf is only usually possible there from May to October and her club, the Moscow City Golf Club, is only nine holes and one of only three in the immediate area.

Also, while we think of the long history of golf, we think of the far distant age of hickory shafts, the 19th century and the sport even before that.

The Moscow City Golf Club only celebrated its 20th anniversary in August – but that is enough to make it the oldest golf club in Russia.

So golf is still in its early stages in Russia.

But says Aya: “Golf is booming in Russia. There is the interest from the mass media.

“People want to know more about golf and they want to play.

“We are hoping that with local people and more from abroad there will be even more wanting to play in Russia.”

There are only three courses in the Moscow district but as another sign of the enthusiasm and growing interest in golf in Russia she reports that the Mayor of Moscow is particularly interested and has donated the Moscow Mayor’s Golf Cup.

Aya has been looking into the British way of golf, visiting golf clubs around the area, hopefully to learn lessons which will be useful to the golf scene back home. She is 28, a university graduate in English and German and before moving into golf she was a teacher of English at a university in Siberia and then an interpreter in the property business in Moscow.

She moved into golf management to arrange golf training for Russian juniors before working with the Moscow City Golf Club and the Moscow Golf Development Federation, fixing overseas visits for the members of the MCGC to see golf stars in the top world golf tournaments.

At home she has acted as interpreter to Jack Nicklaus among others.

Now, as International Relations Representative of the Moscow City Golf Club and the Moscow Golf Development Federation, she is on her visit to England to study local golf club management.

She also hopes to take the opportunity of the English winter to improve her golf handicap because, as she explains, all the courses in Moscow are closed in winter.

During her stay she has visited Royal Liverpool, Wallasey, Bromborough, Caldy, Prenton, Leasowe, Royal Birkdale, Hillside and Southport and Ainsdale.

She has been stayed at Frodsham, a visit arranged through the friendship of the PGA professional and Director of Golf at the Moscow, Neil Sweeney, formerly at Leasowe, and the Frodsham owner Paul Williams.

“I think the big difference she has found is how much golf is oversubscribed in this country while in Russia it is just getting going,” says Williams. “It is an elitist sport, very expensive and unless you have a lot of money it is difficult.

“It has been a useful experience for Aya, seeing how golf clubs work in this country.”

He reports membership of her club costs about 6,000 Euros a year, £4,285, which comes on top of a joining fee of 100,000 Euros, about £70,000.

After her visit to Merseyside and Cheshire she was going to Scotland, to the home of golf at St Andrews and elsewhere, before moving to London.

She has been meeting golf club secretaries, administrators of the game, studying the management of the game, making contacts.

She was also planning a visit to the PGA headquarters.

She has been impressed by the sheer enthusiasm for the game she has found.

Aya says: “There is this great welcome from people I have meet.

“At home the course is only nine holes and here there are so many who play 18 holes of golf, people who really love the game, the social activities associated to golf, those who retire from work and spend time playing the game.

“Golf is a normal style of life here.

“The people I have met just love it and respect the game, as it has been over the centuries and they keep the traditions of golf.

“I feel I have been able to breathe the air of golf, find out how the game is organised here, learn more about its history of the game, see these real places such as St Andrews which are part of the long history and traditions of golf.

“These are experiences I will be able to share when I great back to Moscow.”

Golf club management here includes the income generated through entertainment, socials, hiring the club for special events, part of the golf scene which may have been useful on her fact-finding visits.

When the weather brings an end to golf in Russia it is the kind of income which makes it possible for her club to survive.

She started playing golf last year and played in her first international tournament, in the President of Kazakhstan Golf Cup last October.

With the advantage of the English winter she has played golf at Frodsham. Her handicap is 36.

She smiles and says: “Sometimes the ball goes straight and sometimes left. I have been told I need to practice more.

“But I have to work and I do not have the opportunities.”

When she goes home in March she will leave at Frodsham a permanent reminder of her visit, a glass vase presented by her golf club, the trophy to be presented each year to the winner of the February monthly medal.