Gallery: Maria Verchenova

In the musty, men-only members’ bar of the oldest golf club in England, surrounded by plaques bearing the names of champions dating back to 1796, stood a 22-year-old woman in a figure-hugging dress who could represent the future of the sport. As juxtapositions go, it was spectacular.

But Maria Verchenova was in her element. As the sole Russian player on the Ladies European Tour (LET), and one of only three Russian women active in the professional ranks, she is no stranger to breaking down barriers. With a smile, the sceptical old guard at the Royal Blackheath Golf Club in London were won over and two centuries of convention forgotten.

Verchenova’s path into golf has been remarkable. Russia had three courses before 2006, with only one boasting 18 holes and all three the reserve of the affluent elite. For a sports-mad girl from Moscow, tennis was the natural choice, but a trip west changed everything.

“My dad took me to the Czech Republic when I was 12 and we went for a coffee at a golf club,” Verchenova said. “The next day we went back and I tried hitting a few balls with a local coach. He said I had a talent for the game and I should play. When I got back we went to Moscow City Golf Club and that’s how I started.

“I didn’t even know what golf was when I was young because my family was poor and everybody in Russia is focused on tennis. But thanks to my parents I was given a chance.”

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 second run at the LET Qualifying School, having fallen short in 2005.

“I remember telling my mum I had no idea what I would do with my life if I failed,” she said. “But somehow I made it through the first stage and when it came to the final I felt relaxed. Suddenly it was over and I had my card. I couldn’t believe it.”

Verchenova struggled in her first full year on the circuit, banking a mere €13,285 (now about £11,200) and achieving only one top-ten finish, at the Wales Championship. Homesick and feeling increasingly alone as the only Russian on tour, she was forced to return to the final stage of the school to retain her card.

It was an experience that may prove the making of her. This season a hardened Verchenova took on a new coach and began to realise the potential she showed a decade ago in the Czech Republic. A fifth-place finish at the Tenerife Open in June has propelled her to earnings of just under €34,000 and with one event to play, in Dubai next month, to her enormous relief, she looks certain to retain her card.

“At first it was hard being the only Russian,” she said. “Fifty per cent of the girls were really nice, but the other 50 per cent were weird. The nationalities tend to stick together and I was left on my own — that’s why I would take my mum with me to the events.

“But now it’s different. I have lots of friends and most of them are English. I really enjoyed this season and I think my performance in Tenerife took me to the next level. If I keep working on my short game and going to the gym, I can win a tournament. Hopefully I can show other Russian girls that it can be done and that will help develop golf in Russia.”