Russian golfer has her admirers

Maria Verchenova. Photo / Getty Images

If Russian golfer Maria Verchenova turns heads at the 200,000 euro New Zealand Women's Open starting today near Christchurch, chances are it won't just be for the quality of her shots.

The first Russian to play fulltime on the Ladies European Tour (LET) Verchenova, 24, has a modelling background, which she has used to secure clothing, equipment and shoe endorsements, which help pay the bills as she worked to establish herself on the European circuit.

Sponsored by a shopping outlet company, new endorsements kept coming this season, even though a 2010 battle with injuries dropped her to 124th on the money list, after she joined the tour in 2007 via qualifying school.

Verchenova was twice Russian amateur champion, took the Austrian amateur title in 2006, the Latvian and Slovenian equivalents in 2005, and snared one top-10 result during an encouraging LET rookie season.

Her best result was a tie for fifth in the Tenerife Open, and a personal best score of 66 at Emirates Golf Club during the Dubai Masters.

Now she is searching for more flattering form as the LET wings through Australasia, with missed cuts at the Ladies Masters on Queensland's Gold Coast and the Women's Australian Open leaving her underdone heading into the New Zealand tournament at Pegasus.

Verchenova carries an additional responsibility as a trailblazer for women's golf in Russia. And because of her looks, publicity has shadowed her since her teens.

She does not mind comparisons made between herself and Russian tennis starlets cum fashionistas Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova.

However, she takes her golf seriously, and there is no question where her priorities lie.

"They are obviously very stunning girls but I really want to hear about my achievements and my name more than theirs," she said.

"I have done quite a bit of modelling but it is not the thing I'm into. If someone asked me to choose between modelling and golf I would definitely go for golf.

"I love my job, I love practising, I love golf."

She has come a considerable distance from where she started the game, as a 12-year-old on holiday in the Czech Republic where, encouraged by her father, she tried hitting a few balls under the eye of 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."