The winner, Alexander Mayorov, 15, member of the Moscow Country Club, will go down in history for setting a Russian golf record — minus 4, a respectable score by international standards. Now the Russian national golf team has one more promising player who can show off on the international arena.

"I was very scared as I entered the tee round," Mayorov recalled. "As I see it, psychological training is very important in golf. A good hit takes excellent concentration, attention and coolness. Once you miss, you lose the game. I must confess, my victory is the result of a whole year of painstaking training."

The female winner, Ulyana Rotmistrova, 16, member of the Moscow Country Club, trained in the United States at the beginning of this year. Surprisingly, Maria Kostina, who used to be the clear leader, ranked only fourth, losing even to her younger sister, Anastasia Kostina. "It was quite stressful for me. You can hardly imagine how it felt for me to compete against Maria Kostina. All of her relatives came up to cheer her. It was strong support. But I beat her!"

Results of the championship will be taken into account when the choice is made for membership on the Russian National Golf Team, which will take part in the upcoming European championships and the world championship to be held in Berlin in late August.

Unlike the previous year, this championship involved a much tougher selection criteria. This was done with the aim to boost its international rating. Russia's Amateur Golf Open competition is open for participation by both Russian and foreign golfers, men and women, regardless of age, who are members of a golf federation and meet the amateur status requirements. The championship involved nearly 100 amateur golfers from 12 countries, including 64 Russian golfers.

"I have played golf since I was 14 years old, and I hope I will be able to play for many more years to come. Of course it is great to win, but I'm happy that Russians have won this championship," German businessman Peter Brandenburg said.

American Helmut Aldrich was No. 1 among the championship's foreign participants and No. 8 in the general list.

During the course of the three-day championship, everybody asked one question: "Can the Russians win in the absence of their best players?" Last year's winner, Grigory Bondarenko, could not participate because of his tight schedule of international events, and Svetlana Afanasyeva has some extenuating circumstances.

Despite the absence of the leaders, the event did not disappoint spectators. It was a truly an exciting three-day show — 18 holes a day. Moreover, strong showers the day before the beginning of the championship created a very difficult environment for the players.

Once an elite sport, golf gained popularity in the world after WWII mainly thanks to the efforts of the Americans, but it was not until the late 1980s that the game had invaded Russia. Moscow's Golf Club was built in 1988 on an abandoned plot of land near Dovzhenko street and, five years later, in 1993, a golf school was opened in the city of Nakhabino, in the Moscow Region, under the umbrella of the Moscow Country Club. And there are no other golf grounds in all of Russia now, except these two, matching international standards.

Many of those who are leading players in the Russian national golf team today spent their childhood at Dovzhenko or Nakhabino. They used to help the workers who built the facilities and then they would run around returning balls to the players. Now they show off quite well in the most prestigious international events. For example, Maria Kostina won the Capri Teen's Golf Trophy' 99, and Ulyana Rotmistrova won a number of tournaments in Europe and America.

"Why did I decide to go in for golf? Well, I heard of a golf school in Nakhabino, and I decided to go there," Mayorov said. "Certainly, I want to become a professional player, but it is too early to make forecasts. Let's wait and see. Who knows? Maybe I will change my heart in favor of hockey."

"We see our primary task as forging up professionals," President of the Russian Federation of Pro Golfers Denis Zherebko said. "We put the main stress on teaching children and teenagers. Under a special program called ‘Golf School,' free golf sections have been opened in 15 schools in Moscow where more than 1,000 children are learning to play golf. Later this summer we plan to open several more golf centers. We want to make golf accessible to the broad masses, not only the elite."

The development of golf in Russia has been obstructed by the lack of funds. A good golf field costs $3 million to $5 million to build and requires the services of golf-designers and golf-architects. Every turf of grass and every grain of sand must be in its proper place. Different kinds of grass have to be planted on different segments of a golf field and perfectly working systems for watering and drainage are required. Once built, a golf field needs a whole team of workers, called greenkeepers, to take care of it.

"Russia has scarce opportunities for professional golf training, but we take advantage of international schools," Denis Zherebko said. "Russian national teams can train in Austria, in summer, and in the United States, or in Spain, in winter. I'm impatiently awaiting the first graduating class from the Russian State Academy of Sports' Golf Department. The department was established only three years ago. I hope it will forge excellent pro golfers."

In the next 2 years, it is planned to open another 100 golf schools for children and teenagers in Russia, each accommodating 70 to 90 students. To be opened in the near future are several golf centers and mini-golf fields in the Moscow's district of Tushino and in Samara and Togliatti.

On June 30 through

July 2, the grounds of the Moscow Country Club, Nakhabino, in the Moscow Region, hosted the Second Russian

Open Amateur Golf Championship, sponsored by the Russian Federation of Pro Golfers.