Maidenhead Golf Club ‘optimistic’ it will secure a deal for Mill Ride, Ascot

Maidenhead Golf Club is ‘optimistic’ it will secure a deal to buy Mill Ride golf club in Ascot – which went up for sale after it was forfeited by the wife of a jailed Azeri banker.

The golf club (MGC) must move off its current Shoppenhangers Road course by the end of 2025 to make room for the CALA Homes development of up to 1,500 houses and flats.

RBWM agreed to pay £15.95million to the golf club to surrender its lease, and in September last year, MGC received this money.

All that remained was to find a new site to move to.

Where it will move has been uncertain for some time, with multiple options floated over the past few years, including a plan to move to Winter Hill golf club in Cookham, which fell through.

In December last year, it looked as though the long, winding saga was coming to an end, after a decision was made to merge with Flackwell Heath golf club and move to its course.

At that time, two MGC members told the Advertiser they found the merger decision ‘sad’ and felt it was effectively the end of a 125-year era.

One concern was that work would be needed to improve Flackwell Heath's course.

MCG acknowledged that Flackwell Heath has a reputation of being ‘very hilly’ with unsafe paths, especially in winter.

Also on the table was Mill Ride Golf & Country Club in Ascot, which became available following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) into its ownership.

Last year, Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of a jailed Azeri banker, Jahangir Hajiyev, agreed to forfeit assets including the golf course and a London house worth about £14million.

Back in 2018, the properties became subject to an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), a legal tool used to force someone to explain how they paid for assets that seem beyond their known income.

These orders are aimed at properties belonging to people suspected of being involved in serious crime.

Hajiyev was the chairman of the International Bank of Azerbaijan from 2001 to 2015 and is serving a 16-year jail sentence for fraud and embezzlement.

Both the house and the golf club were ‘believed to have been obtained as a direct result of large-scale fraud and embezzlement, false accounting and money laundering,’ said the NCA.

A trustee was appointed by the High Court to sell the assets – and now it looks as though MGC could become the new owner.

Mill Ride Golf & Country Club went up for sale for £4.25million, and is listed as ‘under offer’ by real estate company Savills.

This 62.5-hectare site was designed by noted golf course designer Donald Steel and first opened in 1990.

A letter seen by the Advertiser addressed to MGC members confirms the club has been named the preferred bidder for Mill Ride, though ‘a few formalities remain’.

Club chairman Dave Baker wrote that the club is ‘optimistic that everything will be concluded in the weeks ahead.’

“This news represents a major step forward in securing MGC’s future. Together, we will shape a vibrant new chapter at Mill Ride combining the best of both fantastic golf clubs,” he wrote.

“[We] look forward to making new lifelong memories together alongside our new golfing colleagues at Mill Ride.”

The club has been contacted for further comment.