Mill Ride Golf Club, located on Winkfield Row, is an established club in the heart of Berkshire.
It was forfeited by a jailed Azerbaijan banker’s wife following a six-year fraud investigation by the UK government, and was put up for sale for a guide price of £4.25 million.
Zamira Hajiyeva agreed to give up the Ascot-based club and a Knightsbridge home which has been valued at £14.75 million, after a National Crime Agency fraud investigation resulted in the UK’s first unexplained wealth order.
A trustee was appointed by the High Court to sell the assets last autumn, with both properties coming on to the market in recent days.
Mrs Hajiyeva’s husband, Jahangir, was the chairman of the state-controlled International Bank of Azerbaijan from 2001 to 2015 and is serving a 16-year jail sentence for fraud and embezzlement.
In May 2025, Maidenhead Golf Club said it was ‘optimistic’ it would secure a deal to buy Mill Ride golf club in Ascot.
A spokesperson from Maidenhead Golf Club said: “We are delighted to confirm that Maidenhead Golf Club were recently successful in the acquisition of Mill Ride Golf Club and its name going forward has yet to be confirmed”.
After it was announced that Maidenhead Golf Club had to 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, they started searching for different options.
RBWM agreed to pay £15.95million to the golf club to surrender its lease, and in September last year, they received this money.
All that remained was to find a new site to move to.
Many options have been considered over the last few years, including a plan to move to Winter Hill golf club in Cookham. This however fell through.
Another option that was considered included merging with Flackwell Heath golf club and move to its course.
Concerns about the landscape and ‘hilly’ nature of the course however were brought up by members.
Mill Ride Golf Club then became an option after the investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Mill Ride Golf Club is a 62.5 hectare site designed by golf course designer Donald Steel and first opened in 1990.
It stands alongside other clubs in the area including Royal Ascot Golf Club, Swinley Forest Golf Club and Sunningdale Golf Club.