Golubev's first senior ITF experience came primarily on the satellite tour in 2003. The first ranking point(s) earned by Golubev were from a four-week satellite tour in Serbia, and he gained another from a satellite event in Italy. In 2004, he turned his focus to attempting to qualify for futures and challenger events. His first appearance in the main draw of one of these events was from a wild card in the Arpa Ceramic Cup in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where he lost to world #219 Salvador Navarro, but did manage to win a set.
