Dating back to 1913 and with an honour roll that boasts Tasmanian legend Peter Toogood, Frank Phillips, David Graham, Stewart Ginn and Mike Clayton, the Tasmanian Open returned to a professional event in 2023 that incorporates the Women’s Tasmanian Open and the Tasmanian Inclusive Championship.

On the professional side, defending champion Alex Edge and former Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winners Jordan Zunic, Zach Murray, Will Bruyeres (pictured), Aaron Pike and Simon Hawkes are among those to have entered the event that marks the start of the 2025-2026 Pro-Am Series.

It shapes as the strongest field of professionals to contest the Tasmanian Open in more than 30 years, opening the door to local amateurs to pit their skills against some of the best in the country.

“The return of professionals to the Tasmanian Open two years ago has once again elevated the status of our state Open,” said Golf Tasmania Event and Operations Manager, Stuart Eaton.

“Not only is it a great opportunity for golf fans to watch some of the stars of the PGA Tour of Australasia up close, it is a rare opportunity for our top amateur players and promising juniors to play alongside such high-calibre players.

“The popularity of the Tasmanian Inclusive Championship continues to grow and we would love to see our largest ever field for the 2025 championship at Launceston Golf Club.”

Played as a purely amateur event between 1993 and 2022, Mathew Goggin (1994), Cameron Percy (1996, 1997), Geoff Ogilvy (1998) and Brendan Jones (1999) all won in Tassie before embarking on highly successful professional careers.

In more recent years, Zunic (2013), Jarryd Felton (2014) and Anthony Quayle (2015) won as amateurs, professionals welcomed back into the fold at the 2023 championship.

That year it was another amateur, Toby Walker, who came out on top, Edge becoming the first professional winner since Hawkes in 2016 when he edged Caleb Bovalina and Kyle Michel by a shot at Launceston 12 months ago.

Edge’s defence won’t be easy, however, as Launceston welcomes the strongest field of professionals since it was last played as a professional event in the early 1990s.

In addition to past champions Zunic and Hawkes, Murray and Pike both have multiple wins to their credit on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Bruyeres won the season-opening PNG Open and Brady Watt, Kyle Michel, Tim Hart and Matias Sanchez have all contended deep into tournaments the past two years.

Entries for Men’s Tasmanian Open, Women’s Tasmanian Open and Tasmanian Inclusive Championship close on March 29.

The Men’s and Women’s Tasmanian Opens are supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania and the City of Launceston.