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Busselton Golf Club went home with three of the major awards as the Western Australian Golf Industry celebrated another wonderful year of achievement at The Grand Ballroom at Crown in Perth.
The glittering function welcomed representatives from the PGA of Australia, GolfWA, Golf Australia, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of WA and Golf Management Australia (WA) and acknowledged the wonderful contributions made by nominees across 18 separate categories.
Busselton Golf Club Head Professional Grant Williams was named the Hilary Lawler PGA WA Club Professional of the Year for the second consecutive year, his beginner women’s clinic that was recognised nationally with a win at the R&A Women in Golf Charter Awards part of his accomplishments the past 12 months.
The Swing & Sip Women’s Beginner Program was also named Outstanding Game Development Program and, on top of joining the graduating class of 2025, Jeremy Crabb was named PGA WA Associate of the Year to complete the Busselton Golf Club trifecta.
PGA WA Coach of the Year – Game Development was won by Mark Tibbles of The Vines Golf & Country Club for a second time while it was an eighth win for Ritchie Smith in the PGA WA Coach of the Year – High Performance category.
A three-time winner on the LPGA Tour last year, Hannah Green received the Outstanding Golf Achievement Award and John Hopkins was the recipient of the WA Golf Industry Distinguished Service Award.
A loyal servant to the game both in Australia and abroad for decades, Hopkins has held key positions with Golf Australia and was previously President of the Australian Golf Union along with serving as a referee at major tournaments, including The Open Championship, US Open and Australian Open.
Photo: Courtney Holloway
Award winners
PGA Graduates: Tyler Clark (Royal Fremantle Golf Club and Wembley Golf Course) and Jeremy Crabb (Busselton Golf Club)
PGA WA Associate of the Year: Jeremy Crabb (Busselton Golf Club)
PGA WA Club Professional of the Year: Grant Williams (Busselton Golf Club)
PGA WA Coach of the Year – High Performance: Ritchie Smith (Royal Fremantle Golf Club)
PGA WA Coach of the Year – Game Development: Mark Tibbles (The Vines Golf & Country Club)
PGA WA Tournament of the Year: South West Isuzu South West Open (Bunbury Golf Club)
PGA WA Management Professional of the Year: Andrew MacAuslan (Margaret River Golf Club)
Course Apprentice of the Year: James Courtney-Bennett (Lake Karrinyup Country Club)
Course Superintendent of the Year: Des Russell (Cottesloe Golf Club)
WA Golf Industry Distinguished Service Award: John Hopkins
Outstanding Game Development Program: Swing & Sip Women’s Beginner Program (Busselton Golf Club)
Volunteer of the Year: Jackie Dickson (Margaret River Golf Club)
Employee of the Year: Danielle Harrison (Joondalup Country Club)
Regional Golf Course of the Year: Kalgoorlie Golf Course
Metropolitan Golf Course of the Year: Lake Karrinyup Country Club
Regional Golf Facility of the Year: Margaret River Golf Club
Metropolitan Golf Facility of the Year: Mandurah Country Club
Outstanding Golf Achievement Award: Hannah Green
Teenage amateur Billy Dowling is the only player standing between DP World Tour hopeful Anthony Quayle and the top of the leaderboard through two rounds of The National Tournament at The National Golf Club.
Entering the season finale sixth on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, a win would see Quayle move past both Lucas Herbert (third) and Cameron Smith (fourth) and secure a coveted DP World Tour card for the 2025/26 season.
A positive mindset with the putter on Friday saw the Queenslander shoot 7-under 65 on the Gunnamatta Course to move into outright second at 11-under, one back of Dowling (66) who is still on the comeback trail after undergoing emergency appendix surgery in January.
Corey Lamb (65) and Curtis Luck (70) are tied for third at 10-under with Jason Norris (69), Lamb and Luck also seeking to improve their current Order of Merit positions of eighth and seventh respectively.
Luck is sitting 42 points behind Quayle who, with seven top-five finishes in his past 12 starts, is accustomed to playing in the later groups across the weekend.
A two-time winner on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the 30-year-old followed up a 68 on day one with a bogey-free 65 thanks in no small part to a more positive approach with the flatstick.
“I had a very poor putting day yesterday,” said Quayle. “I had -3 Strokes Gained: Putting on a day where I still shot 4-under.
“I did some putting work in the afternoon and my goal going into today was not one negative thought towards my putting at all. Not even thinking about maybe not putting well the last couple of months, just no negative thoughts about it whatsoever. To build a good relationship from where my ball was and where the hole is and trying to get a good feel for what ‘in’ looks like.
“I was a little bit slow onto it but built a little bit of momentum in the middle of the round and feel like I got on a run and holed some nice putts.”
Perhaps none was as nice as the 30-footer he rolled in for birdie at the 195-metre par-3 fifth, the first of three birdies in his final five holes.
“It was really challenging to get it close there,” Quayle added.
“I hit a little chip-cut 9-iron that landed 30 short on a side-slope and it rolled past the hole probably 30 feet.
“I holed that, which was awesome. It was the longest putt I’ve seen go in for a little while, so it’s kind of nice to start seeing them go in.”
Out in front at the halfway mark is Dowling, who was forced to withdraw after one round of the Australian Amateur in Melbourne in mid-January and was admitted immediately to hospital to have his appendix removed.
It meant a month where his only golf outlet was driving around in a cart while his mates played before returning to action at the Riversdale Cup three weeks ago where he finished fourth.
The 19-year-old has an international schedule of amateur events in the UK and US planned for the months ahead. A top-two finish this week would ensure status on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia next season through the Future Tour Order of Merit, should he choose to turn professional.
“I spoke to my parents and my coach and for me, if I could come away satisfied from the tournament, proud of my efforts and proud of my score, then that was all I could really ask,” said Dowling, who had consecutive top-10 finishes earlier in the season in professional company.
“I want to go over and play those international events and actually contend a little bit more. Really try and improve my game on links courses and I haven’t played too much in the US, so that’ll be a new experience and I’m sure I’ll enjoy that.”
Low round of day two belonged to West Australian Ryan Peake.
The NZ Open champ cannot be unseated as No.2 on the Order of Merit but, as one of only seven players to have teed it up in every event, insists he still has plenty to play for.
“I’ve just come off two missed cuts and the last thing I want to do is to win a tournament and then miss my last three cuts in a row, because that can beat you up a little bit,” said Peake, who is in a share of sixth at 9-under par alongside Jarryd Felton (71), Zach Murray (66), Daniel Gill (69), Maverick Antcliff (70) and Denzel Ieremia (70).
“I still had a lot to play for out there today. To go out there and shoot a good round and just make sure that I can play on the weekend and finish off the season on a good note.”
Overnight leader Declan O’Donovan followed his course record of 63 on Thursday with a 1-over 73 on day two and sits four shots behind Dowling in a tie for 13th.
Such was the strain that the game had put on Jarryd Felton’s nervous system, he considered not teeing it up at last year’s ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
Literally.
Putting troubles that can plague even the most accomplished players became so debilitating that Felton thought he might be better off not hitting the shots that would invariably lead to a green waiting ominously at the end of the fairway.
“I nearly pulled out because I was so nervous I didn’t want to put the tee in the ground,” Felton revealed after an 8-under 64 at The National Tournament on Thursday that has him just one stroke off the lead.
It is Felton’s lowest round on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia since he shot 64 in Round 2 of the Webex Players Series event at Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney more than three years ago.
He won in a playoff with Brendan Jones that week, the most recent of his four victories on his home tour.
It’s not like there have not been signs of life in the three years since – rounds that show the talent is willing if the mind is sometimes not – but you have to go back almost 18 months to find the 29-year-old’s last top 10 finish.
Which is why there is so much more to play for over the next three days at The National Golf Club.
Yes, his current tie for second would be enough to climb back into the top 50 on the Order of Merit and secure full status for next season, but Felton is looking for more than that.
He is looking for validation that putting the tee in the ground on the 10th tee at Kingston Heath last November was the right thing to do.
“It’s a lot of hard work put in, a lot of people around you that support you and keep you going,” added Felton.
“You question it a lot of times. Am I still good enough to be out here?
“I think I still am and I think I’ve still got a lot to prove.”
It may not have been seen by anyone other than his playing partners on Thursday but the final putt of Round 1 was its own victory for Felton.
Eight-under through 15 holes, the West Australian dropped a shot at the par-4 seventh following an unfortunate bounce.
He made par on eight and then gave himself a birdie look from eight feet at his final hole, the par-4 ninth.
Any other week, a two-putt par for a round of 7-under would have barely raised an eyebrow.
The fact that Felton converted that chance to put himself in the mix provided further vindication that he is moving in the right direction.
“I hit 7-iron on the last to about eight feet and holed the putt,” Felton said when asked to nominate his best shot of day one.
“I’ve normally missed that, or something like that. But I go and hole that and shoot 8-under and it just sounds better than 7-under.
“It’s been a rough 18 months now but digging deep and trying to get little things out of each week.
“The year’s kind of a bit of a wash-out, but I’ve still got things to play for.
“I’ll still have obviously status next year, but I want to be in the big events.
“That’s where I should be and that’s where I want to be.”
New South Wales amateur Declan O’Donovan delivered a peerless display of ball-striking to smash the course record and take a one-stroke lead after Round 1 of The National Tournament on Thursday.
In conditions that could only be described as idyllic on the often windy Mornington Peninsula, The National’s Gunnamatta Course was laid bare for the taking, a staggering 19 players shooting scores of 6-under or better as the field finished the day a total of 322-under par with a scoring average of 69.42.
Round of the day was O’Donovan’s 9-under 63, the Avondale Golf Club member having professional playing partners Louis Dobbelaar and Corey Lamb in awe with his iron play.
Breaking the course record set in 2022 by two strokes, O’Donovan’s 63 not only featured an eagle at the par-5 first but birdies at all three of the hardest holes on the golf course in Round 1.
He hit a “stinger 4-iron” to four feet at the 197-metre par-3 fifth and 7-iron to eight feet at the 192m par-3 16th but said his best of the day was a 3-iron from 215 metres to 12 feet at the par-4 18th for birdie on the toughest hole on the golf course.
“I actually don’t like looking at the leaderboard, but I accidentally saw just before I teed off (on 18) that some of the boys were 7-under through nine,” said O’Donovan.
“To do that up the last was a nice little finish, especially considering during the practice rounds I was talking about how hard the last is.”
A contender early in tournaments three times this season, the 21-year-old is quickly learning to take one round at a time.
Deep down he knows that a win this week would allow him to bypass Qualifying School next month and that a high finish might be enough to secure status next season through the Future Tour Order of Merit.
He also knows that today’s round counts for little when he tees off in Round 2.
“It’s a big skill to be able to go low and then keep it going and keep it going,” he added.
“Everybody finds their own way of doing it and I think I’m starting to find my way.
“The biggest thing I’m focusing on right now is what’s right in front of me and the processes that I can control.
“That’s what’s been keeping me present and playing really nicely, is that I do my best to stay away from those future thoughts.”
West Australian Curtis Luck is also delaying what might happen in future but for different reasons.
Currently plagued by a bulging disc in his neck that is restricting the number of tournaments he can play, Luck sits seventh on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit from just five starts.
Sharing second with Jarryd Felton at 8-under after Round 1, a win this week may be enough to secure a DP World Tour card for 2026, but Luck refuses to look more than a day ahead.
“Obviously there’s some Order of Merit things on the line this week but realistically, for the way my last 12 months have been, to get through a week feeling like somewhat healthy is the most crucial bit going forward,” said Luck.
“It is so much better than it was, considering eight months ago I wasn’t playing, and I’m super happy and thankful about that. The question right now for me is, ‘Can I play multiple weeks in a row?’ And the answer to that is no.
“It’s weird coming out and knowing that my objectives, realistically, is testing how my health is rather than my golf.”
Six players are in a share of fourth at 7-under including New South Welshman Lucas Higgins, who had a hole-in-one with a 5-iron at the 213m par-3 11th, his second hole of the day.
At 8-under through 12 holes, Higgins threatened to take the outright lead but dropped shots at four and eight to shoot 65.
In the final countdown to a possible DP World Tour card, Jack Buchanan (fifth on the Order of Merit) opened with 6-under 66 and Anthony Quayle (sixth) shot 68.
Australia’s best professional and elite amateur golfers will test their skills on some of the best regional courses in New South Wales, with dates and venues confirmed for six NSW Regional Open Qualifying tournaments in 2025.
With the Ford NSW Open Championship planned for mid-November, the six $50,000 lead-in events will attract competitors from across Australasia.
In addition to the lucrative purses at each event, three spots in the NSW Open are also up for grabs for the highest placegetters not already exempt into the November field.
With free entry to each venue and the chance to walk the fairways with the players, spectators can witness the action up close.
The venues and dates for the six Regional Open Qualifying Tournaments in 2025 are:
General Manager – Golf at Golf NSW Olivia Wilson said the Regional Open Qualifying Series events were perfect for an aspiring professionals or elite amateurs to kickstart their 2025/26 Australian Summer of Golf.
“The series, as it has done in recent years, can really help a future star of our sport get to the next level,” Ms Wilson said.
“With a guaranteed place in the $800,000 Ford NSW Open, players will be aiming to lock up their spot in the NSW Open quickly.”
Several players have put the qualifying spot to good use in past years by vaulting themselves into the sporting spotlight over the Australian summer.
None more so than Corey Lamb, who parlayed his qualification last year at Queanbeyan into a runner-up finish at the 2024 NSW Open behind eventual winner, Ripper GC star Lucas Herbert, and Ben Henkel, who won at Catalina Club and went on to claim the Gippsland Super 6 on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
Chief Operating Officer at Golf NSW Graeme Phillipson said the tournaments were a welcome financial injection into the communities surrounding the host venues.
“The Regional Open Qualifying Series boosts the host clubs and surrounding towns. The players need somewhere to stay and places to eat and drink, so the visitor economy at each location does benefit, Mr Phillipson said.
The 2025 Ford NSW Open and the NSW Open Regional Qualifying Series are proudly supported by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.
The R&A and The PGA Australia Institute are pleased to announce the launch of the Women in Golf Foundation Program, in Australia.
The Women in Golf Leadership Foundation Program forms a significant part of The R&A’s and Australian Golf’s ongoing commitment to the Women in Golf Charter.
This program provides women across the golf industry with opportunities to enhance their leadership capability confidence and connect with a growing alumnae globally.
Over 300 women having graduated from around the world and over 75% of them gaining promotion after graduation.
What is the program:
An exciting program specifically designed for women looking to develop a foundation level of leadership capability and confidence, where you will:
Who should apply:
How to apply:
Step 1 by 2 April
(i) Why you want to participate in this program.
(ii) What you hope to achieve from a personal development perspective from attending the program.
(iii) The continued contribution and impact you would like to make to The R&A Women in Golf Charter aims and objectives.
Step 2 by 11 April
Those who are successful will be invited to attend the program.
Confirmation of attendance will be announced once the agreement has been signed.
Feedback will be provided if requested for those who are not successful.
Anne-Marie Knight never imagined that a single golf lesson could change someone’s life.
An outstanding amateur golfer who finished second at the 1995 US Women’s Amateur and was named Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year 12 months later, Knight’s ultimate move into coaching as a PGA Professional was centred around helping others to play better golf.
Life changer? Never a consideration.
Yet an opportunity offered by the late Peter Ormsby to conduct a coaching session with a group of disabled golfers in Adelaide challenged both Knight’s abilities as a coach and her understanding of golf’s potential impact.
Knight works across a wide variety within the disability sector including amputees, blind golfers and children with Autism, but it is her work with people diagnosed with younger onset dementia that has unveiled golf’s hidden powers.
A relationship stretching back close to a decade, Knight has seen first-hand the difference golf can make to a person’s life.
“There was a lady by the name of Lee Martin who just stayed at home every day,” recalls Knight, who coaches out of the Anne-Marie Knight Golf Academy at West Beach Parks.
“No family, no one came to visit her, and the ACH (Aged Care and Housing) program encouraged her to come out and play golf.
“She’d never played golf before, and it just transformed her life.
“It has slowed down her condition and she’s got friends for life who go out to the movies together and do pottery together.
“I get goosebumps when I hear stories like that.”
In a story published by The Sunday Mail, Lee spoke of the difference connecting with others through golf made to her life.
“I wouldn’t go out and I was quite fed up with my life,” said Lee, who was diagnosed with younger onset dementia at just 57 years of age.
“I didn’t have a life before I met these girls. Now I’ve got lots of friends.”
One of the most difficult challenges faced by those with younger onset dementia – a condition that occurs in people between the ages of 14-65 – is a withdrawal from friends and family and from social situations.
This is often due to those closest to them being unaware of a condition that can be difficult to diagnose in the first place.
“For some, it’s just the outing. For others, it’s making connection to a golf ball and that sense of accomplishment,” says Knight.
“It’s not competitive-based at all; it’s just about that social connection.
“They’re always smiling, they’re interacting with you and that interaction improves over time and they trust you.
“It’s just such a beautiful, beautiful thing to be able to experience that.”
Acknowledging that the demand from the disability sector for access to golf continues to increase – “I could almost work full-time with disability groups” – Knight wants to see golf’s influence grow with it and change even more lives for the better.
“There are all these groups of golfers that might not have been afforded opportunities in other sports, but golf can provide that space for them,” Knight adds.
“There are some awful stories of what their lives were like, so if I can provide that little bit of hope and that little bit of happiness in their lives, then I know I’ve done my part.”
The PGA All Abilities Coach Accreditation equips PGA Professionals and their venues/facilities with additional training and resources in providing support for those golfers with physical, sensory or intellectual disability. To find your closest PGA Professional visit golf.org.au/pga-all-abilities-coaches/
Good things are happening for Ryan Peake.
On Thursday, he will tee it up in the season-ending The National Tournament, destined to finish second on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Given Elvis Smylie’s BMW Australian PGA Championship win, Peake will effectively assume the category of this tour’s No.1 player when he embarks on his rookie season on the DP World Tour later this year.
There is a major championship debut awaiting the 32-year-old at The Open Championship, reward for his victory at the New Zealand Open that formed part of the Open Qualifying Series.
Yet Peake’s well-documented past lingers, the after-effects of five years in prison creating roadblocks that others in his position never have to confront.
He has a Great Britain and Northern Ireland passport that ensures he will be able to tee it up at Royal Portrush from July 17-20 but entry into other countries – particularly throughout Asia – will be problematic.
Another bonus of Peake’s win in the co-sanctioned NZ Open is status on the Asian Tour. Using that status, however, is mired in visa and immigration law.
It’s why as his life-changing season draws to a close, he can’t yet bring himself to look too far forward.
“I’ve sat down with my manager and team and we’ve looked at schedules, but as far as excitement goes, it’s not quite there yet,” conceded Peake, who tees off at 12:50pm Thursday with former Order of Merit winners Jed Morgan and David Micheluzzi.
“We’re not a hundred percent sure on where exactly I’ll get to first because it’s going to be a bit of a process.
“There’s a lot of countries that I will get into, but it’s not just going to be a couple-of-week process.
“We’re looking more between four to six months of figuring it all out.
“It’s all my own doing, but it still does suck.”
But for the knocks that may come, there are moments to look forward to.
Peake’s family will join him for The Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland and he will finish 2025 as a member of the DP World Tour.
What happens in between will be determined on a week-to-week basis.
“It’s a major – it’s my first major – and my whole family’s coming so it’s going to be a very special week,” he added.
“But in saying that, once that week’s done, it’s back on to the other tours as well.
“Obviously I want to play well and see what happens from there, but it is one tournament as opposed to a whole season out there.
“It is all a new experience for me, so every tournament that I play on the calendar season is going to be one to look forward to.”
Round 1 of The National Tournament teed off at 8:10am on Thursday morning and entry to spectators is free all four days. The final two rounds are broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo from 3pm-6pm Saturday and 1pm-6pm Sunday AEDT.
Sydney’s Grace Kim insists she is already feeling the benefits of an extended pre-season as she rejoins the LPGA Tour season at this week’s Ford Championship in Arizona.
World No.18 Minjee Lee is the only one of the record nine Aussies with LPGA Tour status this season not playing at the Whirlwind Golf Club this week, Kim and Sarah Kemp returning after playing events on home soil.
Kim was tied for sixth at the Australian Women’s Classic in Coffs Harbour two weeks ago where she began to see evidence of the fitness training she undertook with coach Khan Pullen over the Christmas break.
That may have left the 24-year-old underdone from a golf perspective when she finished well down the leaderboard in two events on the LPGA’s Asian swing, but three rounds at Coffs Harbour Golf Club with Pullen on the bag made up for lost time.
Seeking to address fade-outs late in tournaments last season, Kim is not only feeling physically fitter, but is seeing gains through the bag that will translate into having shorter clubs for approach shots.
“Definitely gained at least another five metres, which is huge for me,” said Kim.
“Just to have one less club in is always easier. Hitting 5-iron rather than 6-iron is always harder.
“Just little gains and little wins, I guess.”
A winner in her rookie season in 2023, Kim had just three top 10s from 28 starts in 2024.
She lost in a playoff at the Meijer Classic after starting the final round with a five-stroke lead and her Round 4 scoring average (71.79) was almost 1.5 strokes higher than her Round 1 scoring average (70.41).
Kim hopes to have addressed that with a summer spent in the gym.
“I don’t feel as lethargic as I used to when I finished,” Kim added.
“A couple of days I’ve been able to do a full gym session afterwards, which is nice.
“I think that’s a good, positive sign, seeing that my stamina is lasting a little longer.”
Fourth at Coffs Harbour, Kemp played all four rounds at the Women’s NSW Open in preparation of her first LPGA Tour start since suffering a compound fracture of her lower right leg in July last year.
Elsewhere this week, young Aussie stars Min Woo Lee and Karl Vilips have been paired together at the PGA TOUR’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, Matthew Griffin, Cameron John, Daniel Gale, Austin Bautista and Lachlan Barker are playing the DP World Tour’s Hero Indian Open courtesy of their Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit finish last season and Scott Barr has qualified to make his PGA TOUR Champions debut.
Cruelly denied full status at Qualifying School last December, Barr shot 7-under 65 in the Monday qualifier for the Galleri Classic in California, taking the total number of Aussies in the field to 10.
Photo: Jason Butler/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
Texas Children’s Houston Open
Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston, Texas
12:15am* Min Woo Lee, Karl Vilips
12:37am* Aaron Baddeley, Ryan Fox (NZ)
5:25am* Jason Day
Recent champion: Stephan Jaeger
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Devlin (1972), Bruce Crampton (1973, 1975), David Graham (1983), Stuart Appleby (1999, 2006), Robert Allenby (2000), Adam Scott (2007), Matt Jones (2014)
Prize money: $US9.5m
TV times: Live from 11:30pm Thursday, Friday; Live from 2am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
Ford Championship
Whirlwind Golf Club (Cattail Cse), Chandler, Arizona
1am Fiona Xu (NZ)
1:44am Lydia Ko (NZ)
2:28am* Stephanie Kyriacou
2:39am Cassie Porter
5:55am Sarah Kemp
6:17am* Karis Davidson
6:28am Hannah Green
6:50am* Grace Kim
7:12am* Gabriela Ruffels
7:23am* Hira Naveed
Recent champion: Nelly Korda
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2.25m
TV times: Live from 9am Friday on Fox Sports 505; Live from 9am Saturday on Fox Sports 506; Live from 9am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Hero Indian Open
DLF G&CC, New Delhi, India
12:15pm* Matthew Griffin
12:30pm Jason Scrivener
12:55pm* Daniel Hillier (NZ)
4:45pm Daniel Gale
5:10pm* Austin Bautista
6:10pm* Lachlan Barker
6:30pm* Cameron John
Recent champion: Keita Nakajima
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $2.25m
TV times: Live from 6:30pm Thursday, Friday Fox Sports 503; Live from 7pm Saturday Fox Sports 505; Live from 6pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR Champions
The Galleri Classic
Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, California
2:10am David Bransdon, Steve Allan
2:41am Cameron Percy
2:41am* Stuart Appleby
3:13am Mark Hensby
3:23am* Rod Pampling
3:34am* Greg Chalmers
3:55am Steven Alker (NZ)
3:55am* Richard Green
4:16am* Scott Barr
4:26am Brendan Jones
Recent champion: Retief Goosen
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2.2m
TV times: From 12pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live from 6am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR Americas
93 Abierto Telecom del Centro
Cordoba Golf Club, Cordoba, Argentina
10:30pm Grant Booth
3am Charlie Hillier (NZ)
Recent champion: Ignacio Marino
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000
In one sense, the equation is simple: Winning solves everything.
As the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia 2024/2025 season reaches its conclusion at The National Tournament this week, a variety of opportunities and exemptions await those who finish prominently on the Order of Merit.
Jack Buchanan and Anthony Quayle shape as the two with most to gain.
Elvis Smylie has secured the Order of Merit title but, as the winner of the co-sanctioned BMW Australian PGA Championship, is now exempt on the DP World Tour until the end of the 2027 season.
NZ Open champion Ryan Peake sits second on the Order of Merit and is guaranteed one of the three DP World Tour cards on offer for the top three not otherwise exempt.
Which is where it gets tricky.
Three-time DP World Tour winner Lucas Herbert and The Open champion of three years ago, Cameron Smith, both qualify for the Order of Merit having played the minimum four events and currently sit third and fourth.
Which leaves Buchanan (No.5) and Quayle (No.6).
Given Herbert is not in the field this week, either can leapfrog into third spot with victory on Sunday.
Circumstances could dictate that both might earn DP World Tour status without a win this week, but confirmation could be weeks in the waiting.
For two players both looking to launch their international careers, doors are about to open regardless of what happens at The National.
Winner of the WA PGA championship and Webex Players Series South Australia, Buchanan is exempt into 10 International Series events on the Asian Tour and believes he now has the grounding to take his game to the world.
“If someone told me I did what I did this season, I probably wouldn’t believe them,” said Buchanan, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday on Tuesday.
“I always have a bit of self-belief, but as my official first rookie year on the Aussie Tour, having two wins and some other good results in some big events is a pretty good achievement.
“I’m not too sure how it all works with the Order of Merit stuff, but I’m in a pretty good position to where a win this week would pretty likely get me a European Tour card.
“A lot of people would tell you they want to be world No.1 or whatever, but I always just want to play big events and have big moments in big events, wherever that may take me.”
After seven years playing the Japan Golf Tour, Quayle hit reset and returned to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia late last year.
With seven top-five finishes from his past 12 starts, the 30-year-old can see a path to pursue his career either in Europe or in the US.
“The path I was going down in Japan was not a productive one,” said Quayle, who needs all 190 points awarded to the winner this week to surpass Herbert and Smith. He trails Buchanan by 63 points.
“It was hard to really see any kind of progress being made or love of the game really. It was just really difficult.
“Right now, the pathway is not as clear or straightforward as what you might like it to be, but I know that there will be opportunities. I just have to be a bit more open-minded with it.
“Since I finished third at the Aussie PGA, I’ve already got some (DP World Tour) points that don’t show up on the moneylist now, but they kind of count. With the Alfred Dunhill Links, that’ll be a DP event and if I play well that week, I might rack up a few more points.
“I’ll be doing the US Open and British Open final qualifying, so if I can get into one of those, there’s also a lot of points on offer there.
“There’s still some avenues. If I play how I’m playing at the moment, I feel like it’ll open some doors.”
In addition to the three DP World Tour cards, the top 10 Order of Merit finishers earn an exemption into the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, the leading five players get a spot at the Singapore Classic and Hero Indian Open next year and there are exemptions into Final Stage of Qualifying Schools for the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, Japan Golf Tour and Asian Tour.
Round 1 tees off at 8:10am on Thursday morning at The National’s Gunnamatta Course.
The final two rounds are broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo from 3pm-6pm Saturday and 1pm-6pm Sunday AEDT.
