Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Sebastian Howell grew up obsessed with rugby league, with big dreams of being of being a star footy player. These hopes were put on hold however when he developed arthritis in his toes at a young age.
Like many before him, Howell’s first exposure to golf was watching Tiger Woods take professional golf by storm, but it wasn’t Tiger’s incredible distance, or his killer stare, that captivated Howell.
It was the game Tiger was playing, a game that Howell could play even despite his arthritis.
“The first time I teed it up was a Sunday junior comp, and I just remember flushing it about 150 metres down the middle,” Howell recalls.
“I was hooked from the get-go.”
Howell now helps juniors experience that same feeling.
As the assistant professional at The Coast Golf Club, Howell was recently recognised as the 2023 MyGolf Deliverer of the Year.
His journey to becoming one of the best junior coaches in the country has not been all smooth sailing. He shied away from coaching kids throughout his traineeship after some bad experiences, but admits that he actually didn’t know how to properly coach kids at that point.
“I didn’t really know how to break it down and use the simplest form of like ‘throw this’, ‘catch that’, ‘balance here’, ‘kick this’, make it as easy as possible for them to understand,” he said.
One key resource Howell credits to transforming his abilities as a junior coach is a video on the PGA by highly regarded coach, Denis McDade.
“He explained that you can’t tell kids this and that, you have to play games and actually make it enjoyable.”
His move to The Coast Golf Club in Little Bay brought an opportunity for Howell in that he identified a problem at the club and set out to fix it.
“As a golf club we were looking at our junior base and it was just dying off rapidly,” he said.
“So I sat down with some board members and said ‘alright if you guys back me in getting in some equipment, getting the right stuff going, I reckon I can get the junior stuff kicked off’.
“Getting the MyGolf program in place was really important, and it just worked! Yeah I love it, it’s the best.
“The MyGolf program makes everything so much easier. They come to me, I don’t have to go to them.”
The Coast Golf Club certinaly backed Howell in and it has paid off. He has had a positive influence on more than 100 new young golfers who have come into the game.
The support Howell has behind him is enormous, receiving an incredible 60 nominations from club members and students for the MyGolf Deliverer of the Year Award.
“This award acknowledges the effort and how much I love this game, and how much work I’ve put in towards it,” he said.
“There’s a lot of days where I’m buggered like I’m exhausted, usually I’m doing 6am to 6pm, but coaching the juniors is the best part of my day.”
For much of the Sandbelt Invitational’s final day at Royal Melbourne Thursday, it looked as if nearly any of the contenders other than 54-hole leader Daniel Gale would walk away the victor as he battled his game and an unfamiliar layout.
Gale needing his first hole-in-one in competition since his very first as a 12-year-old over the closing stages and par at the last for a 12-under total and one-shot win over Matt Griffin.
“I mean, it’s pretty special. Obviously, it’s a fairly new event, I love the concept. Four different courses … four amazing courses, it’s different, it’s fun, exciting,” he said of becoming the third winner of Geoff Ogilvy’s brainchild event.
“It’s pretty special, it hasn’t fully sunk in yet. Today was pretty stressful.”
The stress started early for Gale, who was playing the lesser known East Course for the first time in his life.
Pressure of trying to win combined with unfamiliarity as he sailed his driver well right on the fifth and lost his ball, the resulting double bogey giving playing partner Lachlan Barker and the likes of Sandbelt specialist Griffin in the groups ahead plenty of motivation.
Griffin playing steadily and as the course allows, slowly moving his way into the frame as Gale’s struggles intensified as he reached the back paddock of the East, a place where few spectators ventured.
The almost silent atmosphere causing Gale to double check one of the early starters hadn’t gone past him with a low score.
“I was surprised. We had some crowds and then … that’s why I checked the leaderboard, because I thought someone else might be lighting it up,” he said of a period where he made three bogeys in a row starting at the 11th.
“It felt just like a Saturday whack around in all honesty at that point.”
Although it was a shot dropped to par at 13, the final of his terrible treble was the turning point for the New South Welshman after missing the par-3 long left.
Sending his second shot across the green into a bunker, Tournament Director Mike Clayton suggested double bogey was the best possible result.
Not for Gale though, the 27-year-old almost holing out from the sand, his ball rattling the flag and jumping back next to cup for a tap-in.
“That got very lucky, obviously nearly dunked it there, I had no shot whatsoever, someone had obviously been there before, and I knew it was going to be firm,” he said.
“That’s where I thought, things weren’t really going my way, it obviously didn’t drop, but I got away with one there. That was sort of the point I sort of said, come just switch on.”
Switch on he did.
With Griffin finishing up with par on 18 and many thinking it was enough to clinch the title, word filtered forward of Gale’s heroics a few holes back.
Making par at 14 after an approach that finished well shy, Gale birdied the next before making the ace from 168 metres with an 8-iron. Word filtering through via Royal Melbourne club captain Tony Rule’s text message to Clayton.
“I was trying to fly it in there about 160, and I think it did. Landed, took a big bounce, trundled up … Then it finally disappeared, it took ages to disappear,” he said.
Celebrated by the small crowd around the green, and a couple of members playing after the tournament, Gale’s ace lifted him into a one shot advantage that he managed to maintain over the final two holes. His par at 18 coming via a nervy five footer under the watchful eyes of Ogilvy and Clayton, amongst a sizeable crowd.
Gale’s success coming during Ogilvy’s own moment of reflection about what he has helped build.
“Using what I believe are the best asset Australian golf has in the form of the Melbourne Sandbelt, is hugely important to me, but also the game in this country,” Ogilvy said.
“Unfortunately, my own game didn’t show up this week, but this event is about more than me and my performance. To see it grow in just three short years, makes me exceptionally proud and is exactly what my foundation was created to do.”
Part of that mission the assistance of young elite golfers, three of who joined Gale in the winners’ circle, with Robyn Choi claiming low women’s pro, Phoenix Campbell the low men’s amateur and Jazy Roberts the low female amateur.
Victorian David Bransdon shrugged free of jetlag and tapped into the form that earned him a PGA TOUR Champions card to take out the Elgin Valley Beerwah Legends Pro-Am at Beerwah Golf Club.
The second event of the Sunshine Coast Series that will close out the 2023 PGA Legends Tour season, Beerwah brought together an exceptional field boasting major champions, PGA TOUR winners and European Tour winners.
Playing two groups ahead of the man whose father helped to build the golf course at Beerwah, Ian Baker-Finch, Bransdon was initially slow out of the blocks.
A bogey at his first hole – the par-4 third – was perhaps a carry-over from his flight home from Florida but he responded with four birdies in his next five holes on his way to a round of 6-under 66 and a two-stroke win.
“I felt like a human today,” said Bransdon, who was one of four Aussies to secure a PGA TOUR Champions card for 2024.
“I’d just got back from the States a couple of days ago and I hadn’t felt like a normal person until today.
“Back to what I was doing last week, hitting it good and rolling a few putts in.”
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
After his initial backward step, there was no looking back for Bransdon.
He was 3-under by the time he arrived at the 10th tee, adding just the one birdie on the back nine at the par-5 15th.
With the likes of Scott Laycock (68), Brendan Chant (69), Lucas Bates (69) and David McKenzie applying leaderboard pressure, Bransdon birdied his final two holes to take the win by two strokes.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“Tricky, especially that back nine,” Bransdon said of the Beerwah layout.
“You’ve got to hit the straight ball because there’s quite a lot of penal bush around.
“Keep it in the fairway and hit it on the green.
“This has been a plan for seven years when I went to Japan at 43. It was my plan to play up there until I was 50. I fell six months shy of that but my goal was to play up there, keep playing so that I was still competitive.
“Once I turned 50 I’ve run with it pretty well.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 David Bransdon 66
2 Scott Laycock 68
T3 Brendan Chant 69
T3 Lucas Bates 69
T3 David McKenzie 69
NEXT UP
The Sunshine Coast Series continues on Thursday with the two-day, $30,000 Sunshine Coast Masters at Twin Waters Golf Club.
Harrison Endycott has revealed he is digging deep for answers – including giving up alcohol – as he tries to play his way back on to the PGA TOUR as a full member.
Ahead of Tour School beginning in Florida this week, Endycott said he made the decision to shun the drink after a moderately-successful 2023 rookie season.
The revolution comes in a video featuring the Sydney professional compiled by the PGA TOUR during the recent Fall Series.
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be over here more than anything,” he told PGA Tour Media. “I wanted to go play the tour with my idols and all that. And I’d be the first admit, I got out here and I forgot very quickly.
“A lot of new things … more money and partying and enjoying yourself, things like that. I was losing what this game really meant for me.
“I made a decision to get sober. Alcohol took me to a dark area and having the time off after Wyndham (Championship) was the best thing that could ever have happened.”
Watch the Harrison Endycott feature here
The 27-year-old Endycott was 129th in the Fedex Cup points list in 2023, meaning that his card was not guaranteed, and he finished 140th in the Fall Series, sending him back to tour school.
At the moment he has conditional status for 2024, which is why he is teeing it up in Jacksonville this week.
“I feel like I’m in a really good place mentally and physically coming into the fall,” said Endycott. “I’m hungry for the opportunity now.”
The tour school returns in 2023 for the first time in a decade.
The top five players and ties earn immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR for 2024.
There are 168 players in the field who will play four rounds with no cut.
Alongside Endycott will be the likes of David Micheluzzi, John Lyras and Tom Power Horan among the cluster of Australians, the latter trio all graduating to final stage through their positions on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 2022-23.
Those who do not make the top five still have a chance of grabbing Korn Ferry Tour by getting into the top 40.
PHOTO: Harrison Endycott is aiming to find his way back to the US Tour. Image: Getty
Tee times AEDT
DP World Tour
AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open
Heritage La Réserve GC, Mauritius
Australasians playing:
Sam Jones (NZ)
Haydn Barron
Andrew Martin
Asian Tour
Saudi Open
Riyadh Golf Club
2.35pm* Itthipat Buranatanyarat, Othman Almulla, Andrew Dodt
2.45pm Suradit Yongcharoenchai, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Kevin Yuan
3.05pm Todd Sinnott, Ben Leong, Atiruj Winaicharoenchai
3.15pm* Travis Smyth, Kieran Vincent, Kevin Na
3.35pm Yikeun Chang, Sam Brazel, Angelo Que
7.05pm Yeongsu Kim, Jbe Kruger, Douglas Klein
7.45pm Jinichiro Kozuma, Scott Hend, Nitithorn Thippong
8.05pm* Aaron Wilkin, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Charng-Tai Sudsom
PGA TOUR
Qualifying School (Final stage)
TPC Sawgrass (Valley course), Sawgrass Country Club, Florida
5.02am Brent Grant, David Micheluzzi, Spencer Ralston
5.12am Rhein Gibson, Austin Hitt, Alex Schaake
5.23am Myles Creighton, Harrison Endycott, Hayden Springer
5.23am* Brett Drewitt, SY Noh, Ross Steelman
5.33am* Tano Goya, Tanner Gore, Tom Power Horan
6.05am* Sam Bennett, Charlie Hillier (NZ), Kevin Velo
6.15am Sung Kang, John Lyras, Connor Howe
For the third straight year, Yarra Yarra Golf Club’s course record fell on day three of the Sandbelt Invitational.
However, despite Brett Coletta, Phoenix Campbell and Sarah Hammett all etching their name on a brand new honour board in the clubhouse, Daniel Gale still leads by four with 18 holes to play.
Coletta and Campbell signed for 63s to knock off David Micheluzzi’s 64, with the pair of record setters sitting eight-under overall and only behind Lachlan Barker on 11-under and Gale at 15-under. Meanwhile Hammett’s 66 sees here just one back of Jazy Roberts on seven-under in the low women’s amateur category.
Enduring two suspensions due to electrical storms, Gale clearly felt no hindrance from the stop-start nature of Wednesday’s play, although the wind whipping up as he finished his third round saw him drop shots at the par-4 12th and 18th. The bogeys giving Barker and the rest of the chasing pack some semblance of hope as they head to Royal Melbourne (East) for the final day.
Gale happy with his position but far from getting ahead of himself as he chases what he called “nice Chrissie bonus” a day earlier.
“I mean it’s the position you want to be in,” he said.
“That’s what all the hard work’s for, it’s just another day of golf really. I’ve never seen the East, so I will do a little research tonight, see if there’s anything here or there that I can pick up heading into tomorrow.”
Similarly experiencing the East Course for the first time will be Barker, who for the third straight day will play with Gale.
The South Australian continuing to look comfortable on the Sandbelt despite lacking familiarity, his five-birdie day at Yarra Yarra only spoiled by a dropped shot at the uphill 16th. Barker’s main round three takeaway being his mental strength on a somewhat difficult day.
“Got off to a pretty hot start,” Barker said. “Then we had a little bit of adversity, which I think I handled quite well.
“Little bit of mental fortitude, and sort of more accepting attitude sort of helped.”
That mental fortitude includes a mantra of “keep doing what I’m doing” on the final day, when he and Gale’s friendly dynamic of the week and pushing each other along might change if things get tight on the back nine.
“He’s a good fella. I’m pretty casual, but he’s probably got me on the casual side of things. We are keeping it cool, calm and collected out there. It’s good fun,” Gale said.
“We’ve been feeding off each other. It’s good to see, it’s been great golf.”
Great golf it has been, including from Campbell who was wary not to get too far ahead of himself over his pursuit of Gale.
“Can’t think about it too much, I’ve just got to think about my own game and if I can roll a few putts in and stay patient I might be a red hot chance,” Campbell said.
Gale similarly unable to be drawn in by questions of what it might feel like to hold the trophy aloft tomorrow
“After the 72nd hole, and if I’m in the lead, that’s when I will be thinking about it.”
PHOTO: Daniel Gale on his way to a 66 at Yarra Yarra today.
The third leg of the Gippsland swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series headed to Sale Golf Club, and with wet conditions in the lead up, players were just happy to get out in the relatively clear conditions.
It was the inaugural Sporting Legends Sale Pro-Am at Sale Golf Club, and looks to be a fantastic addition to the Gippsland swing.
Happiest of all were Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia members Matthew Millar and Andrew Kelly who both shot 4-under 66s, to share the victory by two shots over five players tied at 2-under.
Millar, who holed out for eagle from 115m on his first hole, was especially pleased to get another win on his record before he has to take some time off to have back surgery to sort out issues he has been managing for the last few years.
“Yeah no more tournament golf until I’m given the all-clear which will be probably middle of next year,” he said.
“It’ll be good to get some closure on it but the recovery will be a bit of a tough time. Hopefully I can come out of in good shape and then be ready to play in a couple of years.”
HOW THE WINNING SCORE UNFOLDED
Millar started hot with an eagle on the first, with his only dropped shot coming at the final hole.
Accompanying his eagle, birdies came at holes 5, 14, and 15, getting the Canberra pro to 5-under before the dropped shot at the last clipped his wings.
Kelly was also on fire bar one hole. He had six birdies on his day, with a double at the par-4 16th his only blemish.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
Matthew Millar: “My round got off to a bit of red-hot start. Blocked a drive over the fairway bunker on the right and it was trapped in behind the tree, chose the right shot, punched it under the tree, executed it really well and it rolled up from 115 metres and went in the hole.
“I missed a handful of putts inside that 10-foot range for sure, but played really solid and didn’t do a lot wrong until 18.
“Really good layout, I’d love to come back and play it in the dry. Amazing after the 200mim they’ve had, they’ve done an amazing job to get it ready to play.
Andrew Kelly: “I played with three young members who are great young fellas, which helped keep me relaxed and I managed to keep bogeys off my card and birdie the easy holes.
“I’ve been playing a lot of golf, and I’ve been playing okay. I think all the golf leading up to this has kept me pretty sharp.
“I’m more of a player than a practiser, so everything I can play in, I’ll play in.
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1 Matthew Millar 66
T1 Andrew Kelly 66
T3 Konrad Ciupek 68
T3 Cameron Kelly 68
T3 Steven Jones 68
T3 Levi Sclater 68
T3 Caleb Bovalina 68
NEXT UP
The final leg of the Gippsland swing is next with the Traralgon Latrobe City WIN Network Pro-Am Classic at Traralgon Golf Club on December 14-15.
Back in Queensland and making his debut appearance on the PGA Legends Tour, Rod Pampling produced a 4-under-par 66 to win the Noosa Atlas Golf Services Legends Pro-Am.
A winner on the Champions Tour in the United States this year, Pampling has been mixing golf with relaxing at home with family and friends in Brisbane over the past month, including playing in the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland.
With his driver and short irons working well, the 54-year-old had a two-shot win at Noosa Golf Club, finishing ahead of another Champions Tour regular David McKenzie and fellow Queenslander Richard Backwell.
Stephen Woodhead produced the shot of the day, holing out for a one on the 135m par-3 fifth hole.
PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit leader Andre Stolz had a rare off day, finishing in a tie for 29th at 3-over, while a round of 70 gave Allan Cooper a victory in the super seniors division.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“It was a fun day, beautiful weather and I made a few putts here and there,” Pampling said.
“It’s fun to be back out here with a lot of familiar faces.
“I’ve played events here (at this golf course) for a long time but it’s been five years since I’ve been back. Covid shut me down for three years and then I had a sore knee last year but it’s been good to be back.
“Obviously having a win makes it even better.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-4 (66): Rod Pampling
-2 (68): Richard Backwell, David McKenzie
-1 (69): Martin Peterson, Murray Lott, David Fearns, Euan Walters, Donald Edwards
NEXT UP
The Sunshine Coast is home to the PGA Legends Tour for the next week as the country’s best over-50 professionals contest the annual Sunshine Coast Series with four events through until next Wednesday.
Neither of them had played the Peninsula Kingswood’s South Course before Tuesday, but lack of course experience failed to hinder Daniel Gale, who leads the Sandbelt Invitational on 11-under, nor his nearest pursuer Lachlan Barker four shots back.
Similarly inexperienced at Yarra Yarra, the third-round host of the Geoff Ogilvy-hosted event, Gale and Barker both last teed it up there at the 2017 Australian Amateur. The pair’s similarities extend beyond course knowledge, or lack thereof, with both being Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winners this summer.
Barker took inspiration from his fellow PNG Open winner during the second round.
Opening with a birdie at the par-4 first, Gale was out of the blocks at breakneck speed, the New South Welshman reaching the turn in 32.
His South Australian playing partner dragged along in the jet stream to match the number on the back nine. Unfortunately for Barker though, Gale repeated his efforts to sign for an unconfirmed course record 64 and a significant advantage.
“I mean it was pretty impressive, I didn’t not see it. But I didn’t not see it until it happened. It was good for me though, seeing him come out the gates hot,” Barker said.
“We both birdied the first, then he kept pushing, and I was like ‘You can go low here’. So I think that really helped me into a 32 on the back nine, chasing down Galey. It was a productive group to be in.”
That productivity in terms of birdies and eagles is not uncommon for Gale, who after his round was doing his best to recall how many course records he has set and holds.
The 27-year-old is still not certain of that number, but outlined a further aggressive game plan for the third round that might make things hard for Barker and the rest of the chasing pack.
Those back of Barker are headed by amateur Jazy Roberts on 6-under, with Quinn Croker and Matt Griffin a shot further adrift.
“At the end of the day, every hole is a birdie hole. No matter where the pin is, you can still make birdie,” Gale surmised when asked how he shoots low scores so often.
“So there’s obviously 18 birdie opportunities out there, if not you can make an eagle here or there.”
Admitting such a score was unlikely on Wednesday, Gale noted a memory of birdie opportunities in abundance at Yarra Yarra, while Barker believes he is getting better each day as his jet lag finally clears.
“I’m back! And if you look at my scores the afternoons have been better,” Barker said.
“Came in from Dubai Sunday night at 1am, yesterday morning was a bit of a struggle. I was a little bit delirious, but as we got into the back nine, and had a little bit of sugar I felt like I was myself and made my birdies on the back.
:Today, again it was a little bit better, but it still took a while to feel really like myself out there.”
Hoping tomorrow will be better again, Barker, like Gale, is enjoying the casual atmosphere of the end-of-season event, while he believes his success across a variety of venues is a positive sign for his burgeoning career. A trait that comes in handy across four venues in four days on the world famous Sandbelt.
“Golf’s golf and I think one of the keys to being a successful pro is how quick can you adapt,” he said.
“A lot of people get home course-itis, or they might play well in a certain area, but to be a successful pro, you’ve got to be good at changing day to day. That’s why I think this format is pretty cool.”
The 2023 PNG Open champion Barker’s words were similar to the way Gale responded to a question about his “unique” golf swing that got as close to a rise as you can get out of the yellow bucket hat sporting 2023 NT PGA champion
“I think everyone’s got their own unique swing, I’ve certainly got mine,” Gale said.
“It works for me and I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Obviously won on Tour a couple of times, Monday qualified (for US PGA TOUR events) a couple of times. I know it works for me.”
Similarly knowing the job is only halfway finished, Gale was still smarting from a bridie chance at the 18th that slipped by for 63.
The New South Welshman headed to the putting green to see the ball find the bottom of the cup before jumping in the car as he seeks to claim a second win for the year in the form of the Sandbelt Invitational overall title in two days’ time. An achievement he described in his own unique way that is entirely Gale’s own.
“It would be a nice Chrissie bonus and just a real good confidence booster going into the stretch of Aussie events next year.”
Scores: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/10060479266098805240
Australian golf icons Ian Baker-Finch and Peter Senior will take part in this week’s Sunshine Coast Series that will serve as the culmination to the 2023 PGA Legends Tour season.
Always a popular stop on the Legends Tour calendar, Queensland’s Sunshine Coast will play host to four events, offering a total of $123,000 in prizemoney.
It all starts at Beerwah, the course where Baker-Finch learned the game as a youngster before going on to become a major championship winner, with the $25,000 Beerwah Legends Pro-Am on Wednesday, December 13.
Second up is the $30,000 Sunshine Coast Masters at Twin Waters Resort over two days from Thursday, December 14.
Maroochy River Golf Club will play host to the $30,000 Queensland Senior PGA Championship, also over 36 holes, from December 17-18 with Headland Golf Club to stage the season finale, the $30,000 Australian Legends Tour Championship, from December 20-21.
As well as the Sunshine Coast Series title being on the line, so too will be the overall PGA Legends Order of Merit.
The winner of the past two Order of Merit titles, Andre Stolz, who has banked more than $100,000 in prizemoney in 2023, will have to stave off challenges from Brad Burns, Chris Taylor and Adam Henwood to make it three straight.
The Order of Merit winner receives an invitation to play the KitchenAid US Senior PGA Championship in the US in May, adding even further importance to the Sunshine Coast Series.
“We are really looking forward to these events that cap a very successful season of nearly 80 events across Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Papua New Guinea,” said Andy Rogers, PGA Legends Tour tournament coordinator.
“We have great fields with notable players such as Peter Senior, Peter Lonard, Andre Stolz and Ian Baker-Finch all entering to play.
“Sunshine Coast Council have come on board to help promote the events and, in turn, the region.
“And with a $3000 bonus fund across the four events, competition will be intense.”
Economy Portfolio Councillor Jason O’Pray said Council was pleased to support the PGA Legends Tour and welcome the professionals to the Sunshine Coast.
“It is great to see the tour move across four of our golf venues – Beerwah, Twin Waters, Maroochy River and Headland Golf Club,” Cr O’Pray said.
“For players and spectators alike, the Sunshine Coast’s natural assets and attractions are all in-stone’s throw from these venues. From Australia Zoo to the coastal pathway along our beaches and rivers we hope everyone makes the most of the coast.”
The PGA Legends Tour is renowned for the camaraderie of the events and the relaxed environment in which they are played.
At each of the four events, professionals will play alongside amateurs and sponsors.
Spectators are welcome to come along and watch with no charge for entry.
The latest participation report commissioned by Golf Australia stated that of the 2.7 million Australians who played golf, 1.2 million didn’t set foot on a golf course.
After completing the Membership Pathway Program at Maroochy River Golf Club on the Sunshine Coast, Will White moved to Tasmania to take up the role as Club Professional at Launceston Golf Club.
The combination of the participation report, and Launceston’s vastly different weather conditions, convinced White that there would be demand for an indoor golf facility.
White opened WillFit Golf in December 2022 with a simple philosophy to appeal to the entirety of the population who had participated in golf, and those who might want to.
“We’re fully in alignment with Golf Australia’s and the PGA’s vision to make golf a lot more accessible to everyone and really inclusive,” says White.
“We’re all about building that inclusive golf community and really welcoming all levels of golfers.
“From first timers wanting to participate in a fun, indoor activity, the new golfer who wants to learn the game and get started through to the regular club golfer and high-level golfer.”
After opening with four TrackMan-powered bays, WillFit added a fifth mid-year, the technology providing the capability to dial in every club in the bag or get your friends together for a bullseye shootout.
WillFit Golf also boasts an 11-metre artificial putting green so golfers can work on every element of the game, however they want to do it.
“We definitely saw a gap where we could create this awesome, inviting facility and build a community of golfers,” says White.
“It’s really a place to go to learn the game, practice, to play indoor rounds. It’s a quicker format and all-weather and here in Launceston it’s wet and cold half the year.
“That’s a big drawcard as well.
“There is something for everyone. That’s really want we want to be about. We’re a facility for golfers.
“Any skill level, we’re for golfers.”
The way in which White and the WillFit team are engaging their community also breaks down any barriers to entry.
They host a women’s high tea once a quarter, there is a ‘New Dads’ group that runs every fortnight and Club Orange for people with a disability.
There are also golf leagues and even a hole-in-one challenge where visitors can take an unlimited number of shots to try and make an ace and win prizes.
With a focus on exceptional customer service at a 24-hour alcohol-free facility that is staffed seven days a week, White says the demand from patrons continues to expand into new areas.
“We branded it in a way that was not the traditional golf club feeling or performance studio,” he says.
“We’re a 24-hour facility for members but we also chose to staff the facility seven days a week.
“If someone comes in, we’re there to support them, help set them up on the technology and make sure they have the best golf experience possible.
“Ultimately, everyone is there for the same reason; have fun with golf.”
Whether you want to play indoors or out, there is a PGA Professional to enhance your golf experience. To find the nearest PGA Professional to you, visit pga.org.au/find-a-pga-pro/.
