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The continued excellence of Minjee Lee and emergence of Min Woo Lee as Australian golf’s next superstar have seen Ritchie Smith earn a seventh nod as Coach of the Year – High Performance at the Western Australian Golf Industry Gala Dinner on Friday night.
Representatives from throughout the WA golf industry gathered at Crown Casino in Perth to recognise outstanding performers across all aspects of the game in 2023.
A record number of rounds at Busselton Golf Club saw Grant Williams named Hilary Lawler WA PGA Club Professional of the Year, Nicole Martino was awarded PGA Management Professional of the Year for her work at The Western Australian Golf Club and Wembley Golf Course’s Andrew Thomas edged a strong list of finalists to be again named Game Development Coach of the Year.
Smith (Royal Fremantle Golf Club, pictured with PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman) and David Milne (Lake Karrinyup Country Club) were the two nominees for High Performance Coach of the Year, Smith’s stable of players all advancing their development around the world.
Maddison-Hinson Tolchard continued her outstanding college career and made her US Women’s Open debut at Pebble Beach, Hannah Green won a third LPGA Tour title, Ryan Peake enjoyed his best season on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series circuit and amateurs Abbie Teasdale and Josiah Edwards excelled locally and abroad.
But perhaps Smith’s greatest feat was to oversee a putting change in his star pupil that saw Minjee Lee win twice towards the end of 2023 and return to the top five in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking.
“Sometimes when you have a problem like this you need to make a big change and we got rid of a putter that we won two majors with,” Smith said as he accepted the Greg Norman Medal on Minjee’s behalf last November.
“We looked at the reasons why we had problems from about 15 different angles and we’ve found a formula that we think is going to work.
“So far it has been a good change.”
This past year will also be remembered for the way Min Woo Lee announced himself on the world stage.
He played his way into the final group alongside world No.1 Scottie Scheffler at THE PLAYERS Championship, won on the Asian Tour in record fashion and sent shockwaves throughout Brisbane with his pulsating victory at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.
Named in honour of a PGA Professional who had a strong focus in the servicing of his customers, being a mentor to other PGA Professionals and an absolute custodian of the sport, Williams received the Hilary Lawler Club Professional of the Year for the impact he has had at Busselton in a short space of time.
The Head PGA Professional at Busselton since April 2022, Williams has instituted major improvements to tee sheets to cater for the record number of rounds played, a 90 per cent conversion from evaluation lessons to coaching packages sold, a stronger retail offering and a new prepayment policy for group bookings which delivered the club $100,000 in additional revenue.
Thomas was named Game Development Coach of the Year for the second year running not only for the enormity of lessons conducted at Wembley Golf Course but also his visit to Newman to coach indigenous youth at Clontarf Aboriginal College and students at Newman Primary School.
A member satisfaction rating of in excess of 80 per cent highlighted the impact that Nicole Martino had this past year at The Western Australian Golf Club.
As Golf Manager, Martino successfully managed a club calendar of more than 70,000 rounds and various special events, empowered her team with development budgets and worked collaboratively with course, house and admin teams to ensure the best possible member experience.
Two WA legends were honoured for their contribution to the game over many years with Ross Metherell awarded the WA Golf Industry Distinguished Service Award and Stephen Leaney inducted into the WA Golf Industry Hall of Champions.
2023 WA Golf Industry Award Winners
WA PGA Coach of the Year – High Performance
Ritchie Smith, Royal Fremantle Golf Club
WA PGA Coach of the Year – Game Development
Andrew Thomas, Wembley Golf Course
Hilary Lawler WA PGA Club Professional of the Year
Grant Williams, Busselton Golf Club
WA PGA Associate of the Year
Fritz Arnold, Lake Karrinyup Country Club
WA PGA Tournament of the Year
Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Open
WA PGA Management Professional of the Year – Proudly sponsored by Golf Car World
Nicole Martino, The Western Australian Golf Club
Course Apprentice of the Year – Proudly sponsored by AFGRI Equipment
Beschen Pou, Rockingham Golf Club and Links Kennedy Bay
Course Superintendent of the Year – Proudly sponsored by AFGRI Equipment
Tom Tristram, Secret Harbour Golf Links
WA Golf Industry Distinguished Service Award
Ross Metherell
WA Golf Industry Hall of Champions Inductee
Stephen Leaney
Outstanding Game Development Program of the Year Award
Womens 22 Week Beginner Program at Lake Karrinyup Country Club
Employee of the Year – Proudly sponsored by MiClub
Jessie Krznaric, Royal Fremantle Golf Club
Volunteer of the Year – Proudly sponsored by Bowra and O’Dea
Graeme Durward, Busselton Golf Club
Regional Golf Course of the Year – Proudly sponsored by ADH Club Car
Bunbury Golf Club
Metropolitan Golf Course of the Year – Proudly sponsored by ADH Club Car
Joondalup Resort
Regional Golf Facility of the Year
Karratha Country Club
Metropolitan Golf Facility of the Year – Proudly Sponsored by Golf Car World E-Z-Go
Wembley Golf Course
Outstanding Golf Achievement Award – Proudly sponsored by NGI Insurance
Minjee Lee
Five players shared the honours after Jason Norris let a two-shot lead slip late at the Metro Homes Glenn Joyner Memorial Legends Pro-Am at Thaxted Park Golf Course.
The first staging of the Memorial Pro-Am since the passing of the much-loved Glenn Joyner last August, Glenn’s father Barry and son Brad were part of the pro-am and were on hand to congratulate all five of the winners.
On the back of his win at Flagstaff Hill the day prior, Norris looked set to make it two-from-two when he arrived to the 18th tee at 5-under par.
The South Australian would three-put his final hole, however, for a double-bogey, his 3-under 67 matched by David Crawford, Brad Burns, Tim Elliott and Lucien Tinkler.
HOW THE WINNING ROUNDS UNFOLDED
All five scores of 3-under 67 would come in the afternoon groups and in vastly different fashion.
With a birdie at his opening hole and eagle at the short 206-metre par-4 sixth, Norris was the one to set the early pace.
He pushed out to 5-under on his round with birdies at 10 and 13 but a birdie on 17 wedged between a bogey and double-bogey would restrict Norris to a 3-under total.
Burns had just one bogey in his round of 67 highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 first while Tinkler made his run late, playing the front nine in 4-under 30 after starting his day from the 10th tee.
Elliott had four birdies and a single bogey to match the best score of the day as Crawford earned his first PGA Legends Tour win courtesy of four birdies, an eagle and three bogeys.
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
T1 David Crawford 67
T1 Brad Burns 67
T1 Jason Norris 67
T1 Tim Elliott 67
T1 Lucien Tinkler 67
T6 David Fearns 68
T6 Euan Walters 68
T6 Mark Boulton 68
T6 Peter Fowler 68
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour has a short break now before the SA PGA Senior Foursomes Championship at Mount Gambier Golf Club, David McKenzie, Peter Senior and Terry Price among the entries.
Queenslander Quinn Croker will be one of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia’s rookies to watch in 2024/25 but before then he has his sights on some big amateur events in the United States.
With a sequence of outstanding results in the recently completed Tour season, Croker locked up the Future Tour Order of Merit by a wide margin to secure a Tour card which ensures he can bypass the upcoming Qualifying School at Moonah Links.
A member of Australia’s team at last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Croker made the cut in all nine Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments he contested, highlighted by a second-place finish at The Heritage Classic in January.
And he finished outside the top 15 in only two events, gaining great experience to take into the next stage of his career and impressing those who saw his game first-hand and on the Fox Sports telecasts.
PGA.org.au caught up with the 21-year-old after his final Tour event as an amateur, The National Tournament, to get some key takeaways on his fantastic season.
What reflections do you have on the 2023/24 season overall?
I enjoyed it this year. It was fun. I played plenty of different tournament and got the chance to go to plenty of different places. It was a good year.
What did you learn most about what life as a touring professional would be like?
Something that sticks out the most is the uncontrollables. There’s so many things you can get mad at or angry at, your feelings towards them, that don’t really matter. You can deal with them after if you have to.
It’s no use getting annoyed about something that doesn’t really matter and then bringing that out on the golf course. You just have to go out and play the 18 holes.
I played a couple of events and realised that ‘my game is kind of there so if I just let it happen it will turn into a good result’. I showed myself that I could play out here and some good golf, not perfect golf, can get it done some times.
What was your favourite event of the season?
I really liked the two events in WA, the Open and the PGA. Joondalup was a really cool course.
Heritage was obviously the best finish, the most I was under-par, and it was good to get used to the TV cameras following me and having to manage my time with some extra requirements. That was a learning curve that week.
Who sticks in your mind as someone who was really enjoyable to play with?
Playing with Griffo (Matt Griffin) in the final round at The Heritage was pretty big. Just being able to have a good chat with him while he’s trying to win a golf tournament. You just can’t chat like two mates walking down the fairway because you still have a job to do, but I really enjoyed his company. He’s a good bloke who knows a lot and is open to helping you. He has so much knowledge.
Also what comes to mind is the Sandbelt Invitational. I played with Geoff Ogilvy the first day and then Nico Colsaerts the next day. To with able to play with them on back-to-back days, and play some pretty good golf in front of them, was really good. I thought ‘wow, I’m playing with a US Open winner and the vice-captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team’. That was pretty cool.
What’s your plans for the next few months?
We’re going to work pretty hard on my game in the next couple of months and hopefully get some progression then there’s some amateur events in the US that I hope to tap into and play. It’s going to be tough in terms of knowing a schedule.
We’ll try to play as many events as we can over there in their summer and then come home. I think by that time, it might be the start of the new season here so then I might be looking to use the Future card and play a season as a professional on this Tour.
Qualifiers from the seven events staged across Australia will play for an increased prize purse when the PGA Professionals Championship National Final returns to Heritage Golf and Country Club in October.
Tasmania’s Claremont Golf Club will host the first 2024 PGA Professionals Championship qualifier on April 5 to be followed by the PGA Professionals Championship of North Queensland at Townsville Golf Club on April 22.
The PGA Professionals Championship of South-East Queensland on July 31 will finalise the National Final field where the total prize money has increased to $65,000.
There are also two places in the field at the Australian PGA Championship up for grabs and, for the first time in the event’s history, female PGA Professionals will have an opportunity to play for the Women’s PGA Professionals Championship trophy.
The Women’s PGA Professionals Championship will see at least one female from each state qualifying event advance to the National Final, where they too can showcase their exceptional abilities on the golf course.
“Our PGA Professionals are often feted for the way they help golfers to play better but they are just as passionate about their own games,” said PGA of Australia General Manager of Membership and Education, Geoff Stewart.
“To become a PGA Professional you must display a high level of playing proficiency.
“While that may not be their primary focus as they work within the industry, we are proud to provide our PGA Members with the platform to showcase their skills and play their way into our flagship event, the Australian PGA Championship.”
The $65,000 total prize money is a 30 per cent increase on the 2023 PGA Professionals Championship won for a fourth time by Matt Docking.
Now the Head PGA Professional at Murray Downs Golf and Country Club, as defending champion Docking is exempt from state qualifying and excited about the prospect of a return to Heritage Golf and Country Club.
“I am looking forward to defending my title,” said Docking.
“Although I have been fortunate enough to win the event on four occasions, I haven’t necessarily played as well as I would have liked at the Australian PGA Championship once I have qualified.
“I would love to change that in 2024 and therefore the first step is getting there.”
The PGA is proud to partner with championship partners Acushnet and Club Car.
Both partners have supported PGA Vocational Professionals for extended periods, be it at their golf facilities or their professional playing ambitions.
2024 PGA Professionals Championship schedule
Friday, April 5
PGA Professionals Championship of Tasmania (Claremont GC)
Monday, April 22
PGA Professionals Championship of North Qld (Townsville GC)
Friday, June 28
PGA Professionals Championship of South Australia (West Lakes GC)
Monday, July 8
PGA Professionals Championship of Western Australia (The Western Australian GC)
Thursday, July 11
PGA Professionals Championship of NSW/ACT (Concord GC)
Monday, July 22
PGA Professionals Championship of Victoria (Keysborough GC)
Wednesday, July 31
PGA Professionals Championship of South East Qld (Nudgee GC)
October 22-24
PGA Professionals Championship National Final (Heritage G&CC)
A new program has been launched to help Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour players with progressing their careers on and off the golf course.
And it has found a willing ambassador in multiple tournament winner Brett Rumford, who has experienced just about every aspect of professional golf.
The Tournament Player Development Program has been established to offer professional development and educational resources for all current players on the men’s and women’s tours.
Aimed at enhancing players’ long-term career success, whether that is on the golf course or not, the program includes a wide variety of webinars and practical sessions.
Along with the practical and online sessions, the program is designed to provide players pastoral care and guidance.
Rumford, a six-time winner on the DP World Tour, has come on as an ambassador for the program, and while participants will be treated to a short-game masterclass from one of golf’s best around the greens, he has a lot more off-course wisdom to impart as well.
Along with a decorated playing career, over the last few years Rumford has broadened his golf knowledge and qualifications by completing his bridging course to become a full PGA Member, as well as a Diploma of Golf Management at the PGA Institute.
“It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to remain in the golf industry when I finished full-time tournament golf. One, because I love it. I’m passionate about it. Two, I want to give back to the game,” said Rumford.
After a relatively smooth run through most of his playing days, a number of injury setbacks beginning in 2015 forced Rumford to think about life after professional golf.
“It was like ‘wow, what’s going on here’,” he said.
“Right in the thick of my prime of my career, you know, I’ve just had these two major surgeries that have just completely derailed my momentum.”
While Rumford looked towards study and future-proofing his career at a point when his playing days were winding down, this new program is specifically catered for players at all stages of their journeys.
“Golf is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. I think a lot of kids get caught up with the mentality that if you haven’t made it by the time you’re 20 these days, it’s over,” he said.
“Continuing your education is a fantastic avenue to learn the industry, to get some qualifications, to get some backing.
“It can free up the mind to sort of just go play too, knowing that you’ve got a bit of a fallback.”
PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman is excited for the program and the support it will offer Australian players.
“Golf is a game for life and we want our tournament players to have the best possible career opportunities to succeed whether it’s when they’re playing professionally full time or when they’re focussing on life away from the tour,” he said.
“The Tournament Player Development Program is specially designed with a healthy mix of on-course and off-course sessions, making it a fantastic resource for all players on our home tours.
“From our rookies looking to soak up as much wisdom and learning as possible, to players beginning to think about the transition in their career, this program caters to everyone.”
As well as Rumford’s short-game masterclass, other sessions range from financial tips to mental health strategies, to playing at the highest level.
The first session is on Tuesday the 26th March with Dr Alison Curdt. Titled The performance of people – reach your potential , this session will focus on harnessing golf psychology.
Although they weren’t quite able to make it into the top three on the Order of Merit to earn a DP World Tour card, there were plenty of players on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia who definitely trended in the right direction in season 2023/24.
Here’s a look at some of our biggest improvers in the top 20.
Andrew Campbell – Up 88 to No.14
The winner of this year’s adidas PGA Pro-Am Series Order of Merit also made the biggest jump into the top 20 of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. Campbell’s Tour campaign featured six top-10s, including a runner-up finish at Webex Players Series South Australia at Willunga. Until this season, he hadn’t produced a top 10 on Tour, making the Coffs Harbour professional a prime contender for status as the most improved touring professional in the country.
Ben Eccles – Up 85 to No.8
The feel good story of the first half of the season was the Victorian pro who broke through for his first win in eight years at the CKB WA PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie where he had a five-shot margin over runner-up Haydn Barron. He almost made it a double at the Vic PGA, eventually finishing second behind a charging David Micheluzzi after weekend rounds of 66-68.
Austin Bautista – Up 67 to No.16
Bautista produced a brilliant final day 64 to claim the inaugural Webex Players Series South Australia title by a shot, riding a hot putter to come from four shots back on Sunday. He was back in the mix three events later at the Vic PGA at Moonah Links, claiming a tie for sixth to be right in the hunt for a DP World Tour card into the second half of the schedule.
Matt Griffin – Up 57 to No.4
The former Order of Merit champion was a frequent presence on leaderboards, especially after the Christmas-New Year break. He kicked off January with a runaway win at The Heritage Classic, starting with a brilliant 61 before going on to post a 72-hole total of 24-under-par. The Victorian was also in final day contention at the New Zealand Open, eventually finishing in a tie for third before also challenging at the season finale at The National..
Cameron John – Up 56 to No.7
On his way back from wrist surgery that curtailed his end to the 2022/23 season, the Victorian was having a solid but unspectacular campaign until he arrived at The National Tournament presented by BMW. An impressive 16-under-par tally around the Moonah Course gave him a three-shot margin over Daniel Gale and opened the door to some new career possibilities.
Lachlan Barker – Up 50 to No.10
One of the first-time winners on Tour in 2023/24, Barker was the early leader in the Order of Merit race. He backed up his maiden success at the PNG Open with a share of third at the CKB WA PGA Championship and a T9 at the Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA.
Jak Carter – Up 49 to No.6
The South Australian’s fine form started in Western Australia with a T6 at the WA Open followed by a T9 at the WA PGA. All up, he had five top-10 finishes across the season, highlighted by a tie for second behind Matt Griffin at The Heritage Classic and a third at the Gippsland Super 6. Not only did he finish just outside the DP World Tour cards, his world ranking halved from No.1899 to No.900.
Nick Voke – Up 26 to No.13
The New Zealander was the joint 36-hole leader after a day two 62 at the Queensland PGA Championship, eventually figuring in an eight-way tie for second behind amateur Phoenix Campbell, and was again well in the hunt on the final day of the Vic Open, sharing top spot after 54 holes, before finishing T6. A share of 14th at the NZ Open presented by Sky Sports solidified his place inside the top 15 on the Order of Merit.
Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit champion Kazuma Kobori will get a head start on his DP World Tour exemption after receiving invites to play two tournaments in the next six weeks.
Kobori was presented with the Von Nida Medal as Order of Merit champion and the Rookie of the Year trophy at the completion of the season-ending The National Tournament presented by BMW at The National Golf Club on Sunday.
Brett Coletta and Daniel Gale secured the two remaining DP World Tour exemptions for 2025 on an enthralling final day of a season that will be remembered primarily for Kobori’s three Webex Players Series wins.
As Order of Merit champion, Kobori receives status for the 2025 DP World Tour season and a start at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon.
The 22-year-old will have just a week, however, to prepare for the move having received tournament invites to play both the Hero Indian Open (March 28-31) and ISPS HANDA Championship (April 25-28) in Japan.
“It’s actually really nice because I basically get a free run at it,” said Kobori of his upcoming starts.
“I can almost play those and see how it goes.
“Having played those, I will be better for when my exemption category through the Australasian Order of Merit starts.
“Really looking forward to it.”
And that’s the season done for our Order of Merit champion Kazuma Kobori. A 71 today for the three-time tournament winner 🏆 👏#TheNationalTournament pic.twitter.com/tCN0nxdgPv
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) March 17, 2024
It’s a remarkable rise for a young player who won the NZ PGA Championship as a 17-year-old amateur in 2019 but didn’t set amateur golf alight until 2023.
The Australian Amateur champion in January, he earned his Tour card by winning Qualifying School last April. With the lure of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in October, Kobori retained his amateur status and became just the second Kiwi after Phil Tataurangi to win individual honours at the Eisenhower Trophy.
After leading into Round 2, Kobori finished sixth at the Asia-Pacific Amateur at Royal Melbourne and turned professional a week later.
In his second start as a professional, Kobori let a six-shot lead slip at the Victorian PGA Championship but returned ready to win after the Christmas break.
He won Webex Players Series events at Cobram Barooga and Rosebud in consecutive weeks and a third inside four weeks at Castle Hill Country Club in Sydney.
That all but guaranteed he would win the Order of Merit and dramatically speed up his career trajectory.
“That’s a testament to everyone,” Kobori said of his rapid ascension.
“To be fair, I played good in amateur golf my last year but before that my world ranking had stalled between 70-100 for two years.
“It feels like I wasn’t making any progress, but I probably was. If you just keep putting in the work, it just goes to show that you can make that quick jump and you’ve got to be ready for it.
“Apart from the Vic PGA, I was able to make the most of the opportunities when they presented themselves and that allowed me to get to this position that I am today.”
We are just hours away from crowning the final champion of the 2023/2024 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season at The National Tournament presented by BMW. To celebrate the season that was, we are counting down 14 shots that defined this season.
Here are the top three defining shots of the season.
3. JESS WHITTING – Third Round, Webex Players Series Murray River
West Australian Jess Whitting had a weekend to remember on the Murray River in early 2024.
Turning 26 on Friday during the Webex Players Series Murray River, the WPGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School graduate netted a present the following day. One she had previously spoken of believing was in her future.
Standing on the tee of the par-3 third at Cobram Barooga Golf Club, Whitting struck the perfect iron that found the bottom of the cup for a hole-in-one and a BMW i4 eDrive35 Grand Coupe valued at $93,000.
“I kept saying to people, the next time I make a hole-in-one it’s going to be when there’s a car,” Whitting said.
“I’ve said it for years. The one that matters is when there’s going to be a car.
“Still gobsmacked.”
2. MIN WOO LEE – Second Round, Australian Open
Immediately after claiming the Joe Kirkwood Cup, Lee set his sights on an Aussie double and the Australian Open.
Playing alongside Hoshino again, Lee once again set the crowds alight on Friday at The Australian Golf Club with an eagle at a par-5, this time with a simple tap-in from two feet.
Unleashing a monster drive at the 18th and left 174 metres to the pin, Lee hit a swooping hook 9-iron from the pine straw that landed and spun towards the hole to setup another memorable moment of the summer.
“Ended up in the nice pine straw out there and had a really good number for a 9-iron, like really big 9-iron and I’ve been hitting draws all week and it kind of sat up really nicely,” Lee said.
“I saw the (TV) coverage and it spun left towards the hole and nearly actually went in, so really happy with that finish. It’s always nice to make an eagle whenever, but on the last hole, it’s even nicer.”
1. MIN WOO LEE – Final Round, Australian PGA Championship
Entering the final round with the lead, Min Woo Lee got off to an inconsistent start on Sunday at Royal Queensland.
Giving primary challenger Rikuya Hoshino glimmers of hope, Lee caused a crowd eruption at the par-5 ninth.
Missing his second shot short and right of the green, the West Australian floated a perfect pitch up the length of the green that found the bottom of the cup for eagle.
““That was probably the best atmosphere shot I’ve ever hit,” Lee said.
“I’ve had a few chip ins, but at that point it was getting close and I was in a pretty average position after the tee shot. So, to chip that in, it was amazing.
“I want to see it straight away. I would like to see it. It was one of the best shots I’ve probably hit.”
Victorian Cameron John has used a hole-in-one to turn a six-shot deficit into a three-shot lead heading into the final round of The National Tournament presented by BMW at The National Golf Club.
First groups were the beneficiaries of relatively benign conditions at The National’s Moonah Course on Saturday, the wind finding its teeth as the first group reached the 16th tee.
That made scoring challenging for the lead groups, John and Daniel Gale (68) the only players in the final seven groups to break 70.
The highlight of John’s 5-under 67 was a hole-in-one at the par-3 eighth, taking gap wedge at the 133-metre hole and firing straight at the flag.
That narrowed the gap to Round 3 leader Kyle Michel (75) to just two strokes, a lead that had ballooned to six when John and Nathan Barbieri (74) both made bogey at the opening hole.
When Michel made bogey on nine the deficit had shrunk to just one, the pair locked together at 13-under when Michel dropped another shot on 12.
As John parred his way in across the final seven holes, Michel lost his tee shot on his way to a double-bogey on 14, another bogey on 15 relegating him to three shots behind through 54 holes.
Gale strengthened his claims to a DP World Tour card by ending the day in outright third at 8-under, Matt Griffin making birdies at 15, 16 and 18 in a round of 2-under 70 that kept his hopes of a top-three Order of Merit finish alive.
A hole-in-one, a new leader. @CamGolf99 leads #TheNationalTournament by three with 18 holes to play.
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) March 16, 2024
Leaderboard: https://t.co/sRHxrsY4FY pic.twitter.com/nVR4TgmQiI
A player who has set course records in PGA Tour of Australasia events at Moonah Links and Kalgoorlie, John put his Saturday performance among the best rounds he has played in his career.
“It’s probably up there with my best round,” said John.
“It might sound a bit weird but I kind of care a little less. It’s the last event of the season, I’ve played really well, I don’t want to put too much expectation on it.
“It’s another day of golf and we’ll see what happens. It’d be nice to play well.”
Such was John’s focus on the back nine, he had forgotten by the end of the round about his first ace in a PGA Tour of Australasia event.
History repeating ⁉️@CamGolf99 is now just two back after a hole-in-one @TheNational1988 ⛳️#TheNationalTournament pic.twitter.com/JWhRf0DNM3
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) March 16, 2024
“When you have a hole-in-one, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s going on,” he added.
“Quite often you see 1-5 or 1-6. It was more a matter of forgetting about it.
“I said to the boys when we came in, ‘I actually forgot that was today.’ I forgot I had a hole-in-one. I did a good enough job of it.”
Gale shapes as John’s greatest threat.
A two-time winner already this season, Gale had four birdies in his first seven holes in Round 3.
He is targetting a similar start on Sunday to apply pressure to a player still seeking their maiden win on Tour.
“Cam is obviously playing good golf but if I get off to a hot start tomorrow I’ll definitely have a shot at it if I can take advantage of some of those holes on the back nine, which I really haven’t done the past three days,” said Gale, who is projected to move up to No.2 on the Order of Merit.
“I just haven’t taken advantage of the back nine but hopefully can get hot and run him down.”
How Barbieri responds will be crucial as he tries to play his way into the top 50 who retain their cards at the end of play on Sunday, Jack Munro (70) and Josh Younger (71) also needing a strong finish to play their way into the top 50.
Munro and Younger are in a share of sixth through three rounds with Adam Bland (68), Aaron Townsend (68) and Jordan Zunic, whose 6-under 66 was the round of the day.
The final round of The National Tournament will commence at 10:23am AEDT with the last group to tee off at 1:40pm.
The only place to watch the final round is on Fox Sports, through Foxtel and Kayo.
Photo: Rob Prezioso/PGA of Australia
The National Tournament presented by BMW is into the weekend as we move towards crowning the final champion of the 2023/2024 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season. As we prepare to see who will claim the final title, we are counting down 14 shots that defined this season.
Here are numbers six to four.
6. DANIEL GALE – Final Round, NT PGA
Seeking to end a win-drought of nearly 2000 days, Daniel Gale knew he needed a hot start to the final round at the Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship.
Chasing overnight leader Andrew Kelly, Gale birdied the first hole then was left with just a sand wedge to the par-5 second.
The New South Welshman’s second shot clipped a branch that sent it into trees near the green, with a third shot to even allow a birdie putt requiring all his touch and skill. Gale delivering to setup a Sunday stroll toward his first of two wins in the season.
“It was in a very, very tricky spot and I hit this bump and run from in the trees to about five feet and rolled that in for birdie,” Gale said.
“That was good to get that one out of the gates.”
5. JOAQUIN NIEMANN – Final Round, Australian Open
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann seemed to fall in love with the 18th hole of The Australian Golf Club on Sunday of the Australian Open, where ultimately, he would be crowned the champion after playing the par-5 three times.
Niemann made a miraculous birdie in regulation from the fan village alongside the final hole, before missing an eagle chance on the first play-off hole with Hoshino.
Going down 18 one last time, this time in drizzling rain, Niemann showed his class with a pure iron shot to 10 feet. The champion poured in the right to left putt for an eagle three to clinch the Stonehaven Cup.
“There are good names here. I saw Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player – a few good men,” Niemann said.
“It means a lot. I wanted to win so bad for a long time. The last one I have is in Riviera.”
4. JAK CARTER – Third Round, CKB WA PGA
It was another hole-in-one and car, this time in the desert, where South Australian Jak Carter was simply hoping to make a good swing to get his third round of the CKB WA PGA back on track.
Following a double bogey six, Carter was looking for a bounce back at the par-3 17th of Kalgoorlie Golf Course, his 8-iron from 178 metres doing just the trick after finding the front of the green and rolling into the hole for a one.
“I walked up to the next hole, the par-3 17th and was standing there thinking, ‘Just swing this good here. Let’s just see what we can do’,” Carter said.
“Stepped up and hit an 8-iron that I thought was short. I hit it and was like, It’s a bit short. Go, please go. Then I’ve seen it land and thought, This thing is on target.
“Rolled straight up, bang, straight in the hole. Then everyone’s just gone mental. It was absolutely crazy.”
