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Sydney’s Harrison Crowe believes he is now ready to take his game to the world after taking out The National Tournament in impressive fashion at The National Golf Club on Sunday.
Harnessing the thousands of rounds he has played at Michael’s Golf Club on Sydney’s southern coastline, Crowe defied the 50km/h winds that whipped across the Gunnamatta Course to post the only bogey-free round of the final day of the 2024/2025 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season.
Paired with Quinn Croker (71) and Denzel Ieremia (76) in the final group, Crowe shot a 4-under 68 to finish at 19-under for the tournament, two strokes clear of Queenslander Anthony Quayle (69), who produced the shot of his life to make birdie at the par-4 18th and snare outright second.
That result saw Quayle leapfrog South Australian Jack Buchanan (68) into fifth on the Order of Merit and secure a DP World Tour card for the 2026 season, a target he set himself when he turned his back on the Japan Golf Tour to play more on home soil late last year.
There are Order of Merit rewards coming too for Crowe, who finishes the year in eighth position. That guarantees him a start at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour in Scotland in October and will open the door to a host of major qualifying schools later in the year.
For a 23-year-old who burst onto the scene by winning both the New South Wales Open and the Asia-Pacific Amateur in 2022, this latest win looms as the springboard he has been chasing ever since.
“I’ve been hanging around for this win for quite some time,” said Crowe.
“It just feels great to finally get it done and I feel like this could be the one that kind of kicks the door down a little bit more.”
A message from coach John Serhan after Round 3 emphasised the need to stay present and be ready for whatever the conditions or other players might throw at him.
Before he had even reached the first green there were seven players tied for the lead at 15-under, but what shaped as a Sunday sprint to the finish soon developed into a battle of attrition.
Croker and Quayle both had brief stints in the outright lead as Todd Sinnott, Andrew Martin and Maverick Antcliff all joined the conversation.
Crowe, Quayle, Martin, Croker and Antcliff were all tied at 17-under midway through the front nine, Antcliff the first to break out of the logjam and reach 18-under with birdie at the par-5 sixth.
NZ Open champion and Rookie of the Year Ryan Peake was in the mix until the birdie putts stopped dropping while Curtis Luck surged after the turn thanks to birdies at 11, 12 and 16.
His bogey-bogey finish would have Order of Merit implications but as he and others dropped shots, Crowe remained resilient.
A brilliant 5-iron to seven feet at the par-4 ninth went unrewarded but a par save on 13 and another superb 5-iron into the par-4 14th gave Crowe a three-shot buffer over the closing holes.
“That was certainly one of the best shots I’ve hit,” said Crowe.
“I think I had 175 (metres) to the pin and I just thought, I’m going to hit 5-iron and I’m going to really hit this thing low.
“To save par on the hole before and then to hit that that shot into there just calmed me down a little bit more.
“It was very testing out there and I just kind of had to keep bringing myself back and just stay really in the moment.
“It was easy to wander off – what the lead was, what the score was – and trying to look too far ahead but I think I did a really, really good job today of just being present and staying really, really patient.”
Quayle’s second-place finish was his best result of the season and eighth top-five finish as Martin (67), Luck (68) and Croker (71) shared third.
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.
He was briefly brought back into his shadow but James Conran has now joined father Steven in creating a unique piece of Australian golf history.
In winning last Sunday’s Heritage Classic, James and Steve – the 1995 Singapore Open champion – have become the first father-son duo to win on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia since its establishment in 1973.
Fathers and sons to have both played on Tour is rare – David and Charlie Smail played the 2019 New Zealand Open – and winners globally are few and far between.
They are not the first Australian father-son duo to win on a major tour – Joe Kirkwood Snr and Joe Kirkwood Jnr were the third to do so on the PGA TOUR when Joe Jnr won the 1949 Philadelphia Inquirer Open.
Having grown up in the locker rooms of golf tournaments throughout Australia and Japan, James was thrilled to create a slice of history alongside his father.
“It’s pretty cool now that I think about it,” said James ahead of the final event of the season, The National Tournament starting Thursday.
“I never really realised growing up how highly ranked in the world rankings and stuff Dad was. I never really thought about it too much.
“Now that I’m a bit older, I can see what he accomplished so it means a bit more now.
“I remember going to Aussie Opens, Aussie Masters, Aussie PGA, they’d send me into the creche and I’d be crying. I wanted to go watch the golf with them.
“I just remember going to tournaments when I was a little kid and being around all the golfers in the locker room and stuff. It was pretty cool.”
A silky player who spent almost 20 years on the Japan Golf Tour, Steve Conran won the KBC Augusta tournament in 2004 and accumulated career prize money of ¥471,023,313 (approx. $4.984m).
With his 59th birthday approaching in May, Conran has been a prolific winner on the PGA Legends Tour. He also has the occasional win over his 26-year-old son.
“I still go home now and he’s 60 years old and he is still beating me up, so that’s not very good,” James laughed.
“The most I’ve learned from him is probably how to score a golf course. Course management and just hitting it to the correct spots.
“You hear it all the time, course management, but I’ve grown up watching how he did it.
“He’s not the longest hitter but he would just shoot 2-under, 3-under every day and it added up over the week.
“That’s what I’m trying to get a bit better at the moment. I can have those 5, 6, 7-under rounds, but I have too many of the 1, 2, 3-over rounds at the moment.
“That’s what I’ve learned the most from him, how to score a golf course.”
Leading by three strokes with nine holes to play at the PNG Open before being run down by Will Bruyeres, Conran is now 16th on the Order of Merit and with playing rights secured for the next two seasons.
Thirty years after his dad’s win in Singapore, James now knows what winning on Tour represents.
“It was a cool feeling just seeing the messages on my phone,” said James.
“I had over 200 messages to reply to and that was 10 minutes after I finished.
“It’s cool to know that everyone was watching and supporting.”
The National Tournament tees off at 8:10am Thursday. The final two rounds are broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo from 3pm Saturday and 1pm Sunday AEDT.
Photos: Dan Pockett (James Conran), Darren England/ALLSPORT (Steve Conran)
As the domestic seasons draw to a close, interest will soon shift to the international tours as the countdown to major championships hits full swing.
Western Australian Kirsten Rudgeley took advantage of the Ladies European Tour’s Australian swing with a tie for second at the Ford Women’s NSW Open while Queenslander Anthony Quayle returns to the top 10 after his seventh top-five finish of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season at the Heritage Classic.
The PGA Tour of Australasia season reaches its finale this week with The National Tournament at The National Golf Club while the WPGA Tour of Australasia heads further south to Binalong for the second edition of the World Sand Greens Championship.
Internationally, Hannah Green is one of eight Aussies playing the LPGA Tour’s Ford Championship and Min Woo Lee and Jason Day return to action at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
10. Anthony Quayle (new)
A tie for fourth at the Heritage Classic was Quayle’s seventh top-five finish on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia since the BMW Australian PGA Championship in late November. Enters the final event of the season, The National Tournament, needing to win to snare a DP World Tour card.
9. Cassie Porter (Last week: 8)
Resumes her rookie season on the LPGA Tour this week at the Ford Championship in Arizona. The 22-year-old returns to action at a career high of No.171 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings courtesy of her fourth-place finish at the Blue Bay LPGA.
8. Kirsten Rudgeley (new)
The West Australian climbed to a career high of No.120 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on the back of her tie for second at the Ford Women’s NSW Open. It is Rudgeley’s seventh top-five finish on the Ladies European Tour and her second top-five of the year having finished tied for third at Webex Players Series Perth.
7. Min Woo Lee (7)
A late addition to the field for this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open as he builds towards The Masters. Co-leader through 36 holes, Lee’s tie for 20th at THE PLAYERS Championship was his fifth top-20 finish of the year.
6. Jason Day (5)
Returns to action this week in Texas after withdrawing from THE PLAYERS Championship with a stomach virus. The world No.35’s best result this year is a tie for third at The American Express.
5. Elvis Smylie (6)
Did what he needed to do by making the weekend at the Heritage Classic to clinch the 2024/2025 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. The WA Open and BMW Australian PGA champ will now return to the DP World Tour with his place at The Open Championship secured.
4. Minjee Lee (3)
Runner-up at the Blue Bay LPGA, the world No.18 will return to the LPGA Tour at next week’s T Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas.
3. Lucas Herbert (4)
Another top-10 finish for the Victorian who was tied for eighth at the International Series Macau on the Asian Tour. Has two top-five finishes on LIV Golf this season and is currently holding on to third spot on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
2. Karl Vilips (2)
Our most recent PGA TOUR winner has missed the cut in his two most recent starts but gets to turn that momentum around at this week’s Valero Texas Open.
1. Hannah Green (1)
Consider this the true start to the 2025 season for the world No.5 as Green makes her return to the LPGA Tour at this week’s Ford Championship in Arizona.
The Australian Golf Power Rankings is a subjective list developed with input from members of the Australian Golf media team.
Few golf properties on the planet have the luxury of three championship-calibre courses capable of hosting a tournament at a moment’s notice.
The National Golf Club on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is Australia’s only golf club with three 18-hole courses at a single site – The National boasts a fourth course, Long Island, at Frankston – and is the host course for a fourth straight year of The National Tournament starting Thursday.
For the second time, the tournament will be played on the Gunnamatta Course, a Tom Doak layout on the site previously occupied by the Peter Thomson, Mike Wolveridge and Ross Perrett-designed Ocean Course.
The jewel in the crown that is golf on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos, acknowledged the impact hosting such events has on the entire region.
“It’s fantastic to see The National Tournament return to the spectacular Gunnamatta Course at The National,” said Mr Dimopouulos.
“It’s a world-class course that’s a true test of skill and strategy, and it will be a brilliant setting for spectators to see some amazing golf.
“The National Golf Club boasts four of the finest courses in the country, and the Mornington Peninsula as a whole is one of Australia’s premier golfing destinations – with stunning landscapes continuing to attract elite competition and passionate golf fans.
“This tournament, in addition to the fantastic success of the recent Australian Open and Vic Open, reinforces Victoria’s reputation as Australia’s sporting capital and a world-class destination for golf.
“Events like this not only showcase our incredible courses but also support local businesses, drive tourism and cement our state’s position on the global golfing stage.”
Sydney’s Nathan Barbieri is another excited by the tournament’s return to the Gunnamatta course.
Runner-up to American Derek Ackerman three years ago, Barbieri has finished top 10 at each Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia tournament played at The National and was medallist at Qualifying School that was played on the Mornington Peninsula last April.
It should come as no surprise that he finds comfort in the creativity called upon at each of The National’s courses.
“It’s a nice property,” said Barbieri.
“The courses are always good and I like that style of golf. You need a lot of imagination with the slopes and the positioning of the green sites.
“I’ve always enjoyed golf in Victoria, where you get to play the ball along the ground a lot. You just get to be creative.
“My main memory of the Gunnamatta course is the bowl greens where you can be creative depending on the hole locations each day.
“All the courses at The National are really nice.”
One of golf’s most acclaimed course architects, Barbieri’s comments will be music to the ears of Tom Doak, who sought to enhance playability for members and provide a stage for professionals to showcase a variety of skills.
“A lot of the old green sites were kind of fighting into a big slope and if you didn’t get the ball up to the green, it came rolling back at you,” said Doak.
“They reshaped a few of them to try and reduce that but they basically just had some greens in hard places.
“Changing it around, we’ve got a lot of greens in bowls or at least there’s one part of the green you feel like you can get to comfortably.
“That may not be where you want to get it to today, but at least you’ve got a safe play. The old course, you really didn’t have many safe plays; it was hard.”
The National Tournament is the final event of the 2024/2025 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season and will see the finalisation of the Order of Merit.
Tune in this weekend
