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.

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Tied with Victorian Nathan Page coming down the last hole, Conran, from Orange in New South Wales, hit a brilliant wedge approach to inside a metre and tapped in for a final birdie for a tournament winning 22-under-par total.

It was a closing 7-under 65 for Conran, who’s the son of long-time tour pro Steve Conran and finished second in last year’s PNG Open, while Page’s 67 couldn’t quite get it done in front of his home crowd.

Webex Players Series Perth champion Jordan Doull finished in solo third at 19-under, while a number of players made a charge on the final day to surge into the top five.

In the group of four tied at 18-under, both Andrew Martin and Anthony Quayle made a serious run on day four, Martin managing to card a 7-under 65 even with a triple-bogey on the card.

The 54-hole leader, Lachlan Barker, struggled to keep the momentum rolling on Sunday, eventually signing for a 1-over 73 and a share of 12th place.

Playing in the final group today, Conran made his intentions known early with a birdie on the first hole, the problem was so too did both his playing partners.

This remained a theme for the day, with he and Page trading blows for much of the front nine, Conran’s chip-in for eagle on the par-5 fourth the highlight.

Conran wouldn’t make another birdie until the 18th, but with further eagles at 12 and 15, he suddenly held a two-shot lead with three holes to play.

“After the first hole, we all just put it in the middle of the fairway and all hit it within 10-foot of the hole and all made birdies. I knew those two came to play today. They kept me going,” Conran said.

Moments after rolling in his third eagle of the day, Conran hit a wayward tee-shot on 16, and couldn’t get up and down out of the left greenside trap to save par.

With his lead cut to one, the New South Welshman then failed to find the green on the par-3 17th, and when that par putt slid by, his lead was gone just as quickly as it had come.

With the adrenaline —and likely anger —pumping, Conran piped his drive over the corner of the dog-leg 18th, and with 117 metres left in, almost holed his gap-wedge. When Page’s four-metre birdie chance to force a playoff slid by, Conran was home with the biggest win of his career.

“If you told me that at the start of the week, I would’ve told you you’re lying or crazy,” the 26-year-old said of being the Heritage Classic champion.

“I mean I played really nicely every day and it just worked out well this week.”

Having started a university degree and deciding it wasn’t for him, Conran is relieved to have gained winners’ category Tour status, which helps secure his future for the next few years.

“I started Commerce and Accounting, but it lasted about half a semester,” he said.

“It hasn’t really sunk in to be honest yet, but it’s just nice.

“A bit more stability for the next couple of years. I can actually make a bit of a schedule instead of sort of not knowing when I’m going to play the next tournament.”

Queenslander Elvis Smylie officially wrapped up the Order of Merit today, bouncing back from a lacklustre third round with a 5-under 67 to finish equal 53rd.

The 2004/25 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season finishes with The National Tournament, starting on Thursday.

As soon as the putt dropped, the young Queenslander became a DP World Tour member, and had proved to the world that he could not only rub shoulders with his heroes, but out-do them when it mattered most.

Smylie had proved that to himself a month earlier however, with his breakthrough win at the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open.

Those wins have helped Smylie hold onto a strong lead at the top of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit (OOM), however commanding as it may be, last month’s New Zealand Open champion Ryan Peake can still catch him with two events left.

At 1,356.36 points, Smylie is 372 points clear of Peake in second, but with 190 points on offer to the winner of this week’s Heritage Classic, it’s a long shot for Peake.

A strong showing will secure Smylie’s position atop the OOM, and tick off a season-long ambition.

“It was a goal that I set out last October when I started the season,” Smylie said. “It would be really special to be able to achieve that goal this week at The Heritage.

“To be able to say that you’ve won the Australasian Order of Merit, you are the best player throughout a calendar season, not many people have achieved that.

“I think that accolade that comes with the title is incredible, and then everything that comes with it is awesome as well.”

Having already secured his DP World Tour playing rights by way of his win at Royal Queensland, Smylie’s sights are on the other benefits of topping the OOM, including a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Smylie pre-qualified for last year’s championship at Royal Troon, and his missed cut only fuelled his determination further to get back to the sport’s oldest major.

“If Royal Troon taught me anything, it’d be that I want to compete against these guys on a week-to-week basis and I want to play against the best players in the world,” he said.

“I love links golf and I want to test myself against the best, so I’m definitely motivated to get back there.”

Smylie finished middle of the pack at last season’s Heritage Classic, and so has been on the ground since Monday working through familiarising himself with the St John’s layout that he only saw for the first time in 2024.

“I’ve seen both sides of the course now. I played nine yesterday, nine this morning,” Smylie said on Tuesday at The Heritage.

“The course is pretty soft, but the greens can actually get quite speedy, so I think just hitting in the right tiers is really important around here.”

As a Golf Australia Rookie Squad member, Smylie has plans to base himself at the Golf Australia house in London for parts of this year, as he looks to take full advantage of his DP World Tour status around the globe.

“I’m going to China in the middle of April in a couple weeks’ time, and then everything kind of kicks off in Europe around late June onwards. That is when I’ll be basing myself in London.”

The Heritage Classic kicks off Thursday, and the final two rounds over the weekend are live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.

Leading by four strokes after a birdie at the par-5 10th, Hodge’s advantage from Queensland pair Tim Hart (67) and Shae Wools-Cobb (71) was reduced to three with a bogey at the par-4 11th.

Hart, Wools-Cobb and Kerry Mountcastle (66) all nudged one stroke closer with birdies of their own, Hodge’s lead shrinking to just one when he made a third bogey in the space of eight holes after three-putting the par-3 16th.

The two closing holes at Hastings Golf Club were playing directly into a hefty wind and Hodge came up short with his second into the par-4 17th.

He very nearly chipped in before tapping in for par to head to the 72nd tee with a one-shot advantage as Hart and Mountcastle sat safely in the clubhouse at 15-under par.

A bombed drive into the fairway was the first piece of the puzzle Hodge needed to complete before the 30-year-old hit his best shot of the day, a 7-iron from 161 metres to just 12 feet.

It was after watching playing partner Denzel Ieremia’s shot carry deep into the green that Hodge changed clubs, dropping back to 7-iron to all but seal his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia victory with a final round of 3-under 69.

He is the third Kiwi winner in the past four events (Josh Geary, Nick Voke) and the third left-hander to win this season (Elvis Smylie, Ryan Peake) and does so in his second stint as a professional.

Originally joining the pro ranks in 2015, Hodge quit in late 2019 and had a year away from the game before returning to amateur golf and caddying for two seasons at Tara Iti.

In 2023 he decided to try again and now, two years later, he is a Tour winner with guaranteed status through until the end of the 2026/2027 season.

“That’s a very cool thought,” said Hodge, who had fiancée Tessa McDonald on the bag as he completed a career highlight.

“We’ll have some in-house conversations and stuff like that about what the future looks like playing golf.

“I had a couple of years off a few years ago and then kind of came back to the game and have been enjoying it.

“But she’s a tough old slog pro golf, so my fiancée and I have been having some chats about possibly giving the pro playing stuff away.

“We’ll have to have a bit more of a chat over the winter about that.”

Tied for second overnight, Hodge continued to forge ahead as the likes of Cameron Harlock (77), Jake McLeod (74), Denzel Ieremia (71) and Wools-Cobb (71) stalled on Sunday.

Challengers emerged from back in the pack in the form of Mountcastle and Hart, but both would ultimately fall one short of forcing a playoff.

It was Hodge’s performances on the Charles Tour in New Zealand last year that earned limited playing rights on the PGA Tour of Australasia this season, a tie for 11th at the Ford NSW Open enhancing his status and providing confirmation that a win was not beyond reach.

“I definitely haven’t played to my potential for most of the season,” said Hodge, who is now 22nd on the Order of Merit.

“That was a little bit of a highlight that week but still felt like I didn’t kind of have it.

“Just to kind of let it go this week and just whatever happens, happens, the game kind of came back to me a little bit naturally, I suppose.

“I’m almost a journeyman now. Golf is different. There’s a lot of learnings that you have to go through yourself.

“People can tell you about it and stuff like that, but you have to experience a few of those things and get through a lot of adversity.

“Slowly but surely got back into it and then obviously enjoyed it enough to have another crack at the pro stuff.”

Mountcastle and Hart shared second at 15-under par, one clear of Wools-Cobb, Anthony Quayle (69) and another Kiwi left-hander, Tim Wilkinson (67).

Photo: Ian Cooper/bwmedia.co.nz