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The round of the day and a clutch putt in the playoff has secured Murray Lott the 2022 MG Plasterers South Australian PGA Seniors Championship at Mount Gambier Golf Club.
A SParms PGA Legends Tour winner at Mount Warren Park shortly after turning 50 last August, Lott began the second round two shots back of overnight leaders Adam Henwood and Tim Elliott.
Former European Tour player John Wade was the player to make a move early on day two, picking up an eagle at his opening hole and adding two more birdies by the turn to reach five-under for the tournament.
Picking up where he left off on Monday, Henwood picked up three birdies of his own on the outward nine to reach seven-under in ideal scoring conditions.
Lott’s round of five-under 67 was the best of the tournament yet as Henwood and Elliott neared the final holes it looked as though it might be a shot or two short of what was required, a lone bogey at the 17th looking costly.
Two shots apart playing the last, Henwood’s three-putt and Elliott’s birdie chance raised the prospect of a three-man playoff, Elliott’s near miss leaving Henwood and Lott to battle it out after finishing locked together at seven-under.
The playoff combatants ventured back to the par-3 10th hole to break the deadlock, the tournament coming down to their respective short games after both players missed the green with their tee shots.
Henwood’s par putt from 15 feet defied gravity by not falling into the cup, leaving Lott with a 10-footer for the win.
He stepped up and calmly put it away, praising the quality of the Mount Gambier greens that he played so superbly all day.
The next event on the SParms PGA Legends Tour is the two-day Advent One Legends Pro-Am at The Stirling Golf Club starting Thursday.
As a promising junior golfer growing up in Sydney, Claudia Lim didn’t consider what might be possible through the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program (MPP).
With her attention focused solely on establishing a playing career, Lim’s perception of the MPP was that it was little more than a back-up plan; an option when your preferred options ran out.
She spent four years at Ohio State University but persistent back injuries meant that a life on tour was unlikely.
Lim spent some time away from the game, reconnected by doing an internship as a strength and conditioning coach at Precision Athletica at Sydney Olympic Park and was State Manager for a Golf NSW team boasting Stephanie Kyriacou, Doey Choi and Kelsey Bennett and which won the 2018 Women’s Interstate Series final.
There was a six-month stint working in the pro shop at Castle Hill Country Club at which point PGA Professional David Northey raised the idea of what was formerly the PGA traineeship.
“A lot of my friends that I played junior golf with, when I went to college they did the traineeship at that time,” says Lim, who is currently employed as the Golf Operations Supervisor at Terrey Hills Golf and Country Club.
“Back then the perception was that if you don’t end up playing, you do the traineeship. And that’s kind of what I thought as well.
“But doing it actually changed my view.
“You can continue to play, you can work, you can study and there are so many different avenues that you can go through.
“But back then I didn’t know that you could go in those different directions.”
Lim studied Sports Management at Ohio State and has gravitated towards pro shop operations since completing the Membership Pathway Program two years ago.
Prior to beginning the MPP Lim had been given a lot of the responsibility for invoicing at Castle Hill and spent the majority of the program learning the ins and outs of golf shop operations as well as advancing Castle Hill’s junior program.
She maintains a passion for coaching but has found an affinity for the administrative aspect of keeping the golf operations at a golf club running smoothly.
“I really enjoy working in the shop, as well as coaching,” explains Lim.
“I pretty much do all the invoicing, shop management, stock and things like that. And then the other quarter of my work is teaching.”
Now forging a career in golf that she didn’t originally envision, Lim is now playing a part in encouraging other talented golfers to undertake the Membership Pathway Program.
She points to the success of European Tour player Deyen Lawson as proof that you can continue to pursue a playing career but now knows that the breadth of opportunities in golf is far greater by completing the MPP.
“Now because I’ve finished, some of the juniors that I’ve met I have mentioned the Membership Pathway Program,” says Lim.
“I tell them my story and then they realise that the program is not what they thought it was.
“Initially I didn’t know what was in the program. I just thought people did it and then you just get stuck in the shop and that it’d be boring.
“That was my initial thought but it’s actually really fun.”
The PGA Membership Pathway Program provides a platform to gain varied and valuable training and education within golf. To register your interest in applying for the MPP click here.
In a career spanning close to 50 years as a PGA Professional, Graham Warburton has been an influential figure at a host of Perth’s leading golf facilities.
When I was young my idol in terms of coaching was John Jacobs, the British coach who always talked about impact, that was his first thing. The only thing that matters is good impact and as long as you can get it repetitively then your swing will work for you. That’s still true today.
Becoming a PGA Professional was always something that was in the back of my mind as a future job. I was friendly with some local professionals bac in the north of England, played a fair bit of golf with a few of them and I could see that as something that I could gravitate towards. I’d always been greatly interested in swing technique and even at that age I studied the golf swing endlessly, probably to my detriment in terms of my golf. I didn’t come to Australia in 1974 with that intent and purpose, I just came to Australia to see what it was like.
I started my traineeship with Jock Borthwick at Lake Karrinyup in 1975. I was introduced to him by an old professional called Charles Jackson who’d actually had come out from England. He could see that I was very keen and I was at a bit of a loss of what to do so he introduced me to Jock, gave me a recommendation and Jock met me on the verandah of Karrinyup one day. He asked me to go out and hit a few balls with him and he said, “You’ll do, you can start Saturday.” That was how I started.
I went from Karrinyup to Hamersley Golf Course where Pat Tobin who was a long-standing member of the PGA who is still going today, was the Head Professional and had the lease. We taught, we repaired clubs endlessly and of course dealt with the public. Pat was a really good bloke to work for. He was very fair, he worked us fairly and was a pleasure to work for.
Then I applied for the job at Wanneroo when they decided to enter into a proper PGA agreement Initially we were in a big shed on the driving range, just my wife and I to begin with. She would help me out on Saturdays and Sundays, out there picking up range balls with me in the 40-degree heat. Eight months after we started they built the pro shop that is still there today.
After a couple of years I got asked to join a partnership with fellow PGA Member David Breen who had the contract to Wembley Golf Course. That was the busiest club in town then and of course it’s even busier now they’ve done some marvellous changes there.
From there I went on to the WA Golf Club and I was the professional there for about two-and-a-half years and after that the job at The Vines came up. There really wasn’t another resort at that point and the one thing I didn’t have was experience in hospitality and resorts. We were there from before the course opened, getting everything set up, and I was there for the first two The Vines Classic tournaments.
Two years later the job at Lake Karrinyup was advertised and after going through the interview process got the job and stayed there for the next 29 years.
Looking back over the years I didn’t play that much golf while I was doing all those jobs. I played only casually and didn’t give much thought to it, which sounds crazy, but as I said, I thoroughly enjoyed the work of a professional.
I do have a little regret that I didn’t do more with that, that I didn’t play more golf. But in a busy club I always found it hard. You’re working in the shop and then suddenly you’ve gone out onto the first tee and hit it and off you’d go. If I was doing it again, I probably would’ve maintained my game a little more and played a little bit more but at the time it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. I felt I did the right thing for my jobs.
To find the PGA Professional who can guide you through your life in golf visit pga.org.au/find-a-pga-pro/.
A tournament-best final round of 20-under par nett 52 has catapulted Bankstown Golf Club to victory in the Mixed competition as Rossdale Golf Club won the Women’s section at The Scramble Championship Final at Twin Waters Golf Club.
Tied with the team from Armidale Golf Club entering Monday’s final round, PGA Professional Lee Hunt and the Bankstown boys bolted clear by going five-under on their first four holes, adding three more nett eagles to win by 2.3 shots.
Tyron-Jaye King led Mount Coolum Golf Club to second position with a final round of 53.1 nett, matching Bankstown’s gross score of 10-under 62 to edge Armidale by just 0.2 shots.
With legendary Australian comedian Tahir Bilgic part of the team, fun was always going to be part of Bankstown’s week on the Sunshine Coast and it proved to be a winning recipe.
“The boys had the mantra to have a good time and to keep smiling and it’s been great,” said Hunt.
“I couldn’t think of a better bunch of fellas to come and play golf with. Lots of laughs, lots of cheering… It wouldn’t matter if we came last.
“I’ve had a great week, it’s been fantastic and something that we’ll remember for a long time.”
The pressure on Shane Butler and the Rossdale team was evident early on the final day of the Women’s Championship Final.
Rossdale were 7.8 shots clear at the start of play but were just two-under through seven holes as Blackwood and The Vines both ate into their advantage.
Birdies at eight, 10 and 11 were crucial in restoring some confidence and a nett eagle at 13 providing the buffer Butler, Anne Towns, Barbara O’Connor, Gaye Sinclair and Anne Cash needed to win by 3.3 strokes.
(11.1)
“It’s a relief,” said Butler. “We knew we had a decent lead coming into the final round but I said to the ladies when we were out for dinner that it was business as usual. Go out and try and play as well as we can.
“We came out a little bit slow but by the seventh or eighth hole we started to get into a bit of a groove and then the back nine we came good.”
Monday’s final round completed one of the largest Scramble seasons in the event’s history and clubs are already preparing for the 2022/2023 season.
For information on how your club can host a qualifying round of The Scramble visit www.thescramble.com.au.
Australian Golf is backing #GolfersForUkraine, a worldwide campaign to support the Ukrainian people as they fight an invasion by neighbouring Russia.
The PGA of Australia, Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour Australasia have all committed their support to the campaign, started by the Trackman organisation, to raise much needed funds for UNICEF’s efforts on the ground. UNICEF is the United Nations Children’s Fund, a leading global humanitarian and development agency that works to uphold the rights of every child.
Golf organisations throughout the world are supporting the campaign, including the US PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour, DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and the R&A, with a focus on raising as much money as possible through golfers to help children from the Ukraine in this crisis.
“We feel for the people of the Ukraine and anything that Australian Golf can do to help this campaign is welcome to us,” said Gavin Kirkman, PGA of Australia Chief Executive today. “We hope that golfers and organisations around Australia get behind this and that we somehow find a way to help in a dreadful situation.”
“It is heartbreaking to see the conflict in Ukraine,” said James Sutherland, Golf Australia Chief Executive today. “This is a way in which golfers in Australia can make a difference. The campaign is only a few days old and it’s a fantastic way to galvanise golf around the world.”
More information is available at www.golfersforukraine.com and golfers can donate through that website.
So far the campaign has raised more than $US500,000.
Lucas Higgins is determined to bring some joy to those devastated by the floods in northern New South Wales after taking the outright lead at the halfway mark of the TPS Sydney presented by Webex.
The 22-year-old needed an invitation to play at Bonnie Doon Golf Club this week and only arrived in Sydney on the morning of the tournament, his home club of Murwillumbah Golf Club one of many to disappear under floodwaters.
He didn’t complete his opening round of five-under 66 until Friday morning due to Thursday’s rain delay and then shot six-under 65 in his second round, the highlight a hole-in-one at the 123-metre par-3 15th to reach 11-under through 36 holes.
He sits two shots clear of West Australian Jarryd Felton whose seven-under 64 was the best on day two with 15-time Japan Golf Tour winner Brendan Jones (66) picking up four shots in his final three holes to get to eight-under, holing a wedge from 45 metres for eagle at the par-4 16th and adding birdies at 17 and 18.
Victorian Ben Wharton (66) is a shot further back in outright fourth with Sydney’s Austin Bautista (66) rounding out the top-five at six-under.
A former member of the Golf NSW High Performance Squad, Higgins has only limited status on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia and is currently third reserve for next week’s TPS Hunter Valley tournament, now determined to make a lasting impression from such a strong position.
“I’ve been working hard to try and get a start in these four-round events so to actually get a start and have the lead is great,” said Higgins, who hit 8-iron at 15 for his first ace in competition play.
“I’m just going to embrace it and try my best to do what I can.
“Seeing all the floods was pretty surreal to be honest. I’m very lucky to be down here and playing.
“My family is OK which is the main thing. Everyone is going to have to rebuild again. We only had a flood four years ago so it’s pretty hard to see.
“Hopefully I can do everyone proud back home and give them something to smile about.”
After a difficult two-year period where consistent tournament play has been hard to come by, Felton is starting to see the benefits of recently linking with mental coach Sean Lynch.
He was tied for 18th as partner Hannah Green stole the show at TPS Murray River two weeks ago but eagled the par-5 ninth to close out his second round in style and earn a spot alongside Higgins in Saturday’s final group.
“It capped off a really nice round,” Felton said of his eagle from 20 feet.
“Just steady progress through the middle of the round and a nice eagle to finish which gave me the confidence to finish it off.
“It’s great that I’m playing good and I can speak about playing good but when you’re playing bad it’s a pretty lonely sport.
“I’ve been doing some work with Sean Lynch the last few weeks and he’s been a massive help.
“Making inroads now which is really nice.”
Wharton made a late charge up the leaderboard in the morning wave with birdies at each of his final three holes while Bautista also eagled the par-5 ninth in his round of 66.
Round one co-leader David Micheluzzi also made eagle at nine to reach eight-under for the tournament but dropped shots at four of his final five holes will see him enter the weekend tied for 12th at four-under par.
Tied for second at TPS Murray River a fortnight ago, West Australian amateur Hayden Hopewell is part of a six-way tie for sixth at five-under as he seeks to build tournament experience with an eye to turning professional at the end of the year.
“All these events are great experience, great learning, getting a feel for professional life out here,” said Hopewell, the 2020 WA Open champion.
“I’ve been happy with how I’ve been playing and hopefully keep the ball rolling.”
Fellow amateur Kelsey Bennett will also begin her third round at five-under after picking up three birdies in her final five holes.
“I was pretty happy with the finish, couple of birdies and Johnny really helped to keep me dry,” Bennett said of her caddie/coach John Serhan.
“I’m hoping to have another couple under tomorrow. Lucas is a great player so it will be a pretty interesting weekend.”
The leading groups will commence their third rounds at 12pm on Saturday and entry is free for spectators. The final two rounds will also be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo with coverage to commence at 12.30pm on Saturday and 12.30pm Sunday.
A new research study by money.co.uk has found Australia to be the second most successful country for golf behind the United States.
The study analysed men’s and women’s major tournaments, and World Cups, and looked at the amount of times an individual or team from each country has won one of those prestigious events to reveal the most successful countries for golf.
The United States were way out in front with a total score of 504 and a normalised score out of ten of 9.14, however Australia’s ability to produce major champions across generations ensured our nation’s proud golfing history was rewarded with a total score of 34, a normalised score out of ten of 6.67.
Australia’s five multiple major winners – Karrie Webb (seven times), Peter Thomson (five times), Jan Stephenson (three times), Greg Norman and David Graham (both two times) – played a significant role in the ranking as did five men’s World Cup wins.
The team event has been off the golfing calendar for four years now, but Australia’s success at the tournament is not to be forgotten with Kel Nagle and Peter Thomson (1954 & 1959), Bruce Devlin and David Graham (1970), Peter Fowler and Wayne Grady (1989), and Jason Day and Adam Scott (2013) all lifting up the World Cup.
Major victories to Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Elkington, Ian Baker-Finch, Wayne Grady, Kel Nagle and Jim Ferrier also ensured that Australia finished above England (third), Sweden (fourth) and South Korea (fifth).
PGA of Australia Chief Executive Gavin Kirkman said the research confirmed the notion of Australia’s prominence in the international game.
“We bat out of our weight division,” said Kirkman. “In fact, from a playing point of view, we’re a powerhouse in the game internationally. At a professional level, we provide a significant percentage of the fields at most major golf events around the world and that’s a contribution that we’re proud of.
“So many great players have established themselves on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia. We continue to build strong alliances and relationships with all Tours within the golf eco-system that gives our players both men and women the best pathway and opportunities to make it onto global tours, win majors and play for their country.
“Australian Golf continues to produce talented young players who become superstars on global tours, inspiring young girls and boys to play our sport.” Golf Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland said Australian Golf should be proud of what it has done and ambitious about what it could do in the future. “It’s an eye-opener in some ways to see Australia ranked at No. 2 in such a truly international game,” said Sutherland.
“But in other ways it is just a reminder of Australia’s status in the game. We’re committed to producing more amazing male and female players through our high-performance system which exists to nurture the best Australian golfers to ultimately win majors and olympic medals. It’s been incredible to see the rise of the likes of Minjee Lee who has just moved to fourth in the World Golf Rankings as one of four Australian women in the Top 50, along with the likes of Cam Smith and Lucas Herbert who make up eight of the Top 100 male golfers in the world, all graduates of our high performance program.
“Golf’s in a great place right now and we have an important and exciting year ahead as we align even closer with the PGA of Australia to create a summer of golf that provides opportunities for our young players, and connects Australians with our Aussie heroes who’ve been dominating overseas.”
England (44) and South Korea (35) recorded greater totals than Australia, however as some competitions are played more regularly than others, each country was given a normalised score out of ten for each sporting event, referencing the number of times played.
This allowed an average score to be determined, revealing which countries have had the most sporting successes.
You can view the research in full here: https://www.money.co.uk/mortgages/sporting-capitals
The absence of a driver and riding player partner Rory McIlroy’s wave of momentum has propelled Adam Scott into a share of fifth in the opening round of the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida.
Scott opted to sacrifice distance off the tee in order to avoid Bay Hill’s notoriously thick rough and it produced immediate results as he shot a four-under par round of 68 that included five birdies.
“If you look at my driver stats, accuracy is not its best thing. Distance is fine, but accuracy is not good,” Scott said.
“If it’s not in the bag, it’s not a temptation.”
Scott’s approach was in stark contrast to McIlroy’s – whose driving prowess was on full display during his seven-under par round that opened up a two shot lead – but the Queenslander did not feel as if he was selling himself short by not having the big stick in the bag.
“I know better than to get into a big hitting contest with Rory McIlroy,” Scott said.
“I like playing with Rory. I really enjoy watching him play. He’s a guy I can watch play and get positive swing thoughts for myself.
“I love watching him swing a golf club. I think almost everyone in the world would say that. But he’s a guy I like watching play. Generally, he can lift my level of golf, especially when he’s playing the way he did today.”
Fellow Australians Matt Jones and Marc Leishman got off to solid starts on Friday morning Australian time with two-under par rounds.
The PGA Tour is also in action at the Puerto Rico Open this week where Aaron Baddeley has made an excellent start.
Baddeley is two shots behind leaders Chase Seiffert and Michael Kim in a tie for third at the Grand Reserve Golf Club following a first round five-under par 67 which included seven birdies.
Greg Chalmers is also right in the hunt, one shot back from Baddeley in a share of sixth.
The second round of the LPGA’s HSBC Women’s World Championship is also on today in Singapore with Su Oh commencing the day tied for fifth at three-under par.
PGA Tour: Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard
In the language of golf, new expressions pop up quite regularly. And in Australia, the latest instalment would be ‘scaled tees’.
That’s because of the proliferation of mixed golfing events at a time when the game comes together.
This season the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia are running four Webex Players Series events with men and women playing for the same prize, including one at Bonnie Doon in Sydney this week.
Just more than a week ago Hannah Green won the Murray River instalment held at Cobram Barooga Golf Club, becoming the first woman to win a TPS prize and creating a bit of history as the first woman to win a four-round mixed event on a major world tour. It created headlines everywhere and in many ways, it was a triumph for the setting up of the course for a mixed event. It was not just Green who played well; four women finished in the top 10.
As Karen Lunn, the WPGA Tour chief executive said recently: “Looking at the rankings Hannah was far and away the best player in the field, and if she didn’t win playing her best golf, we’d done something wrong.”
Scaled tees are the instrument by which the events are meant to be made fair for all competitors.
Not that it’s easy. As PGA Tournaments Manager Graeme Scott once said about the way courses are set up for women and men to play together: “There’s no manual for this.”
In events like TPS Sydney at Bonnie Doon Golf Club this week or in the Hunter Valley next week at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, there has to be an acknowledgement of the different physiology of men and women; the fact that as a general rule, men hit farther and spin the ball more. That means they can’t play from the same tees if you are running an event that aspires to give everyone a chance to win.
At Cobram Barooga, the women played a course that was 866 metres shorter than the men’s course. At Bonnie Doon this week, it’s 795 metres shorter from the women.
But it’s not as simple as just moving the tees forward for the women. “The key is that we have to set the golf course up so that it plays evenly for both men and women,” said Nick Dastey, the PGA’s Tournaments Director.
“It’s not a perfect science, because everyone hits the golf ball different distances. Some of the women will hit it as long as some of the shorter-hitting men and so on.”
The way this is done is to analyse data about how far men and women hit the golf ball, both here and around the world, and to look closely at the course. At Cobram, Dastey and WPGA Tour chief executive Karen Lunn drove up to the Murray prior to Christmas and Dastey played the course with Steffi Vogel, a trainee pro from the club, to gauge distances, analyse the course and how it played and clubs used. This practical analysis along with the theory around average distances was then considered in order to come up with the final ‘scaled tees’ positions.
The point in regards to clubs used is crucial to course set-up for a mixed event.
“We’re trying to get to a point where if a guy hits a good drive and he has a nine iron into the green, then we want a woman who’s hit a good drive to have something like a nine iron or a wedge into the same green,” said Dastey. “We want them to have effectively the same iron shot. They don’t have to be side-by-side at 150 metres out, for instance, because at 150 metres the average man might hit an eight or seven iron and the average woman could be hitting a six or a five. It’s more about getting them hitting the same club.
“We also have to be mindful of the spin rate and the fact that men can stop the ball quicker, and that dictates to where you put the pins. So in these events, you won’t have pins tucked away to the same degree like they might be for a male-only event.”
Dastey points out that certain courses will suit the women more than others. For instance at Cobram Barooga, there was a premium on keeping the ball in play. “There’s no doubt that in general the women hit it straighter,” he said. “So on a golf course that’s not overly long, or a course that’s tight and doesn’t lend itself to being overpowered, the straighter hitters might have a better chance.
“We’re aware of all these things, that there might be a hole here or there that works better for the men than the women, and vice-versa.”
Some slight adjustments have been made for Bonnie Doon this week (as they were for Rosebud) as the tours strive for the fairest possible set-up. It’s a work in progress with no doubt that the more this is done, the better it will get.
“That’s been the challenge of the Webex Players series to be honest with you, it’s getting that right,” said Lunn. “Because the difference between the long-hitting men and the short hitting men is probably 60 metres, the difference between the longer-hitting women and the shorter-hitting women is probably somewhere in the middle. It’s a tough job but one we will continue to improve on over time.’’
The hugely popular Vic Open is back this week following it’s pandemic induced absence with an added incentive for the men that is dominating conversation around the 13th Beach clubhouse.
The top three men will gain entry into this year’s The Open at St Andrews – following the cancellation of the New Zealand Open the spots were allocated to this week’s tournament – and the prospect of heading to the home of golf has players buzzing.
“How sick is that? That’s awesome,” Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan said.
Straight after playing alongside England cricket legends Sir Ian Botham and John Emburey in the pro-am day, Morgan was not hiding his excitement at the prospect of a major debut.
“I think everyone has a bit of an extra spring in their step because of it,” he said.
“The cool opportunity with that is that there’s three of them and I don’t think anyone in this field has automatically qualified. No one has so everyone’s playing for them.
“I’ve played the amateur tournament there twice. It’s nothing like what The Open would be like but it’s sick.
“I’ve played the Old Course I think four or five times. It’s awesome. It’s pretty cool.
“I want to go back there and I want to play The Open.”
Major champion Geoff Ogilvy is well versed in what The Open is all about – he had a top-five finish in 2005 and a top-ten finish in 2010 – but his enthusiasm for playing in the majors has not waned.
“That’d be pretty nice. The Old Course is close to my favourite place in golf. The 150th there would be amazing,” he said.
“Hopefully I can play decently and have a chance. It’ll obviously be on a lot of guys’ minds.”
Nowadays, Ogilvy is rarely focusing solely on himself as he is thrilled for what such an opportunity would mean for others.
“What a bonus for all these kids. There are some young really good players who have been grinding for a few weeks, and played a few events in a row. It’d be a real boon for these kids to get a start there,” he said.
“What a special place to play your first Open for most of them. The Old Course, 150th, it’d be pretty special.”
On the women’s side, the focus is on who will step up to take home the silverware as friends become rivals.
Major champion Hannah Green declared yesterday that she expects to win despite a three month layoff from competitive golf, but she will face stiff competition from fellow LPGA players Su Oh, Steph Kyriacou and Karis Davidson, along with rising star Grace Kim.
Best friends Green and Oh have got their wish of playing together after begging the LPGA to pair them up last year, while Kyriacou, Davidson and Kim form a fascinating grouping.
Kyriacou is becoming a custom to being one of the main draw cards at home tournaments and she is ready to take on that mantle again this week.
“The Vic Open is one of my favourite events,” she said.
“I was saying to the guys in the pro-am (Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland, PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman and BMW Australia CEO Wolfgang Buechel) before that it’s such a good atmosphere.
“It’s nice that people talk about me. The intent is good but I honestly don’t feel any different to a couple of years ago. It’s fun doing media because not every golfer gets to do it.”
Tee times:
Full list of men’s and women’s tee times available here.
How to follow:
For live scoring and the latest news from the Vic Open visit www.golf.org.au/vicopen
Exclusive content and tournament updates will also be posted regularly on the Vic Open social media channels.
Instagram: @vicopengolf
Twitter: @VicOpenGolf
Facebook: @GolfAustraliaVIC
Official hashtag: #VicOpen
How to watch:
You’ll be able to catch all the action, broadcast live, on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.
Times (AEDT):
Round 1: Thursday 10 February, 1:30pm-5:30pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503
Round 2: Friday 11 February, 1:30pm-5:30pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503
Round 3: Saturday 12 February, 3pm-7pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503
Round 4: Sunday 13 February, 1:30pm-5:30pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503
How to attend:
The Vic Open is being run as a covid-safe event. Fans are welcome to attend each day with entry free and parking available for $10. The full spectator guide is available here.
About the tournament:
The Vic Open adopted its current format of men and women playing together in 2012 and the reigning champions are Min Woo Lee and Hee Young Park.
The total prize money for the tournament is $410,000 for both the men’s and women’s.
