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State borders may still be closed but Sanctuary Cove will this week reopen its facility to the public in another sign life is slowly returning to normal.
When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill and forced the majority of Australian golf clubs to close their doors even temporarily, Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club management devised a way to provide their members with an outlet while in lockdown.
The decision was made to make both The Pines and The Palms golf courses – currently ranked No.44 and No.71 in the country respectively by Australian Golf Digest magazine – purely members only.
Health and safety protocols were put in place to ensure members were protected as best as possible and maintenance procedures continued at their normal operation to deliver a playing experience that few facilities in Australia can match.
Although they have been kept on the outside looking in for the past three months, social golfers can now return to play The Palms course from this Thursday where they will find the 2011 Ross Watson redesign at its pristine best.
“If I was a member of the public, I’d be taking advantage of playing The Palms this week for sure,” says Sanctuary Cove Executive General Manager and PGA Professional Paul Sanders.
“It’s in outstanding condition, the best I’ve seen it in eight years. Full credit to Course Superintendent Paul McLean and his team. The way they have got this golf course to mature over the past eight or nine years has it at its absolute peak.
“The TifEagle greens are absolutely amazing.
“Anyone that plays there during this period is going to have a great experience.”
Spoiled by having unfettered access to both golf courses since mid-March, membership numbers at Sanctuary Cove have never been stronger.
The club reported a June intake the likes of which they have not witnessed in many years and Club President Mick McDonald last week unveiled a sculpture of Arnold Palmer by acclaimed artist Liam Hardy that now welcomes golfers to the first tee on The Pines.
As golf has proven attractive to people unable to participate in other activities during restrictions, Sanders, the management team and board have ensured that it has never been a better time to be a member at Sanctuary Cove.
“Word is out that it’s members only here,” Sanders says of the surge of interest in membership.
“The golf courses are both in outstanding condition and we’re investing heavily into our facilities including a $1.8 million irrigation project at The Pines. We’re very fortunate that through a really strong strategic plan that we’ve had in place for the past 60 months that we’ve been able to do that.
“What’s been great about the decision of the board to make it members only during this COVID-19 period is that it has really given the opportunity to members to make full use of the facilities.
“Whether that’s practise, competition play, social play, it’s a great opportunity for members to not only play The Pines but play The Palms whenever they like.
“The members have really respected that the board have made it members only during this period and we’re having 300-plus players every day of the week.
“If you’re coming into the club at the moment, you have wonderful facilities that you can call your own.”
World-leading pros and Australia’s next generation of stars will soon unite in a unique series of tournaments as they prepare to break free from the global pandemic.
The State Challenge – a joint initiative by Golf Australia, the PGA of Australia and the ALPG – will give professionals and amateurs a chance to shake off any tournament rust before taking on the world in post-Covid-19 events.
Champion professionals Hannah Green, Su Oh and Matt Griffin are among the athletes who have flagged their intention to play the State Challenge.
And they’ll get to play on some of Australia’s greatest championship courses with Royal Melbourne (East and West), Victoria, Pelican Waters, Brisbane, Coolangatta Tweed Heads, Glenelg, Grange, Royal Adelaide, Lake Karrinyup, West Australian and Royal Perth golf clubs already having committed to playing their part as co-hosts.
Participating states (Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia) will each host three 36-hole stroke play events for fields comprising nine professionals and nine amateurs (12 men and 6 women). The New South Wales events will only feature professionals.
Prize pools will be determined from income received from player entries and amateurs will receive prizes in line with R&A amateur status requirements.
Events are planned for July 13, 20 and 27, with an eventual 108-hole champion determined in each state.
The PGA’s tour development manager Kim Felton said it was the perfect opportunity for all athletes involved to find their competitive groove after months away from tournament golf.
“The pandemic has obviously limited playing opportunities, so this is a perfect way to compete in that high-pressure tournament situation through their own investment, play with each state’s best amateurs and help get them ready for when they do get back out around the world to restart,” Felton said.
Golf Australia’s high performance general manager Brad James said the interest the plan had generated showed the increasing bond between the current heroes and those who aspire to their heights.
“When we can get together like this, it really helps bolster that vital connection and engagement between our current and future stars,” James said.
“It’s really exciting to see everyone we’ve mentioned it to commit so readily. You can really feel a unified wave of momentum building to showcase golf and its champions, right around Australia.”
Playing with the spectre of a COVID-19 test result hanging over his head, Jason Day’s first made cut since the PGA TOUR’s resumption was thankfully positive in a purely golf sense.
Just three Aussies made it through all four rounds of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut and when the third round began there was the possibility that total would be reduced to just two.
Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell and Webb Simpson all withdrew prior to the first round after the caddies for Koepka and McDowell both tested positive. Cameron Champ tested positive early in the week and withdrew, Denny McCarthy stepped down after he tested positive prior to the second round and Dylan Fritelli tested positive after missing the cut, forcing his withdrawal from the upcoming Rocket Mortgage Classic and taking the total number of positive player tests to six.
Feeling some discomfort on Friday night, Day requested an additional COVID-19 test and was sent out as a single from the 10th tee on Saturday morning as a precautionary measure as part of the PGA TOUR’s health and safety protocols.
The test came back negative, Day shot 69-68 over the weekend and finished the week as the highest-placed Australian in a tie for 46th, his first made cut since finishing tied for fourth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on February 9.
Breaking 70 for the first time since the coronavirus shutdown in the second round of the RBC Heritage, Day opened the Travelers Championship with a 3-under 67, bouncing back after an early bogey with birdies at 17, 18, six and seven.
Currently ranked No.56 in the world, Day birdied six and seven again on Friday on his way to a 1-under 69 and then traded four birdies with three bogeys playing by himself on Saturday.
Given a clean bill of health, an up-and-down from the front edge of the par-5 sixth countered the bogey at four early on Sunday and then Day closed out the week with birdies at two of his final three holes to build momentum ahead of the larger events coming up on the schedule.
Rounds of 66-65 put Marc Leishman in striking distance of the leaders at the halfway mark but the 2012 champion lost ground over the weekend with back-to-back rounds of 2-over 72 to fall to a tie for 58th. Making his first appearance since the season was suspended Greg Chalmers was the other Australian to complete all four rounds, finishing in 67th position as Duston Johnson used a third-round 61 to propel himself to the 21st PGA TOUR win of his career.
An extraordinary third round of 63 that featured eight birdies – and a lone bogey – on the front nine alone put Ryan Ruffels in contention to earn a breakthrough professional title at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship in Utah.
Tied for third and just one shot back when the final round began, Ruffels was swamped by a sea of low scores prior to teeing off, dropping 16 spots on the leaderboard before hitting a single shot.
Unfortunately the descent continued for the 21-year-old as he made the turn in even par and then dropped three shots in the space of two holes to fall out of contention, ultimately finishing in a tie for 27th.
For the second time in the three tournaments since the resumption Jamie Arnold was the best of the Australians in a tie for 18th, posting four sub-70 rounds for the first time since February to post 15-under, five back of the three-man playoff won by Kyle Jones at the second extra hole.
PGA TOUR
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
Winner Dustin Johnson 69-64-61-67—261 $US1.332m
T46 Jason Day 67-69-69-68—273 $19,869
T58 Marc Leishman 66-65-72-72—275 $16,872
67 Greg Chalmers 69-67-75-73—284 $15,614
MC Cameron Davis 66-71—137
MC Cameron Smith 69-68—137
MC Tim Wilkinson 69-68—137
MC Danny Lee 67-71—138
MC Cameron Percy 67-72—139
MC Aaron Baddeley 69-74—143
MC Matt Jones 74-70—144
Korn Ferry Tour
Utah Championship Presented By Zions Bank
Oakridge Country Club, Farmington, Utah
Winner Kyle Jones 64-65-67-68—264 $US117,000
T18 Jamie Arnold 66-67-68-68—269 $7,463
T27 Ryan Ruffels 64-70-63-73—270 $4,518
T52 Mark Hensby 69-67-70-67—273 $2,704
T52 Steven Alker 66-70-70-67—273 $2,704
71 Brett Drewitt 66-68-74-69—277 $2,522
MC Harrison Endycott 70-71—141
By tailoring specifically to their needs, Royal Perth Golf Club has established a reputation in the west for providing an encouraging environment for junior girls.
When you’re starting from nothing, anything is worth a shot.
Stuck in a cycle shared by a great number of golf clubs, Royal Perth Golf Club was desperately searching for a way in which to expand their junior base, particularly junior girls.
Recognising that girls as young as six didn’t respond well to mixed groups of juniors dominated by boisterous boys who simply wanted to swing driver as hard as they could, Head Professional Brad Logan worked with Ladies Captain Kerry Hardwick and Vice-Captain Lyn Cook on formulating a girl-friendly program.
‘Pretty in Pink’ was launched 11 years ago and set Royal Perth on a path to becoming regarded as the club in Perth where girls interested in golf could go to develop their games.
“We thought there were a lot of girls who might have found playing with the boys intimidating so we set up a coaching program after school on a Tuesday during the school terms,” Logan explains.
“We went from having nothing to having 30 or so girls on a Tuesday. We had to start breaking them into smaller groups and have extra people down there helping me teach them.
“We had ladies get their Working with Children permit and then their Community Golf Instructor qualification just so they could come down and help these girls get started in the game.
“It’s continued to grow and grow and grow and because of the structure around it now with the MyGolf program it’s got to the point where I employ a PGA Professional as a junior coordinator just to look after the juniors.”
Through Golf Australia’s Vision 2025 mandate to increase the level of influence of women in golf at every level, delivering a ‘girls only’ MyGolf program became a key deliverable.
As a result, the PGA and Golf Australia, through the MyGolf program launched the MyGolf Girls in July of 2018 as a way of creating a welcoming environment for girls showing an interest in golf.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that some parents prefer single sex options for their daughters playing sport and other sports throughout the country have seen significant increases in female participation by offering female only participation opportunities.
Since 1 July 2018, 95 MyGolf facilities have promoted MyGolf Girls only programs with girls making up 24 per cent of total MyGolf participants in the past financial year.
Of the 4,665 girls engaged in MyGolf between 2018 and 2019, 375 participated in girls-only programs, a number that should continue to grow as word spreads.
“We were like most clubs in that we had no real system in place, we dealt with what was in front of us,” says Logan, with Royal Perth offering girls-only coaching on Tuesdays, boys-only coaching on Thursdays and a mixed group on Fridays for older, more advanced juniors.
“Once we had one or two girls taking part they brought their friends along so it grew in that way.
“We’ve now got two girls pennant teams where seven years ago we didn’t have any and there is an awareness around Perth that we do now have a strong junior girls program.
“There might be a girl with a low handicap playing elsewhere but if they don’t have the numbers to form a pennant team she might decide to come across to Royal Perth.
“Not every girl at Royal Perth has come through the Pretty in Pink program but by starting it 11 years ago we have created an environment where girls know that they are welcome here.”
In his fourth season and in his 96th start Marc Leishman cracked the code.
The 2009 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year had finished second twice and top-10 seven times but as he neared a century of tournament starts in the US Leishman was beginning to wonder when the breakthrough win would come.
One of six Aussies confirmed in the field for this week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, Leishman returns to Connecticut as a five-time PGA TOUR winner eight years after coming from the clouds to pick up his first.
Rounds of 68-66 safely carried Leishman through to the weekend in the 2012 tournament but an even-par 70 in round three meant that he began the final day six strokes adrift of the leaders.
Winning was the furthest thing from his mind. He went out with the intention of trying to push into the top-10 but a bogey-free 8-under 62 and late mistakes by Charley Hoffman delivered a maiden win in unexpected circumstances.
“The difference between that tournament and perhaps tournaments that I didn’t win was going to bed the night before or teeing off that morning not thinking about winning,” Leishman recalls.
“Going to sleep the Saturday night I certainly wasn’t thinking of winning the tournament. I was hoping I could play well and maybe get a top-10 but obviously as things progressed through the day those expectations changed.
“All of a sudden when you’re not thinking of the result the results come.
“That was a pretty big learning curve for me, to realise that just because you think about winning doesn’t mean you’re going to win.
“You’ve got to think about what you can do to get better and how you can play well. That’s what’s going to lead to winning.
“That’s a really good lesson not only for me but anyone who would read this that just thinking about good results is not necessarily going to lead to good results. To be honest, it’s probably not going to lead to good results.
“It was something that will be a highlight of my career forever.”
A missed cut first up at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club was not a completely unexpected result for Leishman who spent the coronavirus shutdown maintaining his physical fitness, spending time with his family and tending to his beloved back lawn.
Despite the layoff the Victorian intends to stick to his regular schedule of not playing more than three weeks in succession as he targets the FedEx Cup and the rescheduled major championships.
“It’s been on the courses where there’s a lot of trouble out there and you’ve got to play to not hit into the trouble where I’ve maybe played my best golf,” Leishman said of his fondness for TPC River Highlands where he has three further top-20 finishes.
“The days where I know I’ve got to play good to shoot a good score and even give myself half a chance to win the tournament.
“I just don’t want to get to the Tour Championship and be worn out. There is so much to play for that week.
“The Tour Championship, the majors, that’s what I’m going for.
“Obviously I want to play well every week that I play but I’m keeping in mind the fact that I’m not getting any younger and the opportunities to win majors are not going to be around forever.
“I want to be fresh at those events where I want to play the best.”
A course record that was equalled inside hours and a 20-under total that wasn’t good enough to finish inside the top 10; Brett Coletta knows that Korn Ferry Tour victories don’t come easy.
When the Victorian opened with a 9-under 63 in the first group out in Wednesday’s opening round it seemed a mark no one would match yet just hours later Vince India matched the new course record at The King and Bear layout at World Golf Village, the pair sharing the round one lead of The King and Bear Classic in Florida.
Setting a hot pace, both Coletta and India followed up their day one fireworks with 6-under par rounds of 66 in round two to co-own the 36-hole lead, Coletta finishing in a flurry of five birdies in seven holes to lead at the halfway mark for the first time on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“It always feels good to be in contention,” said Coletta, who came into the week having not played the weekend in his first four events of the year.
“That’s what you play for and what you come here to do. I’m stoked to be back in contention for sure.”
A 2-under 70 in the third round saw Coletta lose ground to the frontrunners to be tied for eighth and a final round of 3-under 69 – where he birdied the final three holes of the tournament – saw him finish in a tie for 14th, six shots back of tournament winner Chris Kirk at 26-under.
As Coletta bolted out of the blocks on Wednesday West Australian Curtis Luck built his way into the tournament superbly, going on to finish one shot back of Coletta in a tie for 16th.
Opening with a 4-under 68, Luck made par at the first six holes of his second round before he too joined in the sub-par plunge, making birdie at seven of the next 10 holes to shoot a bogey-free 65 and establish a strong position at the halfway mark.
A lone bogey was the only blot on a third round of 5-under 67 and Luck was headed for top Aussie honours on the final day until a wayward tee shot at the par-3 14th resulted in a penalty and a subsequent double bogey as he closed out his week with a 3-under 69.
Kiwi Tim Wilkinson was the next best of the Australasian contingent in a tie for 54th while Ryan Ruffels gave an indication that better results are not far off after beginning the week with rounds of 66-68 before falling to a tie for 58th over the final two rounds.
This week the Korn Ferry Tour moves on to Utah for the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank at Oakridge Country Club where five Aussies are due to tee it up.
There was very little Australasian representation over the final two rounds of the PGA TOUR’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links with Matt Jones the only Aussie to make the cut for the second straight week and Kiwi Danny Lee finishing tied for 70th as Webb Simpson earned his seventh PGA TOUR title by a stroke from Abraham Ancer.
Korn Ferry Tour
The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village
King & Bear at World Golf Village, St Augustine, Florida
T14 Brett Coletta 63-66-70-69—268 $US11,100
T16 Curtis Luck 68-65-67-69—269 $9,000
T54 Tim Wilkinson 67-70-69-69—275 $2,514
T58 Ryan Ruffels 66-68-73-69—276 $2,466
MC Brett Drewitt 67-72—139
MC Jamie Arnold 72-70—142
MC Robert Allenby 73-70—143
PGA TOUR
RBC Heritage
Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, Georgia
T52 Matt Jones 69-69-66-71—275 $US16,827
T71 Danny Lee 68-67-76-70—281 $14,342
MC Aaron Baddeley 71-68—139
MC Jason Day 71-69—140
MC Cameron Smith 69-72—141
Aussie legends Peter Fowler and Peter O’Malley will spend 2020 on home soil following the official cancellation of the European Tour’s Staysure Tour.
In a statement released on Friday, European Tour officials cited the demographic of the over-50 set and the increased risks associated with coronavirus for the cancellation as the European Tour readies for its return in Austria on July 9.
Confirming that all playing categories will be extended into the 2021 season, Head of the Staysure Tour Mark Apsland said that given the health risks associated with playing in a number of different countries a complete cancellation was the most appropriate decision.
“This decision was not taken lightly but we feel it is the most responsible course of action following consultation with all of our stakeholders, and taking into account feedback from our players around the complexities of international travel at the current time,” Apsland said.
“While professional golf is slowly returning with the necessary safety protocols, we have to recognise the additional risk associated with the age demographic of the Staysure Tour membership, alongside the challenges of implementing the requisite health strategy across the multiple territories we play in.”
Winner of the MCB Tour Championship-Seychelles tournament in December at 60 years of age, Fowler has won seven times in 156 starts on the Staysure Tour to go with the 517 career appearances on the main European Tour.
Thanks to his win late in the year Fowler finished fifth on the 2019 Order of Merit and has only once finished lower than seventh on the moneylist since 2011.
O’Malley made seven starts on the Staysure Tour in 2019 to be 41st on the Order of Merit, his best result a tie for second at the Swiss Seniors Open last July.
His gains in the weights room pale in comparison but Marc Leishman admits to being a fascinated observer of the body transformation that Bryson DeChambeau has undertaken.
When the pair arrived for the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club last December DeChambeau was already attracting attention for his more muscular physique while Leishman was displaying a more svelte figure designed to enhance his longevity in the game.
Missing the cut in his first start back at Colonial last week, Leishman and the rest of the golf world took note of DeChambeau’s new look and the immense power he unleashed on his way to a tie for third finish and rise to No.12 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Ahead of the first round of the RBC Heritage tournament at Hilton Head where DeChambeau opened with a bogey-free 4-under 67, Rory McIlroy didn’t hold back when he told of his reaction to playing with the American at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
“He hit a couple drives on Sunday that (caddie) Harry (Diamond) and I just looked at each other, and were like, ‘Holy s–t, that was unbelievable’.”
The interest for Leishman is not only the distances he can now bomb off the tee but how DeChambeau’s body copes with the additional mass over an extended period of time.
“I’m certainly watching it. I am interested in it but I’m not going to follow in his footsteps,” said Leishman, who will return to the PGA TOUR next week at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.
“If he does do what he’s doing and does it successfully – puts on 20-30 pounds of muscle – it will be interesting to see how he goes on the injury front.
“I don’t think I’m going to be doing it. I don’t think my body can handle that injury-wise. Fatigue as well. An extra 30-40 pounds – 15 or 20 kilos – that’s a lot to carry around when it’s 35 degrees and humid and you’ve still got to move your body and know where your body is.
“But it is pretty impressive what he’s done and how far he’s hitting it that’s for sure.”
When he returned to home shores for the Australian Open late last year Leishman had trimmed down noticeably, cutting out bread and sugar and limiting his intake of Leishman Lager as he cut eight kilograms from his 6-foot-2 frame.
Confident after his win at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Australia Day, Leishman approached the season suspension caused by the coronavirus as a mini pre-season, limiting his visits to the ‘kegerator’ out back and maintaining a disciplined approach to his fitness regime.
“I approached it as an off-season, which I haven’t had since I joined the PGA Tour,” said the Victorian who was the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in 2009.
“I also didn’t want to let things get out of hand. I’ve been looking after myself fairly well the past six months or so trying to get into some decent shape and I didn’t want to throw all of that out the window either.
“I hate playing golf gym-sore, so I never do. This was a good opportunity to be sore for a little bit and try and get some gains with my body which I haven’t really been able to do.
“I was just happy to maintain weight and maybe gain a little bit of muscle but I didn’t want to change my body shape too much either because I’ve been playing really good golf.
“I would not say I was on Bryson’s level, at all. I don’t think many people were to be honest.
“If I put on 30 pounds it would be 30 pounds of fat, not muscle.
“I know I’m not getting any younger. I’m 36 and every injury that I get cuts into my career and I don’t want that to happen. It’s more for injury prevention that I’m doing it, not for gains.
“You take your health for granted a bit when you’re younger and I certainly don’t do that anymore.”
First came the voluntary saliva test at his home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Then, when Jamie Arnold arrived in Florida for the Korn Ferry Tour’s first tournament back since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the suspension of the season, he had to pass through four drive-thru check-points before the invasive nasal swab “up the back of your brain” to test again for coronavirus.
“It took 10 or 15 seconds but it felt like an hour.”
As he awaited yet another negative result that would grant him a lanyard indicating his all-clear status, Arnold was permitted to practise at Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass, but only after subjecting himself to another thermal temperature check.
There were hand sanitising stations on the driving range, on the tee box of almost every hole and food consisted wholly of pre-packaged fare.
It’s a far cry from the Sydney native’s debut season on the secondary US Tour in 2017 but he knows such measures are necessary if the roadshow is to continue into The King and Bear Classic at World Golf Village starting Wednesday and beyond.
“It’s definitely very different but at least we’re out there playing,” said Arnold, who posted the low round of the week – a 7-under 63 in the second round – in the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass last week.
“We know that we’re only one outbreak away from the season being done or events not being on.
“We know that. The Tour has stressed so much the No.1 thing is practising social distancing not only on the golf course but at home or wherever you’re staying.
“We know that if we’re not careful and we start high-fiving and going to eat out and doing things that we used to do, one person getting it and spreading it can shut us down as quick as we opened back up.
“We’re just trying to do our best and be safe, all the little things we can do so hopefully we can play the rest of the season.”
Tied for 10th at the Australian Open in December, Arnold missed graduating to the PGA TOUR last year in heartbreaking fashion and had made a positive start to his 2020 campaign, making the cut in the first four events and posting a tie for 12th at the Country Club de Bogota Championship.
A dozen balls on the range following his opening round last Thursday gave Arnold the confidence to shoot 63 the following day – “I could have shot in the 50s” – and the belief that an extended wrap-around season that will conclude with the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour finals will work in his favour.
“The longer season creates more opportunities for me to win and to play well more consistently,” said the 36-year-old Cronulla Golf Club product.
“It’s possible that by the end of the season we could end up with 49 events so I’m looking at it as a plus.
“If the season is longer consistent players who play 40-odd events and play well should be able to finish inside the top 25.
“The downside is that we’re not going to graduate up onto the PGA TOUR this year but I thought this was a better option than having only 12 events.
“It makes it more of a marathon than a sprint.”
Thankful to be back out playing and planning on teeing it up in five of the first six events of the season resumption, Arnold revelled in an extended stay at home.
Creative matches at his home club of Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta and visits to TPC Sugarloaf to play in mini tournaments organised by former Open champion Stewart Cink were mixed in with practice, walks with the dogs and home-schooling his young son Luke.
“It made me realise that having the life that we live, you do miss a lot of stuff at home,” said Arnold, Luke learning to ride a bike a highlight of his COVID-19 isolation.
“There are a lot of people who see the glamour of travel and the money that people can make but there’s something really nice about waking up in your own bed, being with your family and being able to spend all those moments together.
“I slept the best I’ve ever slept during this break. There’s always so much pressure in golf. You’re always thinking about what you can do better. I feel like your brain’s always on and when I was home and knew we weren’t going to be playing for a while I slept so good.
“I woke up every day feeling so refreshed. I feel like I’ve never really had that before, where I’ve had nothing to worry about.
“Hanging out together as a family was really cool. I enjoyed it.”
The Queensland Golf Industry is pleased to confirm the date for the ‘Virtual Awards Night’ to be broadcast on Tuesday 14th July.
Coordinated by the PGA of Australia, Golf Australia, Golf Course Superintendents Association of QLD and Golf Management Australia, the QLD Golf Industry “Virtual” Awards Night will acknowledge the achievements the finalists have accomplished throughout 2019.
Despite being postponed earlier this year, the QLD Golf Industry Awards Night will announce all of the winners of the respective awards of which will be broadcast at 7pm (EST) on Tuesday 14th July via www.pga.org.au.
With the success of the recent WA Golf Industry Awards Night which saw golf clubs and individuals gather to watch the evening, finalists are encouraged to watch the broadcast in groups (relative to gathering restrictions in place on this date) to celebrate their achievements. Physical awards will be presented to the winners of each award in the week(s) following the broadcast to assist in the additional promotion of their accolades.
A full list of the award finalists can be found below:
Golf Club of the Year
Golf Club of the Year (Under 400 Members)
Golf Supplier of the Year
Junior Program of the Year Finalists
Volunteer of the Year
Game Development Professional of the Year
Manager of the Year
Coach of the Year
Club Professional of the Year
Management Professional of the Year
Golf Club Staff Member of the Year
Golf Club Board Member of the Year
Tournament of the Year
Superintendents Achievement Award
Metropolitan Tournament of the Year
Regional Tournament of the Year
Legends Tournament of the Year
PGA Trainee of the Year
Golf Course Turf Apprentice of the Year
Superintendents Environment and Safety Excellence Award
PGA IGI Excellence in Golf Education Award
Other awards announced on the evening include:
