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A talented field of the world’s best Trainee Professionals will tackle the Ballarat Golf Club layout from 22 October as they strive for the title of 2019 National Trainee Champion.
Australia’s top PGA Trainees will compete against the best Trainees from PGA Great Britain and Ireland, PGA of South Africa and PGA of New Zealand who, after flying in for the tournament, have their eyes set firmly on the title.
Known for the quality of fields it attracts, an impressive line-up of 96 Trainees will contest the Championship including 16 of the top 20 Trainees on Australia’s player rankings.
Victorian, Queensland and Western Australian State Trainee Champions Dale Crothers (Yarrawonga Mulwala Resort), Brayden Petersen (Asquith Golf Club) and John Boulton (Mt Lawley Golf Club) will be among the front-runners this week as they aim to take out the title.
Warm weather and hot scoring conditions are forecasted for Ballarat which has Ballarat Golf Club Head Professional, Dave Wallis, predicting some impressive scores to come in.
“Tuesday will be sunny, 24 degrees, but there’s no wind forecast which is rare to see for us, so I would expect some good scores to come in for Round 1,” Wallis said.
The tournament will take on a new look for the first two rounds with a Pro-Am format that will see amateurs playing alongside the Professionals during the tournament.
Ballarat Golf Club President, Wayne Hines, said the club was excited to be able to offer this opportunity.
“The Ballarat Golf Club is proud and privileged to host the National Futures Championship,” Hines said.
“To play alongside the professionals under tournament conditions is such a unique opportunity to offer our members and partners and it’s something we’re really looking forward to.”
The National Futures Championship is the world’s richest Trainee tournament and has been a world leader in gender equality, with the field consisting of male and female competitors playing for the same prize purse and title for over 25 years.
Three Victorians will represent the female cohort this year, with Joanna Flaherty from Commonwealth Golf Club, Emily Pell from Yarra Bend Golf Complex and Catherine Odgers from Woodlands Golf Club all looking to take it up to their male counterparts, and potentially becoming the first female winner in the event’s history.
An extra incentive is on offer for the winner of the National Futures Championship who also receives a place in the Australian PGA Championship field from 19-22 December.
The 2019 National Futures Championship will be played from 22-25 October at Ballarat Golf Club. Play commences Tuesday morning. Entry to the tournament is free for the public.
Danny Lee’s thoughts were elsewhere yet the Kiwi competed for 72 holes before finishing runner-up to Justin Thomas at the PGA TOUR’s CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in South Korea.
An eagle at the 54th hole on Saturday propelled Lee into a tie with Thomas for the lead heading into the final round but not before revealing his wife had given birth prematurely to the couple’s second child just last Sunday.
The 29-year-old could barely bring himself to talk about the unexpected early arrival at the completion of his third round, only able to say that the baby was due around Christmas time before cutting himself short.
Despite the concern for his newborn, Lee went toe-to-toe with Thomas across the front nine at Jeju Island on Sunday, carding three birdies to remain tied at the turn and level with Thomas as the seemingly two-horse race reached the 14th tee.
A Thomas birdie and back-to-back bogeys by Lee opened up a three-shot buffer for the American, the 2017 champion holding on to win by two shots with Lee two shots back in outright second.
Pressing over the closing holes, Lee came close to matching his eagle from the previous day at the 18th hole when the ball bounced out after hitting the back of the cup, the 2016 Greenbrier champion content with the fourth second-place finish of his PGA TOUR career.
“Before I tee off my very first tee shot on Thursday, if someone’s going to give me solo second, I would take it in a heartbeat,” Lee said post-round.
“It is a good week, but also very disappointing. I really wanted to win The CJ CUP. It means a lot to me to win it in front of the Korean fans and all my Korean family, but it is what it is.
“I gave my best out there today and solo second was the best I could do.
“Just a couple holes that were letting me down with the driver on the back nine. A couple of tee shots that you cannot hit it in that bunkers on the left and I did, so struggling to make par from there when Justin had a couple birdie looks over there.
“I gave it a good run, though.”
An eagle at the 72nd hole elevated Cameron Smith into a tie for third three shots back from Lee while Matt Jones continued his consistent start to the 2019-2020 season with a tie for 20th thanks to a superb 7-under 65 on Sunday.
Ahead of his Japan Skins Challenge against Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama on Monday Jason Day was left to rue some sloppy finishes to his rounds as he finished tied for 31st having started the week with a 6-under 66.
“Obviously there’s a few errors in there that I need to tidy up,” Day conceded.
“I either start really well and then finish poorly or start poorly and finish well. I just didn’t tie the two nines together.
“I started off great, I shot 6-under the first round, and pretty much from there I just kind of struggled a little bit coming in.
“Overall I need to focus on the positives and try to take that into next week.”
As for what to expect from his maiden Skins Game, Day is prepping his sledging as well as his golf game.
“I’ve never played in a skins game before, so that’s going to be interesting,” said Day.
“There’s going to be a little bit of back and forth with the banter, so I’m excited about that.”
The Japan Skins Challenge begins at 3pm AEDT. The first two hours can be viewed on Channel Nine with full coverage on Golf TV.
PGA TOUR
The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges
The Club at Nine Bridges, Jeju Island, South Korea
2 Danny Lee 67-66-68-69—270 $US1.053m
T3 Cameron Smith 67-69-68-69—273 $507,000
T20 Matt Jones 72-70-72-65—279 $103,285
T31 Jason Day 66-73-71-71—281 $55,478
T43 Marc Leishman 72-69-72-71—284 $31,785
T67 Won Joon Lee 74-73-79-67—293 $17,648
Crowds flocked to Cottesloe Golf Club to see who would win the 2019 Nexus Risk WA Open Championship and the players did not disappoint.
All eyes were on the final group of Michael Sim, Rick Kulacz and Hayden Hopewell who were collectively 35-under par for the first three rounds of the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series tournament.
The pressure of last group quietened the scoring through the front-nine where Kulacz and Hopewell both recorded even-par.
Sim was the only one in the red at 1-under par as the trio moved into the back-nine tightly bunched.
Six groups ahead of the leaders was Dale Williamson who was putting together a very impressive round that included three eagles, three birdies along with two bogies to post a final round 7-under par 65 and sign his card tied for the lead.
“I played really nice in that wind, controlled my ball well and rolled it on the greens really nice,” said Williamson who eventually tied for third place at 12-under the card.
Michael Wright stretched to a 13-under par total and joined Sim at the top of the leaderboard before an unfortunate bogey at the last dropped him back to a 12-under total and in tie for third place with Williamson, Daniel Fox and Aaron Wilkin.
Yet it was Sim who continued to put space between himself and the field with birdies at 11,14, 16 and 17 to reach 15-under par with one to play and be two shots ahead of overnight leader, amateur Hayden Hopewell.
The 18th threw a spanner in the works when Sim hit his drive left and had to chip out short right of the green and Hopewell hit his second shot to 40 feet from the pin.
Sim went on to hit an amazing chip shot to three feet but that’s when things got heated. Hopewell went on to roll his birdie putt in, all but forcing Sim to hole his downhill three-footer for the win.
Sim held his cool to record his first WA Open title and take home the winner’s cheque for $18,301.
“I knew I had two shots going up the last but when Hayden holed his, I had to switch and make sure of holing the small putt,” Sim said.
This and a third place result last week at the WA PGA Championship kick-starts a big summer of golf for the West Australian.
“It’s amazing to get another win and especially to back up from last week, this will give me a lot of confidence moving into some big events now.”
A fantastic effort from Hopewell earned the young-gun outright second place at 14-under the card.
Sim will be one to watch when the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia returns at the Victorian PGA Championship at RACV Cape Schanck Resort from Thursday.
Mollymook’s testing Hilltop Course provided one of the toughest challenges of 2019 for the Ladbrokes Legends Tour field at this year’s NSW Senior Masters.
With undulating tree-lined fairways drawing comparisons to the famed Augusta National, the venue has played host to the Australian Senior PGA Championships and NSW Senior PGA Championships and hopes to continue a long legacy with the PGA of Australia with the new NSW Senior Masters tournament.
Players were reminded early of the quality of the Mollymook Hilltop layout with any stray shot being fully penalised.
Victorian Tim Elliott had his radar dialled in from day one of the Ladbrokes Legends Tour tournament to take the overnight lead with a round of 2-under 70.
Elliott was one of only two players to shoot under par in the opening round thanks to a hole-in-one on the signature 17th hole.
A strong westerly wind blew across the course in the final round making play difficult for the 61 professionals on course.
A handful of players came to the table, however, with Guy Wall, Glenn Joyner, Peter Fowler and Peter O’Malley at one stage preparing for a playoff after all finishing on 2-over par for the event in eventual second place.
A final round of even-par was enough for overnight leader Elliott to secure a four-stroke victory with a 2-under 142 total.
“This golf course is one of the best we get to play all year,” Elliott said.
“It was in amazing condition and the greens were tricky but perfect to putt on. It’s great to win the inaugural NSW Senior Masters.”
The Ladbrokes Legends Tour will head to Canberra for the Fairbairn Legends Pro-Am on Monday.
Hannah Green has won the prestigious Outstanding Woman in Sport Award at the Australian Women’s Health Women in Sport Awards.
Green became only the third Aussie woman to win a major – and the first since Karrie Webb in 2006 – when she took out the Women’s PGA Championship in June.
ALPG Chief Executive Karen Lunn said the award was brilliant recognition for the trailblazer.
“Congratulations to Hannah who absolutely deserves this award and the recognition for what has been an incredible year for her,” she said.
“Her golf has been outstanding. To win a major championship followed up by another LPGA win so early in her career shows what we had all suspected watching her progress through the amateur ranks.
“Hannah has both the golf game and the mental strength to be the very best in her sport. The way Hannah has handled the spotlight being on her and all of the extra media attention with such grace is a testament to the wonderful person she is both on and off the golf course”
Minister for Youth and Sport Richard Colbeck congratulated Hannah on winning the award and for her many achievements in the sport to date.
“Hannah is a true champion, having won the Women’s PGA Championship in spectacular fashion in June this year,” Minister Colbeck said.
“Hannah’s win was the first major win by an Australian woman since Karrie Webb at the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship and she became only the third Australian woman to win a major.
“Sports stars like Hannah provide inspiration for all Australians, but particularly young women, to get involved in sport and follow their dreams.
“Our gifted sportswomen all deserve recognition for their achievements and I acknowledge all the other winners from tonight’s ceremony.”
The Morrison Government provided $50,000 towards this year’s event, including for the Outstanding Woman in Sport Award.
Previous winners of this award have included boxer Skye Nicolson, skier Britt Cox, and rower Kim Crow, who have all represented Australia in elite competition.
“It has been fantastic to see the accelerated growth of elite women’s competitions in a broad range of sports in recent years,” he said.
Gusting winds in the opening round of the St Georges Basin Legends Pro-Am weren’t able to stop Steve Conran from getting the hot start he needed to win in New South Wales.
A first round of 5-under 65 set Conran up for an impressive 9-under two-round total to claim a one-shot victory at St Georges Basin Country Club.
A number of challengers presented in the final round but Conran was able to remain steady, crediting his mental strength for a second scorecard of 4-under 66.
“When I played some holes here on Monday I felt the course was really suited to my game,” Conran said.
“Just because a course sets up well for you doesn’t always mean you play well so I’m really glad I got the job done.”
Identical rounds of 67, 65 from Michael Harwood, Shaquill Mongol and John Onions saw the trio tie for second place at 8-under the card.
Brad Burns, Richard Gilkey, Grant Kenny and Allan May highlighted the level of competition on the Ladbrokes Legends Tour to finish T5 at 4-under.
A further five players including Peter Senior, Glenn Joyner and Terry Price tied for ninth place at 3-under 137.
The Ladbrokes Legends Tour will next tee it up at the Worrigee Links Legends Pro-Am.
The Concord kid once labelled ‘Boom Boom’ has finally made it to the PGA TOUR.
Almost 13 years since turning professional as the No.1-ranked amateur in the world, Won Joon Lee will tee it up in this week’s CJ Cup at Nine Bridges courtesy of his breakthrough win earlier in the year on the KPGA Tour.
Joining PGA TOUR regulars Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith and Matt Jones, Lee is the only player from the KPGA to take up an exemption into the field at Jeju Island and completes a circuitous route to the elite of world golf.
Now 33 years of age and based in Korea playing primarily on the Japan Golf Tour, Lee notched the first win of his career in June at the KPGA Championship which has vaulted him into the field this week where he will tee it up in the first round alongside fellow Australian Matt Jones and Korean Whee Kim in the last group out from 12pm AEDT.
Although he is credited with one PGA TOUR appearance at the 2007 British Open where he was tied for 49th, this will be the first stand-alone PGA TOUR event of his career and completes a stunning turnaround having come close to quitting golf altogether.
“This is my 13th year as a pro but it feels a lot longer than that. It feels like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Lee told the Inside the Ropes podcast following his win at the KPGA Championship and the expectation he carried early in his professional career.
“My first couple of years it really didn’t phase me and I didn’t think about it but as my career went along and I struggled to get where I wanted to go it started to get heavier and heavier.
“That was more than 10 years ago and looking back now it probably did put a lot of pressure on me without me knowing.”
Runner-up behind Craig Parry at the 2007 Australian Open, Lee moved to America in 2008 to link with legendary instructor Butch Harmon in Las Vegas but in five years on the secondary tour he failed to progress to the top echelon.
Wrist injuries and frustration conspired to inhibit Lee’s enjoyment for playing the game until he returned home to Sydney and reacquainted himself with the members at Ashlar and Concord golf clubs.
“As time progressed and I got hurt I hadn’t decided 100 per cent in my mind whether playing golf was going to be my future,” Lee revealed.
“After five years of playing (in America) I decided that the best move for me would be to move back to Sydney for a couple of years and see if I could regroup and play again.
“I didn’t play (professionally) for close to two years while I was in Sydney but just started playing club golf again with members at Ashlar and Concord and enjoyed playing golf again.
“Professionally, sometimes it is a battle but playing at a club level on the Wednesday and Saturday comps is actually really enjoyable.”
So highly regarded that Tiger Woods’ former coach Hank Haney once declared at a PGA seminar on the Sunshine Coast that, “Oh God, this guy’s as good as Tiger,” Lee turned to the nephew of his 2007 Australian Open conqueror for guidance over summer.
Childhood friends, Lee credits Matt Thomas with helping him to play a more consistent game in 2019 that has resulted in not only his first win but five more top-20 finishes and only two missed cuts in 18 starts.
“I was in Sydney from late December until after the New Zealand Open and Matt was helping me a lot out on the golf course with my golf swing,” Lee explained.
“Just trying to find fairways more consistently, hit greens more consistent and that’s actually helped me out a lot this year.
“I’ve kept the ball in play a lot more than in the past and not making too huge a mistake and while it doesn’t feel like I’ve played a lot better than last year the results have been a lot better.”
CJ Cup at Nine Bridges Round 1 tee times for Australasian players (AEDT)
10.10am* Danny Lee, Vaughn Taylor, Jeongwoo Ham
10.20am* Marc Leishman, Justin Thomas, Phil Mickelson
11.20am Jason Day, Gary Woodland, Sungjae Im
12pm Cameron Smith, Viktor Hovland, Hyungjoon Lee
12pm* Matt Jones, Won Joon Lee, Whee Kim
The Shoalhaven region welcomes the return of the Ladbrokes Legends Tour this week for an exciting trio of events featuring Australia’s best senior golf professionals.
Tournaments at St Georges Basin, Worrigee Links and the Hilltop Course at Mollymook Golf Club highlight what is set to be an enthralling week on the Legends Tour schedule starting 15 October.
With the support of the Shoalhaven Council, Mollymook’s stunning Hilltop course will host the newly named NSW Senior Masters Championship from 18-19 October in an event that is perfectly suited to the seaside venue.
Mollymook Golf Club Director of Golf, Barry West, hopes that the premier Hilltop course will be the home of the NSW Senior Masters for many years to come.
“The NSW Senior Masters Championship will attract some of our sports most talented and recognised players while showcasing our 18-hole championship course to a wider audience among the golfing community,” West said.
As co-sponsor of the NSW Senior Masters the Shoalhaven Council is proud to see the growth of events in their region and hopes that the Ladbrokes Legends Tour will aid in showcasing the wonders that Shoalhaven has to offer.
Along with the NSW Senior Masters, Ladbrokes Legends Tour professionals will be teeing it up at the St Georges Basin Tooheys Legends Pro-Am on 15-16 October and the Worrigee Links Legends Pro-Am on 17 October.
Over the five days of competition players will vie for a share in the $70,000 prize purse while spending quality time away from the course experiencing the Shoalhaven region.
“We are excited to welcome competitors, spectators and their families to Shoalhaven,” said Shoalhaven Mayor, Amanda Findley.
“With time between rounds there will be plenty of opportunity to experience the region’s food and wine scene, our beautiful beaches and walks amongst unspoilt landscapes.”
Some of Australia’s greatest golfers will be on show during the week including Peter Senior, Peter O’Malley, Peter Fowler and Peter Lonard.
The Shoalhaven swing of the Ladbrokes Legends Tour begins at the St Georges Basin Tooheys Legends Pro-Am on 15-16 October. Entry is free to all tournaments.
Brad Kennedy’s hopes of playing in his maiden PGA TOUR event were blown away as the impact of Typhoon Hagibis forced the cancellation of the final two rounds of the Japan Golf Tour’s Bridgestone Open.
For the second time in three years only 36 holes could be completed at Sodegaura Country Club in the Chiba Prefecture due to a typhoon, Shugo Imahira declared the winner on Saturday afternoon when tournament officials confirmed the cancellation of the final round.
Although the impact of the typhoon on the affected areas and the safety of players and spectators was of primary concern, the cancellation of the final two rounds was disappointing for the Aussie contingent who were positioned to contend over the weekend.
The top three finishers of the Bridgestone Open are exempt into next week’s ZOZO Championship, the first PGA TOUR event to be played in Japan with $US9.75 million in prizemoney. On the back of a second round of 5-under 66 Kennedy was just three shots off the lead held by Imahira but was denied the chance to progress further up the leaderboard.
An eagle on the par-5 18th hole in the opening round saw Kennedy go into round two in a tie for 10th and he was blemish-free on Friday, a run of three straight birdies contributing to a front nine of 31 where he needed just 11 putts.
Kennedy wasn’t the only Australasian player disappointed by the premature end to the tournament.
One shot back of Kennedy in a tie for 12th was Aussie trio Brendan Jones, Adam Bland and David Bransdon along with Kiwi Michael Hendry while Victorian Matthew Griffin was a further shot back in a tie for 21st.
Jones made the greatest move from the first round to the second, climbing from a tie for 48th to 12th courtesy of five birdies and a chip-in eagle at the par-5 16th in a 7-under 64.
| Japan Golf Tour | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgestone Open | |||
| Sodegaura Country Club, Chiba Prefecture | |||
| T6 | Brad Kennedy | 68-66—134 | ¥2,394,375 |
| T12 | David Bransdon | 68-67—135 | ¥1,448,333 |
| T12 | Brendan Jones | 71-64—135 | ¥1,448,333 |
| T12 | Adam Bland | 70-65—135 | ¥1,448,333 |
| T12 | Michael Hendry | 67-68—135 | ¥1,448,333 |
| T21 | Matthew Griffin | 69-67—136 | ¥915,000 |
| T41 | Won Joon Lee | 73-67—140 | ¥307,500 |
| T51 | Dylan Perry | 72-69—141 | ¥192,250 |
| MC | Anthony Quayle | 71-72—143 | |
Victorian David McKenzie may have to delay his planned return back to Australia after finishing runner-up at the Champions Tour’s SAS Championship in North Carolina.
Struggling off the tee all day, McKenzie bogeyed the opening hole of the day but gave an indication of what was to come when he chipped in for birdie at the par-3 third and made three further birdies to make the turn at 3-under.
He added two further birdies at 10 and 11 and when he chipped in again at the par-4 13th had a top-five finish in his sights.
His eighth birdie of the day came at the par-4 15th and when McKenzie holed his bunker shot at the par-5 17th he moved to within just one shot of Jerry Kelly at the top of the leaderboard, a regulation par at the final hole keeping him from forcing a playoff at Prestonwood Country Club.
Sitting 48th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings at the beginning of the week, McKenzie was guaranteed a spot at the first event of the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs but is now right in the hunt to progress all the way through to the Charles Cup Schwab Championship for the top 36 in the year-long points race.
A third-place finisher on the Champions Tour three times previously, the 52-year-old will enter the playoffs in 37th position and facing the prospect of making some adjustments to his travel plans.
“I’ve still got my flight booked home after the tournament in LA,” McKenzie said of the Invesco QQQ Championship at Sherwood Country Club, the second event of the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs.
“It makes it nice and easy to hop on a plane and go home after LA but if it turns out that I get
to go to Phoenix, then I’ll change my plans and I’ll go to Phoenix.”
Despite such a stunning finish that yielded a cheque for $US184,800, McKenzie claimed that it was a fight with his driver all day long.
“I saw the left side of the golf course literally every hole except the first, where I hit it in the water,” the former bank teller explained.
“On the 12th I thought I hit it in the water on the right-hand side of 12, I hit it so far right.
“Every other hole I was on the left-hand side of the hole, left-hand side of the fairway.
“I was just trying to keep my head above water and it just turned out I made a couple of good putts.
“I think I hit three shots close, a couple of chip-ins, a couple of long putts, all of a sudden I’ve had a good score.”
In just his second Champions Tour start Rod Pampling began the final round tied with McKenzie in a tie for sixth but was unable to force his way into the playoffs. His tie for 12th lifted him 20 spots to 90th on the Charles Schwab Cup standings, the top 72 advancing to the opening playoffs event.
| Champions Tour | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SAS Championship | |||
| Prestonwood CC, Cary, North Carolina | |||
| 2 | David McKenzie | 69-69-63—201 | $US184,800 |
| T12 | Rod Pampling | 69-69-70—208 | $39,200 |
| T56 | Stephen Leaney | 73-72-73—218 | $4,305 |
