Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Damon Stephenson rattled around Windaroo Lakes golf course the day’s equal-low round, a 66, to seize control of the Queensland PGA Associate Championship today.
Queenslander Stephenson had six birdies, an eagle at the short par-4 eighth hole and a lone bogey in his 7-under round, having started the day in a tie for the lead with Canadian Adam Migur.
Through 36 holes he is 9-under overall and four shots clear of the Melbourne-based Migur at 5-under.
Queenslander Joshua Holbrook also shot a 66 today and leapt into a tie for third at 4-under with Victorian Joel Mitchell (68 today) in the 72-hole event.
Stephenson, 32, played both the WA PGA and the WA Open on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia this month and his missed cut at Mandurah in the Open meant that he was able to race back to Queensland to compete this week.
“A couple of dramas but I think yeah, maybe a blessing and a curse in hindsight,” he said of his performance in WA. “But yeah, I’ve had a good two weeks been playing pretty solid, pretty consistent. It was good to be back out there on the main tour playing against world-class players really and skills are great for the last two weeks so I feel like that’s made me sort of look at where I need to get to and kind where I’m at now. But it’s been nice come back with the associates being in the mix again, top of leaderboard.”
The quality of players on the main tour has inspired him to get better. ”I mean you see the scores and you realise the quality of play out there, so it is just about getting to that next level. Elvis Smylie shooting 20 or 21 under at Mandurah and Jack Buchanan shooting 20 under the week before. So it is mid-60s every round for four days if you’re going to compete and shooting 2-under or 1-under doesn’t really get it done.”
PHOTO: Damon Stephenson on his way to a 66 today.
Rising Australian star Karl Vilips is in discussions with local golf authorities about a homecoming for the two major events of the summer.
Rookie professional Vilips, 22, said today he was keen to play the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland and the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Melbourne if he can fit them into his schedule.
By then, he might well be a PGA Tour player, such is the speed of his elevation.
And he will expect to hear the usual chants from the bleachers, the same ones he heard when he was walking up to the 18th green at Oakridge Country Club last Sunday as he secured his first professional win on the Korn Ferry Tour.
That’s the Koala Karl chant, which channels the nickname applied to Vilips since he emerged as a phenomenal child talent in Australia, and more recently his Instagram handle.
“I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” he said of the label. “It’s kind of who I’ve been my whole life. Walking up the 18th last week they’re announcing your name and I heard the Koala Karl chants. I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. It also helps that I could make a bogey and win!”
Vilips has lived in the US for some years having shifted there for high school, and his last competitive start in his home country was five years ago at the Junior Presidents Cup in Melbourne. But he hopes to change all that over the next few months.
“I’ve been looking into playing the Australian Open and the PGA, speaking with the Golf Australia team about that and I should have spots in those,” he said today. “I don’t know how a schedule looks for the PGA Tour. I hope that I have time to come back home.”
The BMW Australian PGA Championship is from 21-24 November this year in Brisbane, with Min Woo Lee one of the first big names to commit. It is followed from 28 November-1 December by the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Kingston Heath and Victoria golf clubs in Melbourne.
Vilips, a golfing prodigy who grew up in Melbourne and Perth, is back on the Korn Ferry Tour this weekend having secured his first win at just his sixth start as a professional.
Having finished runner-up on the KFT the week before, he is now primed to pick up a PGA Tour card for 2025 by finishing inside the top 30 on the points list for that tour.
His Australian coach for the past four years is Col Swatton, for so long Jason Day’s mentor.
“He’s been able to teach me so much about the game and what it takes to improve on your own because obviously I don’t get to see him too much,” said Vilips.
He’s playing again this week on the Korn Ferry Tour, having won at his fourth start on the tour and just his sixth as a pro. He’s 15th on the points list, with the top 30 at season’s end in October picking up PGA Tour cards.
“The last two weeks have been a little bit surprising, being able to win so quickly,” he said.
PHOTO: Karl Vilips is a star of the future … and the now. Image: Getty
The 2024 Coca-Cola Invitational Event series are back and they are better than ever! Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) are dedicated to supporting the golf industry by sharing insights, trends and expertise across key industry topics including retail merchandising and sales.
CCEP are once again delivering a 90-minute education session where they will share their knowledge with our members, hoping to assist golf facilities nationwide to enhance their revenue and profitability.
Following the seminar, attendees will head out on course for an 18-Hole Stableford competition. Professionals will compete in the ‘State PGA Club Professional Championship’ and Amateurs will compete for prizes.
The “State PGA Club Professional Championship” title and associated prize money will be open to Full Vocational/Life Member’s of the PGA who are engaged in lead professional roles (Head Professional, Director of Golf, Golf Operations Manager, General Manager) at a club or facility in their applicable state or territory. First place in each state will receive $1,500, with the runner up receiving $500. To view the full eligibility requirements and conditions of competition, please click here.
Each event will follow a similar schedule as outlined below:
9:00am Registration & Networking
9:30am CCEP Address and Education Session
11:00am Questions and Feedback
11:30am Lunch
12:30pm Coca-Cola Invitational State Events (18-hole stableford)
5:00pm Presentations inc Drinks & Canapés
6:00pm Event Close
On behalf of the PGA and Coca Cola Europacific Partners, we do hope you are able to attend.
Event Schedule:
QLD Coca-Cola Invitational: Tuesday 16th July at Lakelands Golf Club
NSW/ACT Coca-Cola Invitational: Friday 2nd August at Stonecutters Ridge Golf Club
VIC Coca-Cola Invitational: Friday 6th September at Woodlands Golf Club
SA Coca-Cola Invitational: Friday 20th September at Stirling Golf Club
WA Coca-Cola Invitational: To be confirmed
Lucas Herbert completed the Bendigo region double on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series with a runaway win in the Symes Motors Axedale BMW Pro-Am today.
A day after shooting an equal course record 9-under-par 61 to claim the pro-am at his junior club, Neangar Park, Herbert flirted with a 59 before carding a 7-under-62 to beat fellow Victorians Cameron Kelly and Euan Walters by four shots.
The Axedale victory was a first for the 27-year-old who ran third and seventh in his previous appearances.
HOW THE WINNING SCORE UNFOLDED
Preparing for the LIV Adelaide event later this month, Herbert was 7-under through 11 holes but his bid for a 59, to match the Axedale record held by Kris Mueck, was halted by pars on 12, 13, 14 and 16.
A bogey on the par-4 17th ended up costing him back-to-back 61s to celebrate his return home.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“Today was solid. Similar to yesterday I thought I played reasonable enough and made some pretty good putts,” Herbert said.
“It’s tricky around here. You can get yourself in some tough positions very easily.
“I managed to avoid as many of those as possible and put some numbers on the board which was nice.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-7: Lucas Herbert (Vic)
-3: Cameron Kelly (Vic), Euan Walters (Vic)
-2: Michael Choi (Vic)
-1: Roland Baglin (Vic)
NEXT UP
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series stops off in Leeton in NSW for the two-day Leeton Golf Club SunRice Pro-Am this weekend.
Married for less than a year and with a baby on the way, today was a great time for Ben Wharton to find his putting game at 13th Beach Golf Links.
The Victorian was one of the big movers in the morning groups in the third round of the $420,000 Vic Open, posting a 7-under-par 65, including six consecutive threes on the back nine of the Beach Course.
Moving to 9-under after 54 holes, four from the leaders Nick Voke and Kade McBride, has set up the possibility of his best cheque on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
A runner-up in the 2021 NT PGA Championship, Wharton currently sits in 80th place on this season’s Order of Merit.
His charge up the leaderboard actually started late in the second round when he had four birdies on his second nine on the Creek Course to make the cut by just two shots.
“It was nice to hole a few putts. It’s been a long time coming,” he said.
“I seem to hit every green in regulation every time I play and walk off with 34 putts.
“It’s been nice today to see a few go in.”
The 36-year-old has had significant life changes recently with more to come, including building on his coaching career and preparing for the birth of his first child with wife Katherine after their wedding in the Yarra Valley last May.
“It’s been a little more stressful to honest, trying to make a quid,” Wharton said of playing professionally with the extra responsibilities in his personal life.
“We’re trying to get a mortgage sorted and there’s a baby on the way.
“There’s a lot more grown up things I have to do along the way.”
An ambassador for Moonah Links Golf Club, Wharton was spurred along to his low round of the year by his playing partners Peter Wilson and Jason Norris, who during the round set a group target of birdies to help inspire their mate.
The goal was 15 and they finished on 12. Next week they’ll live together in the same house at Webex Players Series Sydney.
“They definitely helped me today,” he said.
“It was great to have their support when they knew I’d got off to a good start.
“As I was rolling along, I reminisced about a day I played with Brad Kennedy a couple of years ago when he shot 7-under and catapulted to the top five.
“I thought ‘the lead’s only 9-under if I can do that I can get up near the lead which would be a cool thing to do’ and that’s how it’s panned out at the moment.”
The PGA Careers in Golf Open Day will return this year, showcasing everything a career in golf has to offer.
The PGA Careers in Golf Open Day will return this year, showcasing everything a career in golf have to offer.
The Golf Learning Hub at Sandhurst will again open its doors on September 23 to highlight the PGA’s education offerings.
However you want your career in golf to look, the PGA Institute, the Membership Pathway Program and the PGA Academy are here to make it happen.
This year’s open day will provide you with an insight into each of the educational offerings and will also allow you to experience the fantastic facilities on offer for students at the Learning Hub.
By attending, you will also have the opportunity to speak with past and current students and get a sense of where these educational programs can take you.
Offering Australia’s ONLY Diploma of Golf Management, the PGA Institute provides an unrivalled golf-education program. It combines golf management, business and practical golf training to leave graduates best-placed to thrive in their own golfing career.
At the open day, you will have the chance to chat to past and current students, who are setting themselves up for success at the PGA Institute.
What can I study?
One of the world’s most respected golf training programs, the Membership Pathway (MPP) provides a valuable platform to attain the training and education required to become a PGA Professional – Australia’s accredited experts in golf.
For anyone keen to turn their passion for golf into a rewarding career in the industry, the MPP provides real-life skills in the workplace, in addition to undertaking a nationally recognised diploma.
At the Open Day, you will meet:
The PGA Academy boasts a high quality team of PGA qualified coaches and the latest in golf performance technology to take your game to the next level. In addition to coaching services, the PGA Academy offers the Golf Performance Program and the Train Like A Tour Program.
At the Open Day you can…
If you are thinking about coming along to the open day, RSVP now.
We look forward to seeing you on September 23, as you come and learn how to tee up your career in golf!
The PGA Golf Learning Hub is based at Sandhurst Club, 75 Sandhurst Blvd, Sandhurst VIC 3977
The 2023 Coca-Cola Invitational Event series will incorporate an Education Seminar focusing on sharing CCEP’s industry knowledge highlighting the importance of planning to assist golf facilities to grow revenues and profitability.
The focus will be on value in the golf club and the general happenings within Golf. To plan for now, plan for the future and plan for the consumer so that the experience facilities are offering promotes return visitation and increased sales. The seminar will also focus on gaining key insights from the industry on CCEP promotional campaigns and how CCEP can support the industry to retain the current growth in golf. Industry Leaders will also be invited to take part in a panel to showcase their business and strategies they have implemented over the last 12 months.
The Education Seminar will consist of a three-part program, with a CCEP address, Industry Leader Panel Discussion and a time for CCEP to gain feedback & understanding from the industry.
Following the seminar attendees will head out on course for an 18-Hole Stableford competition
Each event will follow a similar schedule as outlined below:
9:00am Registration
9:15am Welcome
9:30am CCEP Address
10:15am Industry Leaders Forum (Panel Discussion)
11:00am Questions and Feedback
11:45am Lunch
12:15pm DIFJ Putting Competition – don’t forget your entry donation!
12:30pm CCEP Invitational State Events (18-hole stableford)
5:00pm Presentations, Drinks & Canapés
Any specific requirements will be communicated to attendees.
Haydn Barron has set a personal goal of making himself proud as the Australian prepares for his major championship debut at the Open Championship this week.
The 27-year-old Barron, from Perth, played his way into the 151st Open by claiming the last of three spots available from the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Victoria last December – completing the coup with a hole-out eagle from a greenside bunker at the 72nd hole.
Ensconced in the Liverpool area since late last week, he knows this is his big moment, but he also wants to keep proper perspective.
“I’ve been working diligently the last few months of removing outcomes from my mindset,” he said this week.
“The main word I’m looking for is identity. ‘How does Haydn Barron tackle certain situations?’ Not if the outcome turns this way, how do I react?
“At the end of the day if it goes one way or the other it just matters how I handle it, more so than what the actual result is and I’ll learn and grow from every experience. I’m not putting an outcome on this week at all.
“I’m going to tackle it with the best mentality that I can every day, and do the best I can every day. Whatever will be will be, and as long as I’m proud of myself at the end of the week, that’s my main goal.”
Barron has his parents, coach Craig Bishop and partner Julia in tow this week and has already had a few practice rounds at Liverpool to reacquaint himself with links golf.
The atmosphere is on another level; on Monday, he was surprised to be afforded a round of applause from spectators when he teed off at Royal Liverpool’s first hole. But he feels ready. “It’s only as big as you make it in your head,” he said.
Royal Liverpool presents its own challenges, too. In 60km/h winds on Monday he played the par-3 sixth hole and was aiming 40 metres right of the green. “Over here, you kind of have to hit the shot that it calls for even if you’re uncomfortable with it. At home we don’t get those crazy conditions. It’s windy at home but the wind’s never to the point where you can’t move the ball against it.”
It’s a long way to have come from the days in 2020 when he rather famously returned to his Western Australian Golf Club to work as a greenkeeper because there was nowhere for him to play.
“Coming from the greenkeeper days, I’m still loving it,” he said. “I was talking to a few of the greenkeepers out there the other day and chatting to them about how they were doing particular things. It’s something I’ve definitely still got an interest in I love how they go about things. I’m still doing my best to rake the bunkers perfectly and filling in my divots to make sure everyone’s happy.’’
PHOTO: Haydn Barron is playing his first major at 27.
MyGolf, Australian golf’s junior introductory program supported by Golf Australia and the PGA of Australia, has completed a record year, highlighted by more than 30,000 registrations, with the vast majority of children signing up for the first time.
MyGolf provides golf lessons for kids and encourages giving golf a go through games-based activity while having fun and making friends along the way.
In the 2022/23 financial year, MyGolf experienced a 22% growth in registrations with 429 facilities across the country delivering the program for a total of 33,093 registrations.
The percentage of girls participating in MyGolf has reached a record level, and now accounts for 32% of the overall numbers, an increase of 24% of registrations on last year.
MyGolf Schools, which creates an opportunity for kids to get their first golf experience in the backyard of their own school, has also reached new heights
The past 12 months saw a record number of 56,942 students engage in the schools program through the sporting school funding grants.
These experiences were delivered across 633 programs, another record, placing golf in the top 10 sports delivered through sporting schools.
Golf Australia General Manager – Golf Participation David Gallichio said the growth shown by both MyGolf and MyGolf Schools was a great sign for the future of the game.
“We have more kids than ever giving golf a go, being outdoors and having fun with their friends, which is very pleasing to see,” he said.
“As well as our participant numbers reaching new heights, there has also been the highest uptake ever of facilities providing MyGolf programs across the country.
“Our thanks go to everyone who has played a role in a record-breaking 12 months for MyGolf and MyGolf Schools.”
For more on MyGolf, go to www.golf.org.au/mygolf.
The wheel turns slowly but surely.
Four years ago now, Hannah Green rolled up at the Women’s PGA Championship, checked into a share house with Karrie Webb among others, and duly won her first major championship.
Out on the putting green when she holed out for par to beat the world No. 1 Sung Hyun Park, Green was drenched with beer by a bunch of her housemates that included Karrie Webb Scholarship holders Grace Kim and Becky Kay, and no less a figure than Webb herself.
This week Green returns to the women’s PGA Championship, the second major of the 2023 season, with good form to show and with two new Webb Scholarship girls in tow – Queenslander Justice Bosio and Western Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard.
That pair of gifted, young players will draw knowledge and experience from Webb this week but also from Green, Minjee Lee and the other Australian stars teeing it up in the $US9 million event.
It’s all part of the mentoring that Golf Australia employs for players in its High Performance squads, connecting young and talented amateurs with touring professionals.
Cameron Smith also does it with young male players, most recently with Jeff Guan and Joseph Buttress at the US Open last week, Geoff Ogilvy’s foundation is devoted to it, and it happens around the world in less formal circumstances, with young players practicing and hanging out with their older peers.
And Green is most surely a wisened pro at 26. She’s battled through her early years as a pro, lonely on the road and struggling for form.
She has solved those particularly issues by travelling regularly back to her beloved Perth, and learned that while it might not help her bank balance or her accumulation of points, it helps her to play better when she returns.
Green goes to New Jersey this week having won an LPGA tournament in Los Angeles in April, with confidence in her stride. She’s also proud to have seen her friend Grace Kim, now an LPGA rookie, win her first tournament on the biggest women’s tour in the world.
“I do think we feed off each other’s successes,” she told Golf WA. “You always want an Australian to do well but you also want to be that Australian who’s up there.
“Seeing Grace Kim winning in Hawaii [at the LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship] a few weeks earlier had a big impact. I was so proud of her because the win came so early in her career, but it made me want to win a trophy even.”
Perth’s Green is one of eight Australians playing at Baltusrol in New Jersey this week, including world No. 5 Lee who is yet to win on tour this year. Green told Golf WA recently that she felt comfortable out on tour again after some time at home with coach Ritchie Smith and sports scientist Ryan Lumsden.
“Having spent time with Ritchie and Ryan I feel like I’m in a much better place. I definitely want to continue winning and I’m really excited about the next stretch of events, including the four majors.
“I want to say that I could win a couple more events before I next come home but with the level of golf on tour, it’s so hard to win. If that doesn’t happen, hopefully I’ll just be playing good golf.”
In Connecticut, Min Woo Lee got a late call-up to the Travelers Championship worth $US20 million and he gets another opportunity to secure his playing rights in America for 2024.
Lee is already a Special Temporary Member of the US Tour for the rest of this season, giving him unlimited invitations to play.
But if he can accumulate more Fedex Cup points than the 125th player this season, he is automatically upgraded for next season with full playing rights.
Currently he has 313 points, well ahead of the 125th-ranked player. The 24-year-old Lee, who finished in the top 10 at the US Open thus securing his place in the field for the Travelers, is currently a full member of the DP World Tour and in the top five on the points list on that tour.
PHOTO: Hannah Green has already won on the tour this year. Image: Getty
Tee times AEST
LPGA Tour
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, NJ
TV Fox 505: – Friday 23/06 2am: Live R1 – Friday 23/06 7am: Live R1 – Saturday 24/06 2am: Live R2 – Saturday 24/06 7am: Live R2 – Sunday 25/06 1am: Live R3 – Monday 26/06 1am: Live FR/R4 Kayo: – Friday – Monday: 5AM
PGA Tour
Travelers Championship TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut, USA.
DP World Tour
BMW International Open Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany.
Ladies European Tour
Tipsport Czech Ladies Open Royal Beroun Golf Club
Legends Tour
Irish Legends Seapoint Golf Links, Co Louth, Ireland
Japan Tour
Japan Players Championship Nishi Nasuno Country Club
Korn Ferry Tour
Compliance Solutions Championship Jimmie Austin Ou Golf Club, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
Challenge Tour
Blot Open De Bretagne Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André, Pléneuf, France.
PGA Champions Tour
DICK’S Sporting Goods Open En-Joie GC, Endicott, New York, USA.
Epson Tour
Island Resort Championship Harris, Michigan, USA
PGA Tour Latinoamerica
Jalisco Open GDL Atlas CC, Guadalajara, Mexico
PGA Tour Canada
Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open presented by Brandt Elk Ridge Resort – Tournament Course, Waskesiu Lake, SK, Canada
Asian Tour
The 65th Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship Woo Jeong Hills Country Club
