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The only player to win the Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship and Australian Masters past the age of 50 has been at it again.
Playing in the Friday competition at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club, the ageless Peter Senior shot 7-under 63 on the Palms Course, with a back-nine of 6-under 30.
Due to turn 65 on July 31, it marks the first time that Senior has broken his age.
Playing off a handicap of +3.3, Senior’s round added up to 40 Stableford points, only good enough for runner-up in A Grade.
A winner of 35 tournaments on major tours around the world, Senior has the distinction of winning in five separate decades, a feat achieved by very few in world golf.
His first victory on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia came at the 1979 Dunhill South Australian Open, what would be the first of 21 on his home tour spanning 36 years.
In the summer of 1989, Senior won the Australian PGA Championship, Australian Open and Johnnie Walker Classic.
He won the Australian PGA for a third time at age 51, won a second Australian Open at the age of 53 and won a third Australian Masters yellow jacket by holding off Andrew Evans, John Senden and a young American amateur by the name of Bryson DeChambeau at Huntingdale in 2015.
Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
It’s a question that even Wayne Perske’s father had to ask, and who is still unsure of the answer he was given. Geoff Ogilvy gave him a quizzical look when Perske mentioned during the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in November that he was contemplating entering All Abilities tournaments in 2024.
So why is a former touring professional with a Japan Golf Tour win and an appearance at The Open Championship teeing it up in a tournament with eight others for no prize money?
The same reason others have been drawn to play Webex All Abilities Players Series events.
“Purpose,” said Perske, who will make his All Abilities debut at the Webex Players Series Murray River this weekend at Cobram Barooga Golf Club.
Accompanying Perske on his return to tournament golf is his wife Vanessa, who will juggle duties as both his caddie and carer.
Even before hitting his first shot, Vanessa has seen something return that has been lacking since he was forced to retire from professional golf at the end of 2015.
“Just to get out of bed for Wayne now, he’s got this little burning passion deep down,” Vanessa adds.
“It’s nice to have that spark back in him. He’s got that little twinkle in his eye again. It’s fun.”
‘Tiger’s had one, I’ve had four’
This is not a story of an old pro with a crook back looking to recapture former glories.
Perske was born with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine not conducive to hitting thousands of golf balls a day.
After his second spinal fusion, Perske was told to never play golf again; his fourth was just 18 months ago.
It is a condition that has plagued him throughout his career and put a strain on his family.
Picking up his kids – now 17 and 18 – was fraught with danger; bending down to put a cup in the dishwasher could cause such pain that he would be laid up for days.
Wayne would spend family holidays lying in bed while Vanessa and the kids explored. They have recently downsized to an apartment in Brisbane so maintaining a lawn is not a family concern.
“Bulging discs, ruptured discs, bone-on-bone, bits of disc floating in the spinal column, nitrogen bubbles. It got to the point where I would twist and I could hear it,” Perske explains.
“Then nerve stuff. I started to have a drop-foot. I was falling over because I couldn’t lift my leg properly.
“They had to relieve that nerve pain by doing a fusion but where they fused wasn’t actually where the pain was coming from. They had to go in again but from the front because it was quite low.
“They cut me from the belly button down to my groin. They take your guts out; slap it on a thing beside you and they drill into your spine from the front.
“About halfway through the operation, I was bleeding quite badly so they had to abandon it.
“When I came out of that surgery, not only did I have to recover from the trauma of surgery from the front, but the back pain was worse.”
Ultimately, Perske would go under the knife for a third time to have four rails inserted that stretch from the base of his spine to halfway up his back, held together by eight screws.
“I’ve now got four fusions in my spine. Tiger had one fusion, I’ve got four,” he adds.
‘It was a dilemma for me’
The idea of playing in All Abilities tournaments was first sparked in Perske by watching the 2022 Australian All Abilities Championship at Victoria Golf Club.
It was a new avenue into a world that he formerly inhabited and which is becoming more and more populated by outstanding golfers playing in events all around the world.
After making contact with Golf Australia, he was assigned National Eligibility Assessor Sam Taylor, who conducted a physical assessment to ensure that Perske met the minimum impairment criteria set by the International Golf Federation (IGF).
After this physical examination, Perske was determined to meet the minimum impairment criteria for a World Ranking Pass (WR4GD).
Then it was a matter of making it public.
“I was a little anxious in terms of a lot of people who don’t know the full story,” Perske admits.
“People on Facebook just know me from my previous careers as an elite professional and now a coach.
“I post something about my back operation, people say ‘Get well soon’, but they don’t really understand the extent of it. They still expect me to shoot really good scores. And to be honest, I still have that expectation that I’m going to go out and hopefully win.
“I just want to get out there and enjoy it without the expectation of performance.
“It’s always going to be there, underlying, so it’s a dilemma for me.”
Yet while he can’t deny the competitive instinct that fuelled his former playing career, Perske wants to impact All Abilities golf in a broader sense.
He has signed on as the Touring Professional for Gunabul Homestead in Gympie that caters specifically to All Abilities golfers, has sponsorship deals with Wellness Group Australia and CRE Insurance and is playing Wilson Staff golf clubs.
Combined with his coaching commitments at Golf24 in Brisbane, Perske wants to leverage his past to give others a prosperous future in golf.
“Once I was told that I don’t have to feel guilty, that I do have a significant impairment that stops me from playing with the big boys, why not play?” Perske says.
“And now I see myself as potentially raising the profile of that area of golf.
“Events such as the Webex Players Series are amazing and probably the future of golf in Australia with the inclusion of women, juniors and All Abilities players.
“The vibe around here is amazing and I hope I can be part of making it even bigger and better.”
For the third straight year, Yarra Yarra Golf Club’s course record fell on day three of the Sandbelt Invitational.
However, despite Brett Coletta, Phoenix Campbell and Sarah Hammett all etching their name on a brand new honour board in the clubhouse, Daniel Gale still leads by four with 18 holes to play.
Coletta and Campbell signed for 63s to knock off David Micheluzzi’s 64, with the pair of record setters sitting eight-under overall and only behind Lachlan Barker on 11-under and Gale at 15-under. Meanwhile Hammett’s 66 sees here just one back of Jazy Roberts on seven-under in the low women’s amateur category.
Enduring two suspensions due to electrical storms, Gale clearly felt no hindrance from the stop-start nature of Wednesday’s play, although the wind whipping up as he finished his third round saw him drop shots at the par-4 12th and 18th. The bogeys giving Barker and the rest of the chasing pack some semblance of hope as they head to Royal Melbourne (East) for the final day.
Gale happy with his position but far from getting ahead of himself as he chases what he called “nice Chrissie bonus” a day earlier.
“I mean it’s the position you want to be in,” he said.
“That’s what all the hard work’s for, it’s just another day of golf really. I’ve never seen the East, so I will do a little research tonight, see if there’s anything here or there that I can pick up heading into tomorrow.”
Similarly experiencing the East Course for the first time will be Barker, who for the third straight day will play with Gale.
The South Australian continuing to look comfortable on the Sandbelt despite lacking familiarity, his five-birdie day at Yarra Yarra only spoiled by a dropped shot at the uphill 16th. Barker’s main round three takeaway being his mental strength on a somewhat difficult day.
“Got off to a pretty hot start,” Barker said. “Then we had a little bit of adversity, which I think I handled quite well.
“Little bit of mental fortitude, and sort of more accepting attitude sort of helped.”
That mental fortitude includes a mantra of “keep doing what I’m doing” on the final day, when he and Gale’s friendly dynamic of the week and pushing each other along might change if things get tight on the back nine.
“He’s a good fella. I’m pretty casual, but he’s probably got me on the casual side of things. We are keeping it cool, calm and collected out there. It’s good fun,” Gale said.
“We’ve been feeding off each other. It’s good to see, it’s been great golf.”
Great golf it has been, including from Campbell who was wary not to get too far ahead of himself over his pursuit of Gale.
“Can’t think about it too much, I’ve just got to think about my own game and if I can roll a few putts in and stay patient I might be a red hot chance,” Campbell said.
Gale similarly unable to be drawn in by questions of what it might feel like to hold the trophy aloft tomorrow
“After the 72nd hole, and if I’m in the lead, that’s when I will be thinking about it.”
PHOTO: Daniel Gale on his way to a 66 at Yarra Yarra today.
Nudgee Golf Club and Yarrawonga-Mulwala Golf Club have both overcome slow starts to complete wire-to-wire wins at The Scramble Championship Final at Sanctuary Cove.
Both Nudgee (Women’s Scramble) and Yarrawonga (Mixed Scramble) began the third and final rounds at The Palms Golf Course at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club with slightly more than a five-shot advantage.
It would prove to be a crucial buffer as contenders threw down the gauntlet throughout the front nine.
Led by 2016 champion with Balaklava Golf Club, PGA Professional Chris Duke, the Nudgee women’s team of Lisa-Maree Jones, Lara Forster, Wendy Edmiston and Brooke O’Keeffe saw their overnight lead eaten away as both Mosman Park Golf Club and Lucindale Country Club made their charge.
After kicking off their final round with ‘Red’ by Taylor Swift, the team switched the playlist mid-round to AC/DC.
It helped to ignite a charge around the turn that saw them return a score of 61 for nett 55.3 and a total of 48.1-under par for the three days and a three-shot win. With a nett score of 53 in Round 3, Lucindale claimed second spot at 45-under par with Mosman Park third at 41.4-under.
With just two birdies in their first eight holes, the Nudgee team needed a spark as they moved into the back nine.
They got a boost with a birdie for a nett eagle on nine and then made eagle when Brooke chipped in from 40 metres out at the par-5 10th.
“There was a bit of indecision about clubs and the like,” Chris said of their third shot on 10.
“Brooke stepped up and said she would go first and proceeded to chip it straight in.
“Never looked like missing as soon as it left the clubface.”
“I used a sand wedge and thought that there was a little ridge behind the hole so I could be aggressive because if it went long it was going to roll back,” said Brooke.
“Checked perfectly, released and straight in the centre of the cup. Best shot all day.”
Yarrawonga, too, answered the challenge laid down by Ulverstone Golf Club and Kooindah Waters Golf Club with a timely eagle on 10.
With four holes to play, the team of PGA Associate Dale Crothers, Fletcher Kelly, Jason Hanson and Scott and Lachie Thom trailed Koondah Waters by 1.8 shots. They then made birdie for a nett eagle on the par-4 15th and converted Dale’s tee shot to 10 feet for birdie at the par-3 16th.
With three nett eagles and a nett birdie in their final five holes, Ulverstone set the mark in the clubhouse at 59.7-under par.
Although he didn’t tell his team-mates, Dale knew that their lead was just 0.3 of a shot standing on the 18th tee but the leading team all week completed their victory in style, making birdie for a nett eagle and a total for the three days of 62-under par for a win by 2.3 shots.
Dale is a two-time Victoria/Tasmania PGA Associate champion but said that there was something special about winning in a team of boys spread along the Murray River.
“Jason has been into me all week about that, he thinks this is the biggest win of my career now,” said Dale.
“Definitely the most fun. Sanctuary Cove has put on a really good show for us so pretty happy to come out of it with a win with the guys.”
In the Women’s Consolation Final, Rossdale Golf Club’s nett score of 56.8 saw them pip defending champions Launceston by just 0.3 of a shot with Muirfield Golf Club third with a score of 57.9.
In The Scramble Consolation Final, Portsea Golf Club’s nett score of 51.6 saw them finish a shot clear of Townsville Golf Club (52.7) with Geelong Golf Club (53.2) snatching third from Meadowbrook Golf Club by just 0.1 of a shot.
Nudgee Golf Club and Yarrawonga-Mulwala Golf Club will try to go wire-to-wire at the Women’s Scramble and Championship Final respectively at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on Thursday.
Leading by two shots each after the opening round, Nudgee and Yarrawonga both extended their advantage on their respective leaderboards to more than five shots in Wednesday’s second round at The Palms Golf Course at Sanctuary Cove.
The leaders of the Women’s Scramble Championship Final by two after Round 1, Nudgee (pictured) matched their round of 16.7-under 53.3 on day two to be 33.4-under par ahead of the third and final round on Thursday.
Lucindale Country Club (54) are their nearest challengers 5.4 shots back with Mosman Park Golf Club (55.2) making birdie on their final hole to snatch the third and final spot inside the cut-line by 0.2 of a shot from Rossdale Golf Club.
Highlighted by a holed bunker shot by Lara Forster for a nett albatross at the par-5 14th and a superb birdie from Wendy Edmiston at the par-3 third, Nudgee had 11-under off the stick on Wednesday to move further ahead.
Starting from the par-4 11th, the Nudgee team began with seven straight threes to start their second round.
A nett eagle at the par-5 first was followed by three further birdies before the finished with a nett eagle at the par-4 ninth and birdie at the par-5 10th.
They picked up three shots with their eagle on 14, PGA Professional Chris Duke revealing that they discussed whether taking their third shot from the bunker was the right play.
“We were debating whether or not we should play it out of the bunker or play a wedge shot in,” Duke said.
“I just said to the girls, ‘You’ve got this, you’ve played plenty of bunker shots so let’s give it a go.’
“I had to check before we played the shot on whether we could rake bunker in between shots. We were told that we couldn’t and then Lara stepped up and holed it.
“Definitely a good boost that one.”
Leaders by two after posting 22-under in Round 1, Yarrawonga went out in an adjusted score of 12-under on Wednesday morning and then played the back nine in 9-under to finish day two at 43-under par, 5.2 shots clear of Ulverstone Golf Club (52.1) from Tasmania.
Led by prolific PGA Legends Tour winner Chris Taylor, Hervey Bay Golf Club moved up 10 spots in Round 2 with a score of 49.1, pipped by Yarrawonga by 0.1 of a shot for the best of the day.
In danger of missing the 36-hole cut after a score of 54.1 in Round 1, Hervey Bay went out in 10-under in ideal conditions, coming home with four nett eagles in their final 10 holes to put themselves in championship contention.
Needing to take the final drive of Brook Combes on the par-4 18th, Hervey Bay benefited from a stroke of good luck when his tee shot bounced clear of the trees flanking the right side of the fairway.
Taylor called upon all of his tournament experience to hit the approach shot from the rough to just four feet, the birdie putt dropping for a final nett eagle at the second attempt.
“On the last two holes we had to take both of Brook’s drives,” Taylor said.
“He leaked it a little bit to the right on the wind on 18 but we were fortunate enough that it got through the trees and we got away with it.
“I said to the boys after Round 1 not to be disheartened because they don’t give out trophies until the final day.
“Every team wants to come here and win but it is such a great week.”
Two-under through four holes, Ulverstone entered the mix by tallying three nett eagles and two birdies to close out a front nine of 10-under.
Although they had pars on 10 and the par-3 16th, the team of PGA Professional Darren Spencer, Troy Purton, Lachlan Murfet, Ethan Miles and Jeremy Adams combined for a back nine of 7.9-under par to sit in second spot with one round to play.
At 36-under par, Willunga Golf Club is seven shots from the lead in fourth position followed closely by Yeppoon Golf Club (35.8 under), Cumberland Country Club (35.4 under) and Kooindah Waters Golf CLub (35.2 under).
Photo: Jason O’Brien
Nudgee Golf Club and Yarrawonga-Mulwala Golf Club will both take a two-shot advantage into day two of The Scramble Championship Final at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast.
Two nett eagles to start and four closing birdies gave Nudgee the Round 1 lead of the Women’s Scramble Championship Final as Yarrawonga tallied seven net eagles in their round to lead The Scramble Championship Final.
Led by PGA Professional Chris Duke, the team of Lisa-Maree Jones, Lara Forster, Wendy Edmiston and Brooke O’Keeffe had 11-under par off the stick for a 16.7-under par 53.3 total with their cumulative 5.7 handicap.
With shots on the two opening holes which they birdied, the Nudgee team were 4-under through two holes before coolling off slightly with four straight pars.
They would have only one par, though, in their final 12 holes, finishing with a flurry of four birdies on holes they did not get shots on.
They will start the second round on Wednesday 2.8 shots ahead of defending champions Launceston Golf Club (56.1) with less than a shot separating Lucindale Country Club (58), Mosman Park Golf Club (58.2) and Rossdale Golf Club (58.8).
“Definitely a nice way to start things off,” Chris Duke said of their two early birdies.
“We had a good practice round yesterday and had a good look at the course and it’s always nice to get off to a good, strong start to start the week off.”
Round 1 of The Scramble Championship Final is in the books 📙#SCF23 pic.twitter.com/fIa9OA2giy
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) December 5, 2023
Making full use of their combined handicap of nine, the Yarrawonga team of PGA Associate Dale Crothers, Fletcher Kelly, Jason Hanson, Lachlan Thompson and Scott Thompson made seven net eagles and eight further birdies for an adjusted total of 22-under par 48.
That gives them a 2.1-shot buffer from Tasmania’s Ulverstone Golf Club (50.1) with Kooindah Waters (50.4), Ballina (50.9), Willunga (51) and Concord (51.1) all well within reach heading into Round 2.
A two-time winner of the PGA Victorian/Tasmanian Associate Championship, Crothers was given the major credit for providing so many birdie opportunities but it was his amateur partners who delivered on the greens.
“I only had three putts for the day, one of which was from off the green so that shows how well these guys putted,” Crothers said.
“We had a good mix off the tee. Got them all done pretty early and from there our iron game was pretty good too.
“It was just a good all round team effort.”
Four teams had the rare feat of recording a nett albatross during their opening rounds.
Ulverstone and Concord both made eagles with a shot at the par-5 first, Bunbury made eagle at the par-5 14th while Willunga made eagle at the par-4 15th with a shot.
Round 2 of The Scramble Championship Final tees off at The Palms Golf Course at Sanctuary Cove from 7:15am Wednesday morning.
The Lucindale Golf Club team of Nicole Hocking, Michelle Justin, Kerry Gilkes and Sharon Menz will carry the hopes of an entire town when they contest the Championship Final of the Women’s Scramble starting Tuesday.
Six teams from across Australia have qualified for the three-round Women’s Scramble at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club with reigning champions Launceston Golf Club again represented, albeit with a different team.
It is a new-look team for Lucindale, too, who finished fourth last year and who qualified for the Championship Final once previously at Twin Waters Golf Club.
Nicole is the sole survivor from the Lucindale team who took part 12 months ago, representing a club of less than 100 members in a town of less than 300 people four hours south-east from Adelaide.
They have ridden the wave of Scramble Championship Finals in the past and would love nothing more than to welcome home a champion team in 2023.
“We’re only a very small town so everyone is very excited for us,” says Nicole.
For Sharon and Michelle, Championship Final qualification is the realisation of a dream more than a decade in the making.
The pair have both played out of Lucindale for close to 30 years and have advanced to Scramble Regional Finals four times in the past.
To now be on the Gold Coast in the plush surrounds of the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort is beyond what they had previously imagined.
“We were ecstatic. I was quite emotional,” Sharon says.
“It’s been a long time that Michelle and I have been playing in this and to get to the Final now is a real privilege.”
For a relative newcomer such as Kerry, The Scramble has given her the same sense of camaraderie that she enjoyed playing team sports.
“I joined about four years ago and for the last three years I’ve been playing fairly regularly,” adds Kerry.
“I came from team sports so for me it was the other way around, golf being an individual sport is quite tricky.
“I do enjoy this format; I just have to remember not to try too hard.”
After advancing to the Regional Final from their local event at their home club, the ladies from Lucindale were joined by Mount Gambier Professional, Craig Davis, for the Regional Final at Blackwood Golf Club.
Davis also played in the Mixed event that afternoon but was told prior to heading back out that he would have at least one team advancing to Sanctuary Cove.
“We actually won on a countback. We had 31 on the back nine and the other team had 35,” Nicole says.
Adds Michelle: “Craig played with us and then had to go out straight after and play in the Mixed that afternoon.
“He’d actually found out that we’d won it but he said to us that it was going to be close.
“We were left to wait and see, which was nice.
“Now we just hope it will be third time lucky!”
Rossdale Golf Club will begin the Women’s Scramble at 8.55am on Tuesday morning with the Lucindale team third off at 9.15am at The Palms golf course.
To follow live scores, visit thescramble.com.au.
Four WA farmers have traded tractors for golf carts at The Scramble Championship Final on the Gold Coast, accompanied by the most fitting PGA Professional possible.
A PGA Member for more than 30 years, Mostyn Farmer was drafted in to join the Albany Golf Club team of Steven and Michael Long, George Liddiard and Nathan Willmott when the quartet qualified for the Regional Final at Araluen Country Club.
They arrived at the final hole with no option but to take George’s tee shot at the par-3 16th.
So nervous he mistakenly walked to the forward tee before realising his mistake, George stepped in and hit his shot to eight feet. He backed that up by draining the putt for birdie that would clinch their spot to a week-long celebration of golf at the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort and Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club.
“That was all he did all day!” Michael asserts.
The 26 teams taking part The Scramble Championship Final in both the Mixed and Womens divisions spent Monday afternoon playing a practice round at The Palms golf course, readying themselves for Round 1 on Tuesday morning.
Nathan and Michael left their harvest of wheat, canola and barley early to spend a week playing golf on the Gold Coast while Steve puts his attendance midway through the harvest down to a sympathetic boss who is a “golf tragic”.
For most teams, such as the four farmers from Western Australia, being here is the greatest victory of all.
“We were like, ‘Let’s be honest, if we fluke it, we fluke it’,” Michael says of their win by 0.1 point at Araluen.
“We all played the day before and pretty much shot 100. We thought we may as well go home,” George adds.
Making their qualification all the more remarkable is that fact that when the four do swap the farm for the fairways, they play on sand scrapes at Tambellup and Gnowangerup golf clubs four hours south-east of Perth.
Nathan was married three days before the Regional Final at Araluen, but first they needed a PGA Professional.
Which is where the fifth Farmer comes in.
“I was the Adopt-A-Pro for the second Albany team at Araluen. They picked me up on the roadside on the way past,” Mostyn jokes.
“Country guys are always pretty cool. I did a lot of teaching in the country when I was younger. Normally if they like their golf, they like a drink as well.”
As the resident Professional at the host club at Albany, Michael Draper had the option to represent the club at the Championship Final but stood aside so that Mostyn could attend for the first time.
“I’ve come quite close. Maybe 0.1 or it was eighths-of-a-point back then,” Mostyn recalls of his near-misses in previous Scrambles.
“We had the same situation one year. One guy had to hit the drive on the last but he didn’t do quite such a good a job as George and he cold-topped it off the tee and didn’t get past the ladies.
“We ended up making par on that hole at Joondalup and missed by point-nothing.
“It’s great to get to the final and come and be part of all of this.”
So do any team members feel guilty about ditching the farm at the busiest time of year for a week of golf and functions every night?
“The conscience is clear,” George insists.
Round 1 of The Scramble Championship Final tees off at 7:15am Tuesday morning at The Palms golf course at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club.
For live scores, visit thescramble.com.au.
Warren Mercer was crowned PGA Club Professional of the Year, Neil Crafter was inducted into the South Australian Golf Industry Hall of Fame and Barry Linke was recognised for his Excellence in Golf Course Management in a glittering function at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide.
Close to 250 guests from throughout South Australian golf were on hand to celebrate at the 2023 South Australian Golf Industry Awards Night where clubs and representatives from all over the state were acknowledged for the amazing work being done across all areas of the sport, from administrators to coaches, clubs and athletes.
The Grange Golf Club were the big winners on the night with not only Mercer honoured for his outstanding contribution as the club’s PGA Professional but long-time General Manager Barry Linke awarded for Excellence in Golf Club Management, Course Superintendent Rowan Daymond receiving the Excellence in Turf Management and the club itself being named South Australian Club of the Year.
The awards were presented in four categories: PGA of Australia, Golf Australia, Golf Management Australia – SA, and Turf Management SA (TMSA).
Two of the most prestigious awards presented were the induction of Neil Crafter into the South Australian Golf Industry Hall of Fame and the Service to the Industry Award presented to Lyn McGough of Kooyonga Golf Club.
Apart from his prowess in golf architecture, Crafter has been a stalwart of the game winning both junior and senior events at State and National level during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Both his father, Brian, and uncle, Murray, were professional golfers, and his sister Jane, turned professional in 1980.
Crafter was presented with his award by fellow Hall of Fame member John Crosby, whilst in attendance he was recognised in front of David Cherry and Bob Tuohy, also current Hall of Fame members.
McGough was recognised for her tireless work in golf over the past 40 years.
McGough is a member of Kooyonga Golf Club where she still represents at the highest level today, playing in their Sanderson Cup Pennant Team, who this year won the competition.
Employed at Mount Osmond Golf Club, McGough has also won a myriad of awards over the past 30 years and has continually been a role model and mentor for women and girls in golf and volunteers hours to the game to this day.
One of the standout award winners on the night was Sophie Hamdorf from Royal Adelaide Golf Club, named the TMSA Graduate of the Year award sponsored by Nuturf. It was a fitting reward for the hours Hamdorf has dedicated to her job and her career, contributing greatly to the continued success of Royal Adelaide.
Murray Bridge Golf Club was awarded the South Australian PGA Legends Pro-Am of the Year for the event held at their club during the summer of 2023 and the Willunga Golf Club was applauded by all attendees for the fantastic effort by all involved in hosting the recent Webex Player Series event on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
The club spent hours on course in the months leading up to the event to prepare the greens and fairways to a level that rivalled some of the best courses in SA.
2023 South Australian Golf Industry Award Winners
PGA Awards
Golf Australia (South Australia) Awards
Golf Management Australia – SA Award:
TMSA Awards
Laidback, easy-going party vibes will be coming to golf courses and facilities around Australia thanks to a new collaboration between the PGA of Australia, Golf Australia, and Southern Comfort.
Southern Comfort will become the exclusive Brown Spirits provider of the PGA of Australia, Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and Golf Australia, and the fourth partner to undertake a joint Australian golf partnership which enables brands a simple pathway to partner with Australian Golf’s professional and amateur organisations across a wide range of assets.
The three-year partnership will focus on celebrating and growing the social side of golf, which continues its rapid growth throughout the country.
“This partnership is focused on recruiting new adult players to the game and breaking down barriers for those who may find golf intimidating,” said Oscar Barton, Senior Brand Manager of Southern Comfort.
“It’s also an exciting opportunity to bring Southern Comfort’s ‘King of Leisure Sports’ ethos to the national stage.
“If you can play with a can in hand then Southern Comfort will be there, celebrating easy going sports and good times with mates.
“This partnership offers fans across the nation looking for an oncourse refreshment or a round after their game the opportunity to reach for a SoCo.”
As part of the programming, Southern Comfort Twilight Rounds will be coming to golf courses and facilities across the country this summer.
A perfect social mix of casual golf and refreshing drinks with friends, Southern Comfort Twilight Rounds will be accessible to players of all skill levels, offering a laidback golf experience where the focus is more on good times with friends and less on the scorecard.
From November through to March Twilight Rounds will be available at a variety of golf facilities, including golf courses, mini-golf centres, driving ranges and simulators.
Additional partnership programming will include Southern Comfort activations at Australian golf’s two major tournaments, the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
The “Southern Comfort Party Shack” will be located on the liveliest and noisiest hole on the PGA Tour of Australasia, the PGA Championship’s Party Hole at Royal Queensland, which takes place from November 23-26.
Whilst at the Australian Open, Southern Comfort will a roaming activation at The Australian Golf Club.
PGA of Australia Commercial Director Michael McDonald said: “We are excited to have Southern Comfort become part of Australian Golf through a variety of fan-focussed collaborations.
“Twilight Rounds will be open to all and less structured than traditional golf events and will embody the fun, casual side of golf which is increasingly attractive to our newer golf-loving audience.
“The addition of the Southern Comfort Party Shack to the PGA Championship will also further enhance the experience for fans on the party hole, which has doubled in size for 2023, and will offer eight different hospitality suites, new grandstand seating and a dedicated free public precinct.”
Golf Australian General Manager of Commercial Anthony Everard expanded further on the partnership: “Part of our Strategy for Australian Golf is to invite more golfers into the game and to create great golf experiences for everyone who participates.
“More than ever before, golf fans are seeing the game as a fun way to spend quality time with good mates, and that’s where Southern Comfort comes in.
“What they want to achieve perfectly aligns with this vision and we look forward to working with their team to bring their ideas to life.”
More information:
Southern Comfort Party Shack tickets link: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/Show.aspx?sh=PGACLUB23
Follow Southern Comfort on Instagram: @southerncomfortau
