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A flood of Australia’s brightest amateur talent has taken the plunge into the pro ranks; this is the process they went through with their coaches before making the jump.
Like parenthood, you can never be fully ready for what is awaiting you when you decide to be a tournament professional.
You can think you’re ready, only for the vagaries of life on the road to throw challenges your way that you could never have envisaged on your own.
For the PGA Professionals who guide young men and women through this exciting transition – players they may have been developing from a young age – the hope is that they have prepared them as best as they possibly can to be a successful tournament professional.
“It’s not something they should be doing because they are bored with amateur golf and think they are ready for that next step,” says Grant Field, who has guided the likes of Cameron Smith, Maverick Antcliff and Dylan Perry into the pro ranks in recent years.
“Sometimes I will get a comment that a player is keen to turn pro because they are bored with the amateur stuff when the reality is that if they are bored then, they’re going to be bored pretty quickly when they go through heaps of money in six months.
“It’s a readiness where we believe there’s almost no chance that they won’t get their tour card unless something untoward or unexpected happens.
“It’s not a matter of having a crack and seeing how we go. We need to be quite confident that there’s enough evidence that it’s a step we’re ready to take.
“Often they will have people around them telling them that they’re ready. Unfortunately, a lot of that is driven by a bias of wanting to see them turn professional.
“It’s got to come back to an evidence-based decision to support it. I’m sure there are millions of golfers who would like to be professional golfers but a very high percentage of them aren’t good enough to do it.
“There are absolutely no guarantees. There are guys who you would have thought would go on and transition really well and then there are other guys you have doubts about who end up outperforming the other guys.
“The best ones take their opportunity and make their own luck.”
More than the talent they displayed as amateurs, what has been most impressive about the current crop beginning to make their way is how quickly they have won in professional company.
Zach Murray’s win at the 2018 WA Open whilst still an amateur was the final confirmation that he was ready to turn pro. The Wodonga product then won the 2019 New Zealand Open in just his sixth start as a tournament professional to secure status in Asia and provide the foundation to finish second on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, a result that earned the 21-year-old a 2020 European Tour card.
Lucas Herbert and Min Woo Lee have won European Tour events this year, Antcliff won three times on the China Golf Tour in 2019 and Brett Coletta narrowly missed earning his PGA TOUR card last year where 2017 Australian Open champion Cameron Davis is quickly establishing his credentials.
Perry and Anthony Quayle both kept their cards on the Japan Golf Tour in their rookie seasons and Jake McLeod, David Micheluzzi and Blake Windred have all featured near the top of the leaderboard in some of our largest domestic events.
But it’s not just the boys finding early success as professionals.
After turning pro in 2016 Hannah Green won three times on the Symetra Tour in 2017 to earn promotion to the LPGA Tour and is now a two-time winner on that tour and our most recent major champion.
Su Oh turned professional at 18 years of age and within 18 months was on the LPGA Tour but the most recent graduate from the amateur ranks is New South Wales’ Steph Kyriacou.
Kyriacou demolished the field at the ALPG-Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned Geoff King Motors Classic at Bonville by eight strokes in February, taking to Instagram to announce what she and coach, PGA Professional – Gary Barter had initially planned to do later in the year.
“She wasn’t what you would say a stellar amateur like a Minjee Lee but the one thing that I noticed with Steph which separated her was that she would regularly shoot really low numbers, and that’s a rare commodity,” Barter says.
“A lot of good players and good amateurs will shoot 2-under, 3-under but to shoot 6, 7, 8-under par, that’s a mindset. It’s innate. It gives me an indication that they are really good.
“When Steph dominated at Bonville and had those low numbers, that wasn’t surprising to me because I had seen that she had that pedigree.
“That is something that is very, very insightful when it comes to amateurs turning pro. That they can shoot those low numbers in big championships.
“For her future moving forward, that’s a skillset that is very rare and really important.
“As far as the timing of turning pro, to access that two-year exemption in Europe instead of waiting and maximising her value as a pro right now was really a no-brainer.
“Steph, myself, PGA Professional Khan Pullen, Brad James, we all agreed that this was the right time for her to go.
“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough, so that was a pretty easy decision to make.
“If Steph keeps moving forward and doing what she’s doing, I see her winning a major one day.”
Like Murray’s WA Open win, Coletta’s catalyst for turning pro was his victory at the 2016 Queensland Open but it is not always that straightforward.
Starting with Coletta, PGA Professional Marty Joyce has overseen the move to the professional ranks of Murray, David Micheluzzi and Will Heffernan and said that he felt it important that prior to making the switch in September of 2019 that Micheluzzi wait another year before saying farewell to amateur golf.
“The simple part that is quite easy to measure is whether the skills are ready to take that next step and then you have to consider the other parts. Those other parts are very much individual,” Joyce explains, Micheluzzi and Blake Windred both turning pro following the Asian Amateur last September.
“Dave was an interesting one. He was ready. He’d lost to Zach (at the WA Open) and then was leading the Australian Open a couple of weeks later and finished fifth, so the skill level was there.
“He’d been playing very, very good golf for a good chunk of time domestically and internationally but Dave had a great opportunity to get to No.1 amateur in the world, which is not something that everyone does.
“I wanted him to stay amateur for another year and had to sell the package in some respects. I provided him with a schedule of what he could play as an amateur and another of what it would look like if he turned pro.
“For Dave it helped going through that process because he would have had people at his home club or within the media asking why he wasn’t turning pro and he had an answer he could give them.
“He was quite clear on what he wanted to do.”
Steve Elkington’s grass allergy would seem a significant impediment to life as a professional golfer; Zach Murray’s aversion to travel has the potential to be just as debilitating.
Murray knows it is an aspect of his career that he will have to constantly manage and everyone who chooses life on tour will have their own cross to bear.
As they move through the elite amateur ranks, many aspiring pros are exposed to the benefits associated with working on the mental aspect of their performance.
Lucas Herbert credited his win earlier this year at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic to a session with his mental performance coach Jamie Glazier from Dare2Dream Performance and Glazier says it is crucial to be upfront with potential professionals about what lies in wait.
“One of the best tools is to prepare them for what their reality might be,” offers Glazier, who also works with Ryan and Gabi Ruffels, among others.
“A lot of young golfers turn pro with big dreams in their hearts and little sense of reality. It’s key to prepare them for what their reality could be. Professional golf is tough, with disappointments making up a high percentage of their performance.
“Helping young golfers understand that in the face of these disappointments, they are on track and progressing along the pathway to their goals.
“One area of vulnerability I see players having is an understanding that statistically it might take a really good amateur 5-7 years to make their way onto the PGA TOUR or European Tour.
“A lot of young golfers see the likes of Matt Wolff, Collin Morikawa or Viktor Hovland succeed quickly on the PGA TOUR and can begin to measure their own performance versus these guys, which just isn’t a fair comparison on themselves.”
In addition to dealing with disappointment, Grant Field believes it is important for players to be able to adapt quickly to their ever-evolving playing opportunities.
When he turned pro towards the end of 2016 at 23 years of age, forging his way in world golf via China was not part of Maverick Antcliff’s plan yet that is the path fate put in front of him last year.
“He went there originally to play a week in which he wasn’t going to play and then when he won early on and the carrot being what it is, we decided to focus our energies on staying up there for the year,” Field says of Antcliff’s Order of Merit win. “The outcome was a European Tour card.
“He could have played a lot of other events during the year but we made that our focus.
“Golf will sometimes lead you down different paths and you’ve got be adaptable and ready to say, ‘OK, we’re now going this way.’
“You’ve got be adaptable and take different roads. If it works keep going and if not, find a different path.”
Two significant things take place when a player makes the decision to turn pro in terms of the relationship they have with their coach.
Where yesterday they were student and teacher the next day they become employer and employee with wages to pay and expectations to be met.
The other notable adjustment is that much of their communication will now take place from opposite sides of the planet.
Golf Australia’s Rookie Program provides the capacity for some of the expenses associated with having a coach on-site at a tournament to be covered but when money can be tight, much of the swing maintenance must be done over the phone.
“You get to know the players that well that I can tell in the tone of their voice the kind of mood they’re in or if they’re not telling the whole story,” Joyce says of the remote access.
“For me it’s about making sure I keep asking the right questions. If you keep asking the right questions in most cases you’ll get to an answer that’s pretty close.
“I speak to these guys on the days when they have poor days. You learn so much more about them and what’s happening on those days. When they’re playing well it’s quite easy, everything’s going well.
“If it’s been a struggle, that’s more what I need to understand.”
Given Kyriacou’s two-year exemption onto the Ladies European Tour and Blake Windred’s Challenge Tour status, Barter will split his time in 2020 between trips to see PGA TOUR winner Matt Jones in the States and trips to Europe on top of his duties as PGA Head Teaching Professional at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.
“It will be a little bit more trying but because of my role to help them be the best they can be, I’ll definitely be there to support them as best I can,” insists Barter, who also has high hopes for Justin Warren who turned professional midway through last year.
“Obviously I travel to America 8-10 times a year with Matt for a week at a time and with Blake and Steph they’re both being supported by Golf Australia.
“Part of that funding is to help with travel costs so that does provide the opportunity to travel with me for one or two weeks a year, and that’s fine with me.
“I also coach Dimi Papadatos so the weeks I go to Europe to see Blake I can see Dimi at the same time so that helps to split the costs.
“The general public will look at Professional golfers and the opportunities they have and the money they make but the travel, the staying away from home, missing friends and family, missing four cuts in a row, being in a hotel room, those factors and capacity to handle that…
“To have the mental ability, the skill, the ability to handle the downtimes, the uptimes and to keep your job on that Tour for that many years in a row, you have to have so much respect for the players that can do that.”
The relationship between a player and a coach is a multi-faceted one but for Field the primary concern is their well-being as a person; what happens on the golf course will be a by-product of their state of mind.
“I like to see how they’re going in other parts of their life, not just their golf. A lot of the times those things will dictate their level of play too,” Field says.
“If they’ve got technical issues then we can talk about that using video but a lot of the time it’s just making sure that they’re happy and healthy.
“Having that relationship with the player is hugely important and for them, feeling comfortable that you’ve got that relationship is more important than just swing advice.
“Ultimately for me it’s taking care of them as a person first. If you do a good of that then the other things tend to fall into line.”
Get the most out of your game by visiting your local PGA Professional at your local golf facility. Or visit https://pga.org.au/find-a-pga-pro/?class=aus
The PGA of Australia has confirmed it will extend the current postponement period of all sanctioned events from Friday 1 May to Monday 1 June as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve.
Affected events include those on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series, Ladbrokes Legends Tour, Volkswagen Scramble Regional Finals and the Championship Final as well as PGA Trainee and Open matches.
The decision has been made with the health and safety of PGA Professionals and stakeholders in mind and in line with government regulations.
“We will continue to work closely with competitors, sponsors and host venues in attempting to reschedule these events where possible,” said PGA of Australia Tournaments Director Australasia, Nick Dastey.
“While we will face another set of challenges when we are given the all clear to proceed, whenever that may be, I would like to thank our Members, stakeholders, host venues, participants and the wider golf community for their continued understanding during this period.”
The PGA – guided by the expertise of the Australian Government and leading health authorities – will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any further changes.
It’s far from business as usual but Australia’s golf clubs are doing the best they can to provide golfers with an outlet for some sense of normalcy as restrictions on Australians during the coronavirus outbreak continue to strengthen.
Last Thursday’s Yowani Pro-Am in the ACT was the final event on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series before the PGA of Australia postponed its entire tournament schedule. Golf Australia has been forced to cancel the Australian Junior Championships, Junior Interstate Series and Australian Interstate Series scheduled for April and May.
Restrictions announced by the Australian Government on Sunday mean that all pubs, licensed clubs, bars, restaurants and cafes (dining in), cinemas, casinos, places of worship, gyms and indoor sporting venues had to close by midday on Monday, effectively closing all golf clubhouse operations.
“Like everyone in the community, our PGA Professionals are adapting as quickly and as best they can in these extremely difficult times,” said PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman.
“Our PGA Professionals will always have the best interests of members and guests at their courses at heart and we trust that they can continue to provide playing opportunities in the safest manner possible.
“But we will of course adjust any recommendations based on the advice we receive from the Government and health experts.”
The playing of golf can continue for the most part but clubs are having to take unprecedented measures to ensure their members can continue to take to the fairways.
Peninsula-Kingswood Golf Club began taking the temperature of members entering the facility on Sunday while Parkwood Golf Course on the Gold Coast issued an e-mail on Monday outlining exactly the steps that must be taken for those who wish to continue to play golf.
In addition to cashless transactions only, Parkwood is limiting cart use to one rider per cart and implementing a number of local rules such as pins remaining in the cup at all times, balls to be retrieved in the cup by a gloved hand only and all bunkers to be treated as GUR and rakes removed completely.
“We understand these steps are a large change from our normal operations, but we must ensure they are followed at all times to ensure the safety of our staff, members, guests and community,” the club said in its email.
Play is also continuing in North Queensland but under amended provisions.
Club presentations have been cancelled and carts have been restricted to one person only but Maryborough Golf Club Professional Kurt Watts believes golf can continue to be a safe outlet for people to get important exercise.
“We are a sport that promotes social distancing naturally,” Watts told the Fraser Coast Chronicle.
“The golfing community are being urged to use common sense and follow the guidelines.”
Although the clubhouse has closed, member rounds remain strong at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast under revised playing conditions with preferred lies in bunkers so golfers don’t touch rakes, pins staying in at all times and players scoring their own cards.
There are few more isolated courses in Australia than Cape Wickham Golf Links on King Island and it too remains open for play although bookings are essential.
“We can assure those who do visit that we have implemented strict hygiene protocols to protect patrons and staff,” the club said in a post on Instagram.
“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our patrons, tour operators, staff and the local King Island community for your ongoing support.”
Curlewis Golf Club on the Bellarine Peninsula was forced to close its hospitality operations on Monday to remain in line with the State and Federal Government directives but will continue to operate the golf course, driving range bays and mini golf until further notice.
“As deeply upsetting as this is for our awesome hospitality teams we are committed to do whatever it takes to keep our great community and country safe in this time of unprecedented crisis,” Curlewis posted on Instagram.
“Please be respectful of our great team during this time of uncertainty.
“We appreciate your support and understanding.”
Given the Government advice to close all non-essential services to help restrict the spread of the virus, Pacific Dunes at Port Stephens in New South Wales made the decision to close its doors completely on Monday.
“The decision to close has been made with the purpose of stopping the spread of this virus, keeping staff, golf members, residents and visitors SAFE,” Pacific Dunes said in an e-mail distributed on Monday.
“At this point in time we have no firm date as to when we will be re-opening. We will update you with any new information as soon as there are any changes.
“Golf members, we are very aware that you pay membership fees in good faith in advance for access to play golf. We are not shying away from this and trust that you understand these unique circumstances are unprecedented and in time will be working on what this will look like for the future of golf members.”
Adam Scott has hit 702 golf shots in competition on the PGA TOUR in 2020 and hasn’t looked at a single one of them.
OK, he may have snuck a peek at his daring up-and-down at the 15th at Riviera that helped to propel him to a two-shot win at the Genesis Invitational but when it comes to dissecting one of the most admired swings in world golf, Scott prefers the ‘less is more’ approach.
Back at TPC Sawgrass for the 19th consecutive year, the 2004 champion of THE PLAYERS Championship is confident of where his swing – and hence his game – is situated.
A slow start last week at Bay Hill led to a missed cut last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but the 39-year-old has kept up his practice of trusting coach Brad Malone that his body is in the position it needs to be to produce displays of premium ball-striking.
“I got in the habit of watching my swing on video, which isn’t good because even though the swing can be good you can nitpick every swing,” Scott said ahead of the opening round of THE PLAYERS.
“The perfect swing pretty much doesn’t exist. And even when I’m swinging good I could see something and try and then go and work on it.
“Basically, I haven’t seen my swing this year at all and so a lot of it is based off feel.
“I trust my coach that he’s telling me the swing is looking in a good spot and then I just find my own feels to play golf.
“That keeps the freedom and kind of the natural talent I have for playing as open as possible to come out on the course. That’s kind of my process.
“There are times to reference off TrackMan and all the other information but at this point I don’t think there’s many secrets I’m going to find from it.
“I know my game fairly well and I’m fairly honest with myself about how the ball flight is.”
As he nears his 40th birthday, Scott is now among the more experienced players on tour trying to keep up with confident kids such as Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa.
Teeing it up in rounds one and two of THE PLAYERS alongside Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele, Scott senses a time to strike rather than take a step back.
“It’s an interesting time for me to compete,” said Scott, whose Genesis Invitational win came in his first start since his Australian PGA Championship triumph in December.
“I feel like I have a great opportunity at the moment to achieve some of the things that I have set out to do.
“Coming off the back of a year (in 2018) not playing as well as I hoped, when these opportunities present themselves you want to take advantage of them.
“I’m excited for that. I’m not really trying to prove that I can beat any of the young guys, but I think some of the old guys still have it out here.”
With the first round now complete, Scott recovered from two front-nine bogeys with an impressive five birdies and a lone bogey on the back-nine to enter the clubhouse 2-under and tied for 37th. Marc Leishman leads the Australian contingent at 5-under ahead of round two.
With no finish worse than a tie for 12th in his past four visits to the Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Scott remains as one of the best chances of the six Aussies in the field as Jason Day continues to battle a back injury.
Steve Elkington (1991, 1997) is the only Australian to win twice at TPC Sawgrass and Scott sees no reason why he can’t emulate the feat.
“I had a bit of a bad front nine at Arnold Palmer, which is disappointing, however, the silver lining may be that I didn’t have to deal with that golf course over the weekend,” Scott said.
“That looked quite brutal and my mind is in a good place because of that.
“I feel very comfortable with where my game’s at.
“The lesson learned out of last week was I need to just make sure I’m prepared teeing off and not have that kind of slow start to take away from the level where my game is and put myself back in with a chance to win a big tournament this week.”
When it comes to wedges, the best players of the past 40 years have trusted one man more than any other.
Bob Vokey’s career in golf club design progressed to the point where he was appointed chief designer for Titleist’s range of wedges, the Vokey wedge brand growing to become one of golf’s most trusted and recognised. A special guest at the PGA Golf Expo last year, Vokey shared his insights into an industry that has changed significantly and revealed which is the favourite wedge in his bag. With Tony Webeck
My passion for wedges goes back to the old Dyna-Power days and the old MacGregor Expeditor. They were get-out-of-jail clubs at that time. A true pitching wedge had different shots you could hit with them. Pitching wedges today, because of the strengthening, they have just evolved to be a 10-iron or an 11-iron. It’s not a true pitching wedge in the set. What we’ve done with the Titleist clubs, the 46 and 52 may have lofts of a pitching wedge but the design is with the creativity of a scoring wedge.
We used to get by with two wedges. The pitching wedge was a versatile wedge that allowed you to hit all sorts of different shots and then the sand wedge was used mainly for bunkers and the rough. But as the game evolved these players got so fantastic in being able to manipulate those particular clubs out of the bunkers that they made the greens tougher. Undulating, pot bunkers, they made it so you needed a lot of different shots. Players wanted more loft for greenside shots but with a wide sole they could not hit the shots that they needed to hit. So what evolved was a narrow-sole sand wedge with a little bit more bounce. That is the science of it but there is also an art to it as well.
I’d say it’s more of a challenge to design a wedge now than when I started. When I used to do wedges, I’d find the centre of gravity by balancing a model on my finger. Was that a science? It was an old science, but it worked.
My dad said to me, ‘Son, if you don’t love what you’re doing, quit, or you’ll never be a success.’ I worked my hiney off. I remember driving my 295,000-mile Datsun B210, sleeping in a sleeping bag in my 1,100-foot golf shop in Vista, California. I was fortunate a lot of players would come in because it was right by La Costa.
I did everything by eye, by feel, the old-fashioned way with a toolmaker by hand, which would take months to do. Now I give all these measurements to an engineer, who puts them into the computer and I can see this clubhead moving around on the screen. Ten years before it would take me two weeks to come up with a prototype; he does a playable prototype overnight. That’s the way it’s being done right now. I did it the hard way but that’s what we had to do to learn, and we learned a lot from doing it the old-fashioned way.
I’ve got what I call my go-to guys. Guys like Tom Pernice, Charley Hoffman, Ben Crane, they will come to the TPI test centre and I’ll have all these wedges waiting for them to hit and I’ll go back and do a little grind, a tweak here, a tweak there and we’ll go and hit them. That’s how it all started many, many years ago.
Every single grind that we have in the line right now came from the best players in the world. And not just in the United States. I would go over to the British Open all the time and I had a lot of very good Australian pros that I worked with. I was with Adam Scott at Medinah just this year and he was showing me a lot of different things and we were talking about a lot of different things. Geoff Ogilvy is another of my go-to guys. I’d bring Geoff prototypes five years before SM6 came out and then a few years ago when I gave him a SM6 to try he says, ‘Isn’t that the one you showed me at Torrey Pines about five years ago?’ Yes, because that’s how long it took us to work with the SM6 with the progressive centre of gravity.
In 2012 I was at Olympic in San Francisco and Adam was in the bunker. He’s a great bunker player and he had this 260-08 at that particular time, a wedge we had way back when. He wasn’t liking it and I told him to hit something. I told him not to look at the sole and hit it. Next thing you know it’s popping out and he’s asking to look at the sole. I tell him no. He hits some shots from the rough, some from the fairway. Finally I let him look at it and it happened to be the K Grind with a little bit wider sole. He said to me, ‘I can’t hit his club.’ But he put it in play, he played well and it was a 6-degree K.
Two weeks before the 2013 Masters he gives me a call. ‘Voke, can you give me one with a little bit more bounce.’ I sent him one that was 10-degree K and he won the Masters with it. And it’s still in his bag today.
Working with tour players, they basically knew what they wanted and I was able to advise them and get their feedback. Working with the avid golfer, it’s a little bit more involved.
I talk to them. Sometimes when people come to me they can be a little nervous so I try to relieve the player’s anxiety when they come in to be fit. I’ll give them a little explanation as to what bounce is, what grinds are and let them know the importance of their feedback. I can only fit that person – tour player included – if they tell me how it feels. I don’t care what anyone says, the closer you get to the green, the greater variety of shot-making comes into being. That’s where feel is.
I’ll look and analyse the equipment they’re coming in with. What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? Take all of that into account. You can ask all sorts of questions that will help when you are fitting them for bounce, loft and grind. Their handicap will tell you a lot so have to take all of that into account before you even go out and hit a shot.
Lee Trevino would say all the time that the wedges are the most important clubs in your bag. Tour players such as Padraig Harrington and Adam Scott, very good tour players, hit 12 greens a round. There’s an opportunity to get up and down so very often and they’re up and down in par or under par. The weekend golfer is still out there trying to hit that dog-gone 300-yard drive.
I go to driving ranges and I see people hitting drivers and yet there’s nobody over at the short game area. I honestly feel like this is the low-hanging fruit in a player’s bag. With a little bit of coaching and the proper loft, lie and bounce, he has the clubhead speed to hit all those shots around the green. With these little guys right here and the proper fit you can save one heck of a lot of shots.
A funny thing happens too; his putting improves. His putting is so much better because he’s hitting those shots closer to the hole. The best players in the world might hit 12 greens but they’re up and down in par, or under. When they’ve got that wedge in their hand they’re thinking, I’m going to make it.
On any given day I might have seven wedges in my bag. I don’t carry just 14 clubs, I don’t worry about that. I’m a hack, I don’t worry about that stuff! I’m testing! I’ve got to test product.
If I had my bag set up properly I use that pitching wedge and then I go to a 48, a 52, a 56 and a 60. I look at that ‘P’ and to me that’s a 9-iron. My 56 is my go-to wedge. My 60 is almost brand new. I’m a 56 player and I’m an advocate of the 56 wedge as the most important wedge in our bag. It’s fun to take the 56 out and hit all the shots. It’s a very, very high percentage shot. You go to your lobber, when you start laying that face open, you better be hitting a thousand balls a day to make it work. I tell everybody to use that sand wedge. It should be your go-to club.
The wedge is the funnest club in golf. Once you get your confidence you can improve a player so much working with the wedges. Working on your short game versus showing them how to hit that driver. Wedges are where it’s at.
The Western Australian Golf Industry is pleased to announce the finalists for the upcoming Golf Industry Awards Night to be held at Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday 20th March 2020.
Represented by the PGA of Australia, GolfWA, Golf Course Superintendants Association of WA and Golf Management Australia (WA), the WA Golf Industry Awards Night acknowledges the achievements the finalists have accomplished throughout 2019.
With more nominations than ever before, it was encouraging to see so many individuals recognised for their tireless efforts in assisting the growth and development of golf within the state of Western Australia. Having all areas of the industry being represented by the governing bodies, the night is truly an evening that is dedicated to personalities that are involved in the game whether it be playing or teaching the game, managing facilities that allow it to be experienced or those that volunteer their time and instil so much of their passion toward assisting where needed. To book your tickets or for further details, please click here or alternatively contact the PGA (WA) Office on 08 6430 8100 or via email [email protected].
The finalists for their respective awards (in alphabetical order) are:
Volunteer of the Year Award Finalists (Proudly sponsored by Bowra & O’Dea)
| Jodie Chubb | Joondalup Golf Club |
| Rob Haines | Joondalup Golf and Country Club |
| Owen Nuttridge | Dunsborough Lakes Golf Club |
| Lyndell Olivier | Royal Perth Golf Club |
| Mal Rigoll | Busselton Golf Club |
| Adrian Thornton | Rockingham Golf Club |
Employee of the Year Award Finalists (Proudly sponsored by MiClub)
| Matija Balic | Royal Perth Golf Club |
| Dave Brennan | Bunbury Golf Club |
| Ross Davis | Busselton Golf Club |
| Idris Evans | The Western Australian Golf Club |
| Sam Hodge | Joondalup Golf and Country Club |
| Tony Howell | Mosman Park Golf Club |
Outstanding Game Development of the Year Award Finalists
| Mark Batten | Ten Golf Secret Harbour |
| Ackzel Donaldson | Joondalup Golf and Country Club |
| Kerrod Gray | Joondalup Golf and Country Club |
| Alex McKay | Mount Lawley Golf Club |
| Adam Smith | Como Secondary College |
| Mark Tibbles | The Vines Golf and Country Club |
Metropolitan Golf Course of the Year Finalists (Proudly sponsored by ADH Club Car)
| Cottesloe Golf Club |
| Joondalup Golf and Country Club |
| Meadow Springs Country Club |
Regional Golf Course of the Year Finalists (Proudly sponsored by ADH Club Car)
| Bunbury Golf Club |
| Kalgoorlie Golf Club |
Metropolitan Golf Facility of the Year Award Finalists
| Joondalup Country Club |
| Mandurah Country Club |
| The Western Australia Golf Club |
| Wanneroo Golf Club |
| Wembley Golf Complex |
Regional Golf Facility of the Year Award Finalists
| Bunbury Golf Club |
| Pinjarra Golf Club |
Tournament of the Year Award Finalists (Proudly sponsored by Golf Car World)
| Mack Hall TSA Cottesloe Open, Cottesloe Golf Club |
| Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Open, Spalding Park Golf Club |
| Nexus Risk Services Southwest Open, Bunbury Golf Club |
| Nexus Risk Group WA Open, Cottesloe Golf Club. |
| TX Civil and Logistics WA PGA Championship, Kalgoorlie Golf Course |
Pro-Am of the Year Award Finalists
| ADH Club Car Joondalup Legends Pro Am |
| The British Sausage Ham & Bacon Co Busselton Pro-Am |
| The Metal West Lakelands Pro-Am |
| Urban Quarter Dunsborough Lakes Golf Club Pro Am, Dunsborough Lakes GC. |
| WA Hino Pro-Am (The Western Australia Golf Club) |
Hilary Lawler Club Professional of the Year Award Finalists
| Damian Chatterley | Lakelands Country Club |
| Matthew Heath | Pinjarra Golf Club |
| Peter Maidment | Mount Lawley Golf Club |
| Tristan McCallum | Seaview Golf Club |
| Correy Price | Busselton Golf Club |
PGA Coach of the Year Finalists
| Nicholas D’avoine | Lake Karrinyup Country Club/Golf Box |
| Kerrod Gray | Joondalup Golf and Country Club |
| Ritchie Smith | Royal Fremantle Golf Club |
PGA Trainee Graduates
| Ethan Andrews | Lakelands Country Club |
| Michael Lewis | Carramar Golf Course |
| Courtney Martin | Wembley Golf Course |
| Jessica Speechley | Joondalup Golf & Country Club |
| Cameron Vale | Carramar Golf Course |
Superintendents of the Year Award Finalists (Proudly sponsored by McIntosh & Son and Jacobsen)
| Oliver Bell | Dunsborough Lakes Golf Club |
| Patrick Casey | Kalgoorlie Golf Course |
| Idris Evans | The Western Australian Golf Club |
| Jason Kelly | Royal Fremantle Golf Club |
| Ashley Watson | Joondalup Golf and Country Club |
Apprentice of the Year Finalists
| Connor Butlion | Bunbury Golf Club |
| Mitchell Clay | Mandurah Country Club |
The Queensland Golf Industry is pleased to announce the finalists for their upcoming Awards Night incorporating the PGA Trainee Graduation to be held at RACV Royal Pines Resort on Tuesday 31st March 2020.
Represented by the PGA of Australia, Golf Australia, Golf Course Superintendents Association of QLD and Golf Management Australia, the QLD Golf Industry Awards Night acknowledges the achievements the finalists have accomplished throughout 2019.
It was encouraging to see so many individuals recognised for their outstanding efforts in assisting the growth and development of golf within the state of Queensland.
Having all areas of the industry being represented by the governing bodies, the night is truly an evening that is dedicated to personalities that are involved in the game whether it be playing or teaching the game, managing facilities that allow it to be experienced or those that volunteer their time and instil so much of their passion toward assisting where needed.
To book your tickets or for further details about the QLD Golf Industry Awards Night, please go to www.qldgolfindustryawards.com.au or alternatively contact the PGA (QLD/NT) Office on 07 5657 6100 or via email [email protected].
The finalists for their respective awards (in alphabetical order) are:
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
The Lakes Golf Club hosted the 2019 NSW/ACT PGA Trainee Graduation and Awards Dinner on Thursday evening, celebrating the achievements of 15 PGA Trainees graduating to Full Vocational Membership.
The newly minted PGA Professionals were welcomed to the Association by Senior State Manager David Barker and CEO of the Jack Newton Junior Golf Foundation, Peter Van Wegen.
The night was attended by PGA of Australia Life Members Geoffrey Scott, Thomas Moore and Eddie Emmerson. Geoffrey Scott presented graduates with their PGA certificates and welcome them to the association as Full Vocational Members.
The 2019 NSW/ACT PGA Trainee of the Year Award was presented by FootJoy Account Manager Andrew Williams.
Mitchell Gannon from Kogarah Golf Club received top honours amongst some very strong candidates including Matthew Grenot, Dylan Thompson, Jason Perkin, Luke Humphries and Ashley Cramond.
The award follows an outstanding 2019 season during the second year of his traineeship, whereby Mitchell topped 2019 NSW/ACT Trainee Order of Merit, finished fourth on the 2019 Trainee National Ranking List, won eight trainee matches and secured nine top-five finishes respectively during the year.
“It is a tremendous privilege to be recognized for this award and something I am very proud to have achieved and will cherish for many years to come,” said Gannon.
Deputy Chairman of the PGA, David Stretton, capped off the evening by wishing the newest PGA Members the very best of luck in growing the game of golf and to develop a career of life-long learning within the industry.
NSW/ACT PGA Trainee Graduates – Class of 2019
Online lessons with Aussie swing guru Bradley Hughes has restored Scott Arnold’s love of golf and reinstated the belief that he can win again at the highest level.
Arnold was at the centre of scorecard confusion that constituted part of a chaotic conclusion to the Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship at City Golf Club in Toowoomba on Sunday, ultimately losing at the fourth hole of a playoff against close friend Michael Sim in a frenetic finale.
When he handed in his scorecard it became apparent that Arnold had finished at 12-under par and not 13-under as everyone on course and PGA TV commentators Mark Allen and Ewan Porter believed.
The miscalculation stemmed from a bogey at the par-4 ninth for which Arnold had been credited with a par, tournament leader Brad Kennedy told halfway down the 72nd hole that a par would in fact be good enough to win.
But Kennedy’s double-bogey and Sim’s brilliant birdie resulted in a two-man playoff that was all the more remarkable given the pair were due to drive to the Gold Coast together at the end of the day’s play.
“I noticed on about 13 that they had my score wrong on a leaderboard,” Arnold said of the scoreboard error.
“I thought, That’s one out. Obviously Brad got told coming in that it was one shot wrong but I never honestly thought I would even be in a playoff.
“The way that the back nine was going, the last three days everyone had been making birdies and he was 16-under at one stage and I was only 12 or 13. I was still three or four behind and just trying to keep it in play and make birdies and if not stress-free pars and hopefully finish in the top three.
“When I saw that they’d told Brad and he laid up… I didn’t think he’d make six. I thought he’d definitely be in a playoff. And then I didn’t know Michael was there until I was walking out the door and heard Ewan say ‘Michael Sim’s not out of this’ and then I watched him hit it in close.
“I heard the groans when Brad missed and it was only going to be me and Michael in the playoff.
“I just wanted to give myself a chance to win. If I did I would have been super happy but I’m not disappointed one bit because I’ve worked so hard to be in this position.
“Now that I’m finally here all the hard work has paid off.”
Now 34 years of age, Arnold spent the majority of 2019 on the secondary Abema TV Tour in Japan but has been existing in golf’s wilderness for much of the past three years.
He played just 20 events attracting World Rankings points in 2017-18 but having recently linked with Hughes is starting to see a return to the type of golf that once made him the world’s leading amateur.
A former Australian Masters winner himself, Hughes has become one of golf’s most in-demand swing gurus due largely to the way he has resurrected the career of American Brendon Todd and he is having a similar effect on Arnold.
“I haven’t played well for quite a few years,” conceded Arnold, who was in the mix at the halfway mark of a star-studded Australian Open in December.
“I lost the love of the game for a little bit, got forced to keep playing and that wasn’t a great idea.
“I was going to tournaments and not really wanting to be there. I was never going to play to my potential not wanting to be there.
“The last couple of months I’ve had a few lessons with Brad Hughes in America online and things have turned around.
“I’m feeling a bit more comfortable and actually wanting to be out here playing which is a big difference.
“If I can be in that mindset in the next couple of weeks I can try and win one of the next two.
“I’m not really that disappointed to lose because I’ve been playing well of late but not putting everything together.
“This week was hopefully a turning point and I can kick-on the next couple of weeks.”
As for the car ride back to the Gold Coast, Arnold put to rest any notion that the pair would be sitting side by side silent for two hours.
“It’s so good to see Michael playing well again because he was in the same boat as me,” said Arnold.
“We didn’t really want to play but we were still playing but now we’re both playing well and enjoying it.
“It was so fun to play in those playoff holes. We’re best mates so I was much more relaxed playing those playoff holes with him than I would have been otherwise.”
