Texan Kramer Hickok makes his Australian debut at the NSW Open this week at Twin Creeks Golf & Country Club from 16-19 November fresh off the best season of his career.

After narrowly missing second stage qualifying for the Web.com Tour, Hickok made the decision to play on the Mackenzie Tour – Canada. It paid dividends and resulted in two wins and four runner-up finishes culminating in being awarded the Canadian Tour’s Player of the Year title and finished on top of their Order of Merit.

A momentum player by admission, Hickok will tee it up on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the first time to ‘keep the train rolling.’

“I’m just excited to keep the train rolling, I had a great summer on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada and just feel like I’m playing the best golf of my life. I really wanted to come to Australia and see where my game stacks up on a different level,” said Hickok, who will also tee it up in next week’s Emirates Australian Open.

“I think this is going to be a great event not only to experience Australia but to come and keep playing well and hopefully finish high up on the leaderboard.”

The 25-year-old now has status on the Web.com Tour in 2018 courtesy of his Mackenzie Tour – Canada achievements, a goal that was always on his mind; he just had to take the long way there in 2017.

“I had Web status in 2015 then I missed by two shots at second stage last year. That’s why I ended up going to Mackenzie Tour as another avenue; basically it’s another qualifier. 

“I didn’t really know what to expect, I was just going out there and trying to play. I wanted to see where I stacked up and if I played well what place would that put me.

“When I ended up playing well and winning I knew I had the ability to compete at a higher level. When I felt I was not having my best stuff and still had a chance to win that’s when I knew I was continually getting better.”

He said his short detour on the Canadian Tour lead to some important lessons that he hopes will translate into some positive results. 

“I think it was an important step for me to learn how to win on a lower scale before coming over here and playing the NSW Open and Australian Open and moving on to the Web.com Tour; I’ve gained a lot of experience.

“You can either sit at home, practice and play little events or you can get on a Tour that’s going to help you advance your career and I wanted to have another shot of not having to go through that second stage at Q-School,” Hickok added.

“I know how difficult that can be, one of my good buddies didn’t make it through second stage in the past and now he’s a three-time Major champion.

“It shows how difficult it can be and I just wanted to keep playing and competing which is another reason why I’m here.”

That ‘good buddy’ is World Number 2 Jordan Spieth, someone Hickok has leant on for advice ahead of the Emirates Australian Open next week.

“Everything I’ve asked Jordan he’s been able to answer. He’s really helped me a lot with regards on how to prepare for the event.

“I think he gets in on Tuesday pretty late so I might get a chance to play nine holes with him on Tuesday.”

But first, Hickok joins a talented line-up at Twin Creeks this week including multiple European Tour winner Brett Rumford and players fresh from this year’s Web.com Tour Matthew Goggin, Jamie Arnold and Rhein Gibson. 

“I’ve played against a few of the Australian guys that were over on that (Mackenzie) Tour and they’ve spoken so highly of coming over here.

“I know the field’s going to be extremely strong and it’s a highly sought after prize; I’m excited to be able to compete with these guys.

“I’m looking forward to playing some good golf, I’ve been playing really well lately, hopefully I can pick up where I left off.”

The NSW Open will be played from 16-19 November 2017 at Twin Creeks Golf & Country Club. The Championship is a part of an action-packed Australian summer of golf and forms part of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

The final two rounds, 18-19 November, will be live streamed on PGA TV from 12pm – 5pm.