Becky Kay, one of Australia’s top ranked female amateurs, will compete against the men at next week’s Isuzu Queensland Open.

This is the first time in the 94-year history of the Queensland Open that a female will participate in the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia event.

“I can’t even believe it right now,” an ecstatic Kay said.

“I think when it comes to the day I will be so nervous and excited at the same time.

“This year has been great for my goals. I’ve won plenty of events, had the Karrie Webb Scholarship, and I’ve ticked some goals off.

“I’ve been lucky enough to travel with Karrie Webb and her scholarship the past two years. I’ve had an amazing experience with her and she has taught me so much. She is a great mentor and a friend.”

The 19-year-old has had a brilliant year including back-to-back wins at the Riversdale Cup, SA Amateur and WA Amateur earlier in the year, and most recently representing Australia at the World Amateur Teams Championship in Ireland.

Kay achieved the exemption during a Queensland High Performance event trial at The Brisbane Golf Club where she posted a 2-under round from the men’s championship tees to earn her spot.

While her goal is to make the cut, a feat no woman has achieved in an ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tournament, Kay is aware that the men in the field have a distinct advantage.

“(Playing off the championship tees) will definitely change the way I play the course. The course is going to be a lot longer and my short game will have to be on fire.”

The par-4 447m 5^th hole will be one of the many challenges Kay will have to overcome, with the championship tees positioned a further 129m back from her usual women’s tees.

However what Kay lacks in distance she makes up for in course knowledge training at The Brisbane Golf Club with QAS at least once a week.

While she has played in many professional women’s events before, playing against an all-male professional field will be a first for the Coolangatta-Tweed Heads member.

Kay says she will be supported on course by her “extremely excited” father as caddie for the week and will draw inspiration from friends like Hannah Green who have shared a similar experience.

“My good friend Hannah Green has played in the WA Open a few times and she is playing on the LPGA Tour right now. She has been my idol growing up and is an absolutely amazing person, and great friend”

“I am stoked to be following in her footsteps.”

“I am really excited and hoping to play well next week at the Isuzu Queensland Open.

Isuzu Queensland Open Tournament Director Luke Bates said Kay will be a fantastic addition to next week’s event and will attract golf and sporting fans in Queensland to appreciate her talents and see her in action.

“Becky has a bright future ahead in golf and this is a great way to showcase her talents, an opportunity to take her game to the next level alongside some of the best men’s players in the country.” Bates said.

“Golf is a wonderful and unique sport where men and women of all ages can play together. We are pleased to demonstrate this at an elite level and wish Becky the best of luck at the Isuzu Queensland Open.”

The 2018 Isuzu Queensland Open will be played from 1 – 4 November at The Brisbane Golf Club. Visit the website for more information.

Daniel Nisbet grew up in a house that backed on to a golf course, has been playing the game since he was eight years old and is one of those rarities who has broken the magical 60 mark.

Yet despite some outstanding recent victories and his current standing as No.1 on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, Nisbet concedes the upcoming Isuzu Queensland Open has been his bogey tournament.

“I regret to say that in the past the tournament has had my number,” said the 28-year-old who honed his skills on the fairways and greens at Caboolture, the home course of Rod Pampling.

“I have played the event at both The Brisbane Golf Club and Brookwater, and have no idea why I have never been able to have much success. My memories of the tournament are not great.”

But, hopefully, that is about to change when a more self-assured and injury-free Nisbet tees it up in the 94^th Isuzu Queensland Open at The Brisbane Golf Club from November 1-4.

Coming off two outstanding wins in what he says is ‘absolutely’ his best year since he turned professional in 2012, his confidence in his game is at an all-time high. And while varied, and at times demanding, his preparation gives him the best chance to conquer his nemeses this year.

“I have been playing in Asia most of the year and my schedule has been pretty heavy,” he said.

“I’ve played a dozen tournaments up there under varying conditions and the experience, while not always enjoyable, has been good for my golf. Now I’m home and really looking forward to playing the eight or nine events in Australia to finish the year.”

While Asia was his home for much of the year, it was on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia that the former Australian Schoolboys champion scored his two biggest wins – the New Zealand Open and the Northern Territory PGA Championship. And both were stunning victories.

The New Zealand Open back in March, which earned him his biggest-ever purse of $191,000, is his greatest triumph to date. Not only did he carve up the world-class Millbrook Resort course with a final-round 62 to finish at 27 under, but he broke the tournament-record score held by fellow Aussie Roger Davies since 1986.

And five months later, at the Palmerston Golf Course, he again stormed home with an eight-under 63 to win the Northern Territory PGA Championship, this time at 19 under.

“Most people consider Saturday as moving day in a four-round golf tournament, but for me it seems to be Sunday,” he said.

But as he shakes off a nagging shoulder injury and heads to Victoria and Western Australia to warm up for his Isuzu Queensland Open ‘comeback’, he doesn’t care which day he ‘moves’ at The Brisbane Golf Club.

“Obviously every tournament I play I want to do well, and win,” he said.

“But if I had a preference to turn the clock back to the form of my two big wins in New Zealand and NT, I would like that to be at the Isuzu Queensland Open. For very golfer there is something pretty special about winning our home state’s Open.”

And if he can prevail at Brisbane in November he will help shore up his position at the top of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, which carries with it some massive bonuses.

“The winner gets a European Tour Card and the top three gain an exemption into the final stage of the 2019 Web.com Q School,” he said.

“So, there is a lot to do, and a lot to play for. And I feel I’m really ready for the challenge.”

An unexpected invitation last Friday to join the likes of Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau and Tyrell Hatton in the field for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland next month has given Jake McLeod a perspective on where his fledgling golf status currently stands.

And the 24-year-old Queenslander, who recently secured his card for the Asian Tour in 2019, wants to use this recent recognition, and his good form, to add his name to the list of champions who have won the Isuzu Queensland Open.

The 2018 Isuzu Queensland Golf Open will be played at The Brisbane Golf Club from November 1-4, just a month after Townsville-born McLeod tees it up at St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.

“I have played some good golf this year and while I have not won, I’ve had some very satisfying results,” he said at the weekend.

“But this news is really pleasing. Because I finished 15th on the Australasian Order of Merit last year I thought I may have been a chance of an invite, so when the news came through I was pretty stoked.

“Without doubt, this will be the biggest event of my career so far.”

While naturally keen to play well in Scotland, where he has never been before, McLeod also has a burning ambition to fire at the Isuzu Queensland Open.

He played three years as an amateur before he turned professional in October 2015 and his tied fourth finish that year – as an amateur – is, disappointingly, his best result.

“I turned pro on a high a few months after that very satisfying performance, but then missed the cut in 2016 and was tied 24th last year,” he recalled.

“So, I have some unfinished business at the course where I am a member and where I train three days a week with the QAS squad when I’m at home. It would cap off a pretty good year if I could win it.”

His ‘pretty good year’ included second at the prestigious Royal Cup in Thailand in July, fifth at the Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship, sixth at the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways and tenth placings at both the New Zealand Open and the Take Solutions Masters in India. And the $130,000 in prizemoney hasn’t harmed his bank account, either.

“My goal at the start of the year was to gain an overseas tour card – preferably in Asia – and I have achieved that,” he said.

“Next year I want to play more of the bigger events in Asia with my overall goal to secure a European Tour card and then, ultimately, join the PGA Tour. But I am happy to take small steps and the trip to Scotland in a few weeks is sure to be an eye opener, and a terrific experience.”

Despite his recent rise in status – he is now 387 in the Official World Golf Ranking – Jake keeps his feet well and truly on the ground. Last Sunday he carried the bag for his good mate James Mee for 33 holes during the match-play final to decide the Royal Queensland Club Championship for 2018.

And James won the championship, just as Jake did back in 2015 – a few months before his best-ever finish at the Isuzu Queensland Open.

Maybe James will return the favour in November and carry the bag for Jake as he chases a prize he covets – the 2018 Isuzu Queensland Open.

Visit www.qldopen.com.au for more information on the Isuzu Queensland Open.

The 2018 Isuzu Queensland Open will once again return to The Brisbane Golf Club this year with the dates set for 1-4 November.

The Championship is an integral part of the Australian summer of golf on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and will mark the 21st occasion of the tournament at the Yeerongpilly course.

Tournament Director Luke Bates said he was delighted to return to The Brisbane Golf Club which has such a rich history of hosting the championship.

"From the very first Queensland Open championship in 1925 to Michael Sim’s spectacular triumph last year, The Brisbane Golf Club is a very fitting venue due to the quality design and offers a solid test of golf to our vying professionals," Mr Bates said.

"The return to this golf club back in 2016 certainly put a spotlight on the course with the ranking climbing an astonishing 15 places on Australian Golf Digest’s Top 100 Golf Courses to 81st, from its 96th place two years ago."

The Isuzu Queensland Open Championship on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia is an important tournament for Tour Professionals in Australia.

The tournament winner will enjoy the advantage of an exemption onto the Tour until the end of 2019 while the whole field will benefit from the Official World Golf Ranking Points on offer.

"It is a great privilege for the champion to lift the T.B. Hunter Cup, previously held by great names such as Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch, Norman Von Nida, and so many more," Mr Bates said.

Golf Queensland acknowledges the ongoing support of all our sponsors and looks forward to the continued strengthening of our relationships this year.

The tournament’s official website, www.qldopen.com.au, will keep you up to date with all information around the championship and ongoing announcements.