The world’s leading PGA Trainee Professionals will once again descend upon the regional city of Ballarat to compete for the title of PGA National Futures Champion.
The world’s leading PGA Trainee Professionals will once again descend upon the regional city of Ballarat to compete for the title of PGA National Futures Champion.
The prestigious championship event will be staged for the fourth consecutive year from the 24–27 October at the Ballarat Golf Club.
With a proud history spanning back to 1895, the redesigned Thomson/Perret course will set the scene for the richest Trainee event in the world where the most talented Australian and International Trainees compete for a share of the $60,000 prize money.
First Year Trainee from Yarrawonga Golf Club in Country Victoria, Frazer Droop will be one to watch. He started the year with a convincing win at the Coca-Cola Rich River Trainee Classic where he produced under par scores across all four rounds of the event. Frazer currently leads the Titleist Performance Rankings and sits at the top of the Victorian Trainee Order of Merit.
Also a strong contender is Third Year Trainee from Toukley Golf Club in NSW, Robert Hogan. Robert won the Queensland PGA Trainee Championship in June and has finished inside the top-3 in every four round State Championship throughout the year. Now in the final year of his Traineeship, and with his last opportunity to take out the title, you can be sure Robbie will have his sights firmly set on the top prize.
Included among the strong field of Australian Trainee Professionals is this year’s International contingent consisting of UK PGA Trainee Matthew Fieldsend, South African PGA Trainee Terrance Smith and New Zealand PGA Trainees Blair Riordan and Cameron Jones all of whom are the top performing PGA Trainees of their respective countries.
As one of only two Australian golf championships (alongside the PGA Professionals Championship) where males and females compete side by side for both prize-money and a national championship title the event provides a unique prospect. There are currently five female Trainees in the field.
Not only will the winner of Futures walk away with first-place prize money of approximately $10,000, if an Australian Trainee finishes on top of the leaderboard, they will also secure entry into the 2018 Australian PGA Championship.
With a UK PGA Trainee taking out the title last year when inclement weather saw the final round cancelled, all players will be keen to knuckle down and position themselves well early in the event.
The tournament week tees off on Monday 23 October with a sponsors and presenters pro-am event. The first round of the tournament will then commence on Tuesday 24 October.