Two celebrated major winners and a dominant senior golfer highlighted the past year in Australian golf.
Player of the year: Minjee Lee
It’s fair to say Minjee Lee was at a crossroads 12 months ago, embarrassed by a final-round collapse as leader of the 2024 US Women’s Open when she unravelled on the greens.
Lee led by three strokes with 10 holes to play at Lancaster Country Club. Precipitated by a baulky putter, she dropped seven shots over the closing holes for an eight-over 78, seven strokes adrift of Japan’s Yuka Saso to finish in a tie for ninth.
“When you think of it, Greg Norman leading by six and losing by five. This is a much bigger collapse than that,” says Lee’s long-time coach Ritchie Smith, drawing a comparison to the Shark’s meltdown at the 1996 Masters won by Nick Faldo.
At Smith’s suggestion, Lee switched from a conventional putter to a broomstick during the 2024-2025 offseason. Never one to dwell on disappointment, Lee embraced the opportunity to rectify a weakness that saw her rank 157th on the LPGA Tour for Strokes Gained Putting.
“I knew that technically she’d be fine. She looked natural with it from the start,” Smith says about the switch to a Callaway Odyssey Ai-ONE Square 2 Square Broomstick #7 putter.
It took a solid six months of practice and tournament play, but the change to a broomstick reaped dividends when Lee collected her third major and 11th LPGA title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June. Lee led the field in putting at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas, where players battled extreme heat around the bouncy, windswept layout.
“For her to win a major – and dominate a major – within a year of that embarrassment is an amazing achievement,” Smith says. “The best part is that she just putted so well in high wind with a broomstick. When you’ve ‘crapped the bed’ a few times with the putter, then there is scar tissue. She was able to manage that scar tissue and really perform at a high level.”
Lee missed a golden opportunity to win a fourth major at the Amundi Evian Championship in France where she finished one stroke shy of the playoff won by fellow Australian Grace Kim against Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul. That tie for third was enough for Lee to become the first two-time winner of the Rolex Annika Major Award since its inception in 2014. Named after Swedish great Annika Sorenstam, the award recognises the year’s overall best performance at the five LPGA majors by allocating points for top-10 results.
In October, Lee was the lynchpin of the victorious Australia team at the Hannah LifePlus International Crown in Seoul. She went unbeaten during five matches in the eight-team format comprising best-ball in the group stages, then singles and foursomes on Sunday. Three down through 12 holes in her singles semi-final against Canadian Brooke Henderson, Lee rallied with four closing birdies to steal the match 1 up. In the final versus the United States, Lee toppled world No.10 Angel Yin, winning their singles encounter 2&1.
In an extraordinary turnaround by season’s end, Lee ranked second on the LPGA Tour for Strokes Gained Putting from the previous low of 157th. Her confidence on the greens was reflected in a career-best Scoring Average of 69.94 (third on tour). She improved 1.38 strokes per round from the previous season’s Scoring Average of 71.22 (49th).
“So she’s getting better. She’s not losing motivation,” Smith says. “In fact, she’s probably more motivated than ever. She’s probably happier than ever. She has great autonomy. She’s really running her own business really tightly now. She’s confident in herself and not second-guessing herself, which she has done in the past.”
Lee is at a pivotal point in her career given she turns 30 in May 2026. She had previously set a deadline to achieve all her dreams in professional golf. “I don’t want to go longer than [the age of] 34,” she said prior to her 10th season on the LPGA Tour. “I want to do other things. I’m not super-close to my end goals. I want to win a lot more.”
High on the wish list would be to win a Women’s Australian Open and complete the career Grand Slam. Lee needs to win either the Chevron Championship or the AIG Women’s Open for the career Grand Slam of four majors. Win both and she would emulate Karrie Webb to become just the second woman to achieve the Super Slam of five major championships.
Now starting her 12th season on the LPGA Tour, Lee has admitted a burning desire to enter the LPGA Hall of Fame. She needs to acquire 27 points to meet the qualifying criteria: one point for each LPGA official tournament win; two points for each LPGA major; one point for each Vare Trophy (best scoring average) or Rolex Player of the Year honour; and one point for an Olympic gold medal.
“That is my ultimate goal,” Lee said in Texas after becoming the 31st player in LPGA history to win three or more majors. “I really want to be in the Hall of Fame, that’s why I started golf and wanted to be on the LPGA Tour.
Webb is the only Australian among the 35 Hall of Fame inductees. At present Lee has 14 points from her 11 LPGA Tour victories, including three majors. For inspiration, she can turn to New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, 11 months her junior, who qualified for the Hall of Fame in 2024.
While Lee is yet to win more than twice in an LPGA season, she appears on the verge of a career-defining year. Her ball-striking is outstanding and she now thrives in the cauldron of major championships where courses tend to play longer and tournament setups are more difficult. Now that she has solved her putting woes with the broomstick, Minjee Lee is a woman on a mission.
Recent winners
2024: Hannah Green
2023: Minjee Lee
2022: Cameron Smith
2021: Minjee Lee
2020: Cameron Smith
2019: Hannah Green
2018: Minjee Lee
Male player of the year: Min Woo Lee
In what had been a relatively lean season for Australia’s male professionals, the choice for Player Of The Year was the trickiest of adjudications. On the final day of the Crown Australian Open at Royal Melbourne, Cameron Smith even came into calculation as he made a valiant attempt to wrest the Stonehaven Cup for the first time.
Candidates included Karl Vilips who won his maiden PGA Tour title at the Puerto Rico Open in March, an alternative-field event the same week as the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a signature event on the world’s pre-eminent circuit. On the Asian Tour, Ryan Peake won the New Zealand Open, Lucas Herbert captured the International Series Japan and Wade Ormsby claimed the Jakarta International Championship. Elvis Smylie’s victory at the BMW Australian PGA was the lone Australian success on the 2025 DP World Tour, however that came in November 2024.
Ultimately, it was a two-way choice. Min Woo Lee won his maiden PGA Tour event at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March while Marc Leishman turned back the clock the next week to win LIV Golf Miami and guide Ripper GC to the team title.
Ultimately, we deemed Lee’s year marginally better from a world perspective. In terms of overall results, Lee accumulated three top-five results, four top-10s and 12 top-20s. Leishman had three top-five finishes (just one outside Australia), six top-10s and 11 top-20s. At the five most prestigious tournaments in golf, Lee was T-20 at the Players and 49th at the Masters. Leishman was T-38 at the US Open and T-52 at The Open in his only two appearances.
Depth of field was a decisive factor. Leishman had beaten a smorgasbord of major winners at Trump National Doral: Charl Schwartzel, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Smith and Jon Rahm all featured in the top 10 of a LIV tournament with 54 players.
Throughout the season, however, Lee played in full-field events with deeper competition. At Memorial Park in Houston, he held off the game’s undisputed two leading players. Lee finished one stroke ahead of world No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland while career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy and Wyndham Clark rounded out the top-five of a 153-man field. Lee sank an astonishing 26 birdies over the four days when he ranked second in Strokes Gained: Putting with 8.7 shots gained on the field (compared to a season ranking of 60th).
The Male Player Of The Year is also acknowledgement of Lee’s broader appeal in golf. The 27-year-old social-media sensation provides the sort of flamboyance that draws people to the game. He ranks fifth on the PGA Tour for Clubhead Speed and second for Scrambling from 10-20 yards. Rarely would you find such a mesmerising combination of power and touch.
Min Woo Lee is one of a kind. Yet for so long in his sister’s shadow, he may one day lay claim to being the best golfer in his family.
Amateur player of the year: Harry Takis
Maintaining a sense of humour is a lesson Harry Takis learnt in 2025. Sharing the lead at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship with a Masters invitation at stake, Takis lost two golf balls on one hole, including one up a palm tree. The quadruple-bogey 8 ruined his chances of starts in the 2026 Masters and Open Championship. But in a sign of growing maturity, Takis salvaged a one-over 73 and recovered to be leading Australian in Dubai where he tied for fourth.
“That sucked, but you have to laugh it off,” the 20-year-old from Brisbane said. “I think it’s more infuriating when you’re in contention to go to Augusta… The difference between winning and losing is a golf shot – and you lose four in one hole after two drives, which I thought weren’t really that bad as golf shots.”
In 2025, Takis strung together many good shots and rounds. Seven top-five results were highlighted by an 11-stroke victory at the Singapore Open Amateur. He was also third in the Australian Master of the Amateurs and fourth in the Australian Men’s Amateur. On the American college circuit, Takis recorded three runner-up finishes while competing for San Diego State University. Takis ended the year as the highest-ranked Australian at No.68 on the men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Recent winners
2024: Karl Vilips
2023: Maddison Hinson-Tolchard
2022: Harrison Crowe
2021: Louis Dobbelaar
2020: Gabriela Ruffels
2019: Gabriela Ruffels
2018: David Micheluzzi
2017: Dylan Perry
2016: Curtis Luck
2015: Ryan Ruffels
Rookie player of the year: Maddison Hinson-Tolchard
The first 18 months can make or break a professional career. Perth’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard survived and began to flourish in her rookie season on the 2025 Ladies European Tour.
The 23-year-old Oklahoma State University graduate turned professional in June 2024 after four years on the US college circuit where she was the most successful player in the history of the Cowgirls’ golf program. Hinson-Tolchard made 10 starts on the secondary Epson Tour in America before earning a LET card at Q-School that December with a tie for 25th.
Hinson-Tolchard struggled early in the 2025 season but found form as the year progressed. Her best LET performance was third at the La Sella Open. Her second top-10 also came in Spain with a tie for eighth at the Tenerife Women’s Open. She notched seven top-20 results throughout the season and was part of the runner-up team at the Aramco Houston Championship.
From 20 individual events, Hinson-Tolchard accumulated $134,099 while finishing 32nd on the LET Order Of Merit and eighth on the Rookie of the Year. The 2018 Australian Girls’ champion rose to No.285 on the Rolex Rankings.
Recent winners
2024: Karl Vilips
2023: Kirsten Rudgeley
2022: Jed Morgan
2021: Gabriela Ruffels
2020: Stephanie Kyriacou
2019: Min Woo Lee
2018: Karis Davidson
2017: Hannah Green
2016: Su Oh
2015: Minjee Lee
Junior player of the year: Raegan Denton
Having successfully juggled Year 12 school commitments with elite-amateur golf, Adelaide teenager Raegan Denton will seek to elevate her game on the strong US college scene.
The 18-year-old graduate of Henley High School was impressive on the fairways in 2025. Denton won the Australian Girls’ Amateur at Brisbane’s Indooroopilly Golf Club in a three-way playoff. Internationally, she finished third in the APGC Junior Championship in Hong Kong, one stroke shy of a playoff.
In open-age competition, Denton won the Rene Erichsen Salver at Royal Adelaide by five strokes and triumphed in the final of Ewan Porter’s NextGen Tour at Moonah Links. She also finished third at the Australian Women’s Amateur and was a semi-finalist in the South Australia Women’s Amateur.
Originally from Coffin Bay on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula where her father Gary ran a fishing charter, Denton represented Australia at the Espirito Santo Trophy in Singapore and climbed to No.84 on the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. Denton’s performances caught the eye of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge where she now has a scholarship to play college golf.
South Australia high-performance coach Adrian Wickstein praised Denton’s work ethic: “With her schooling commitments, she couldn’t commit to travelling all-year round. She wanted to make sure she got decent grades so she probably had a slightly lighter playing schedule this year, especially than what she will next year leading into college.”
Recent winners
2024: Spencer Harrison
2023: Sarah Hammett
2022: Jeffrey Guan
2021: Jeffrey Guan
2020: Elvis Smylie
2019: Karl Vilips
2018: Karl Vilips
2017: Karl Vilips
2016: Min Woo Lee
2015: Ryan Ruffels
Senior player of the year: Steve Allan
Steve Allan’s journey in professional golf has been one of persistence. At the age of 51 when some of his more accomplished countrymen were savouring retirement, Allan went to work on the PGA Tour Champions where he won three times in 2025.
Allan earned status on the over-50s circuit by virtue of the 2024 Qualifying Tournament held in his American hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona. He was a late entry into the Galleri Classic in March after Steve Stricker withdrew and Allan took advantage to post a 15-under winning total at Mission Hills in the California desert.
With Allan’s second title, he became the first wire-to-wire winner in Dick’s Open history in Endicott, New York, in July. The next month Allan erased a four-stroke deficit to win the Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie Ridge, Washington, where he held off major champions Stewart Cink, Ernie Els and Darren Clarke. He finished the season 11th in the Schwab Cup with earnings of $US1,709,697.
That’s almost half the prizemoney of $US3.61 million that Allan accumulated across 214 appearances on the PGA Tour where he had a couple of runner-up finishes among nine top-10 results. He also played 164 events on the Korn Ferry Tour ($US647,883). Allan’s finest moment will forever be the 2002 Australian Open he won at Victoria Golf Club. But he will treasure his 2025 season in America where he outshone some of the biggest names in professional golf.
Recent winners
2024: Nadene Gole
2023: Nadene Gole
2022: Richard Green
2021: Rod Pampling
2020: Rod Pampling
2019: Sue Wooster
2018: Sue Wooster
2017: Sue Wooster
2016: Peter Fowler
2015: Peter Fowler
PGA Associate Player of the Year: Joe Hodgson
Spare a thought for trainee professionals competing in the South Australia Associate Matches. Mount Osmond Golf Club apprentice Joseph Hodgson has won a staggering 39 PGA Open Matches across the past two years.
The 27-year-old is a mature-age entrant in the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program after playing college golf for Illinois State University where he graduated in 2022. The Year 2 associate was runner-up in defence of his SA PGA Associate Championship and fourth in the Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Tocumwal. In a mark of his consistency, Hodgson had a national Adjusted Scoring Average of –1.46 strokes under par (seventh nationally).
Recent winners
2024: Joe Hodgson
2023: Tim Walker
2022: Jak Carter
2021: Lachlan Aylen
2020: Elliot Beel
2019: Brayden Petersen
2018: Frazer Droop
2017: Frazer Droop
2016: Brody Martin
2015: Deyen Lawson
Coach of the year: Ritchie Smith
It takes a rare individual to contact someone in prison and offer them help. But that’s precisely what Ritchie Smith did when he phoned Ryan Peake inside a prison block with two-and-a-half years left on a seven-year sentence for assault.
In one of the most remarkable sporting comebacks, Peake not only returned to golf but he turned professional, gained a PGA Tour of Australasia card and won the 2025 New Zealand Open in Queenstown to earn status on the DP World Tour. Peake is forever grateful that Smith showed faith in him and outlined a clear vision and plan of action.
“It just shows the person that Ritchie is for reaching out,” Peake says. “Ritchie took on the risk as well, not only with his family but with colleagues or whoever he works with. He’s then got to tell these people, ‘I’m now going to invest my time into a guy that’s in prison and bring him back.’ That’s like a massive risk.
“For example, when I first got out of jail, I simply couldn’t get a job because of my record. People don’t want to be involved with that stuff. And Ritchie did.”
Smith has received numerous accolades for his success with major champions Minjee Lee and Hannah Green. But turning around the life of a Rebels Motorcycle Club member was an entirely different challenge.
“Good people make mistakes. And everyone deserves a second chance. So should he,” Smith says. “There’s more to coaching than just telling someone how to swing it. What we have to do is provide an environment where people can develop. Not necessarily control what they do, but provide an environment where they can [get better]… And primarily be happy. Because happiness is more important than their golf.”
Recent winners
2024: Col Swatton
2023: Ritchie Smith
2022: Grant Field
2021: Dominic Azzopardi
2020: Ritchie Smith
2019: Ritchie Smith
2018: Gareth Jones
2017: Ritchie Smith
2016: Dean Kinney
2015: Cameron McCormick
Superintendent of the Year: Tim Warren
Embarking upon a major course overhaul requires good planning and leadership. Superintendent Tim Warren excelled in both during a four-year Course Enhancement Plan that has transformed Glenelg Golf Club into one of the finest metropolitan facilities not only in Adelaide, but the Australian mainland.
In 2025 Warren was the recipient of the Excellence in Golf Course Management Award from the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association (ASTMA). He is the fourth superintendent to win both the Excellence and Claude Crockford awards, the two highest accolades from ASTMA.
When he arrived at Glenelg in 2018, Warren identified several areas of concern: turf quality, bunker maintenance, inefficient irrigation and extraneous out-of-play areas. With major course renovation in mind, Warren trialled seven varieties of bentgrass over a two-year period to evaluate their suitability for the greens-replacement program.
To address bunker maintenance, he initiated a trial of synthetic turf tiles from a decommissioned hockey pitch to replace the natural turf sodding on Glenelg’s revetted bunker walls. It’s been an outstanding success and the revetted bunkers have a consistent edging with an expected lifespan increase from five to 20 years.
Glenelg’s plan entailed an 18-hole renovation at a total budget of $4.3 million. Undertaken in-house by Glenelg’s maintenance team rather than outsourced to contractors, they have re-laid the bentgrass putting surfaces, rebuilt the entire network of 93 bunkers, installed a new Rain Bird irrigation system and constructed more than two kilometres of Geohex paths.
From an environmental perspective, Glenelg has reduced overall chemical usage, prioritised electric-powered machinery to reduce operating noise, introduced GPS-guided spray units for precise application and added 5,500 native plants.
Glenelg’s conditioning has been the catalyst for its rise to No.32 on Australian Golf Digest’s Top 100 Golf Courses, with the potential for a further climb in the 2026 ranking.
“It’s been a hard slog at times – for myself, the staff and the members – but I’ve always had the attitude – if there’s a problem in front of us, we’ll get stuck in and have a crack and do whatever it takes. Maybe we went into it a bit naïve at the start with how much was going to be involved, but overall I think it has been a wonderful opportunity for the staff to develop their skills,” Warren told the Australian Turfgrass Management Journal.
“I think the biggest thing for me is how we have been able to pull it all together on the budget that we are working with [$4.3 million]. The fact that we have been able to keep the remaining holes in play and to the standard that members expect has also been very satisfying.”
Recent winners
2024: Tom Tristram (Secret Harbour)
2023: Craig Walker (Devonport)
2022: Lance Knox (Busselton)
2021: Craig Molloy (Cypress Lakes)
2020: Anthony Mills (The Lakes)
2019: Jon Carter (Wanneroo)
2018: Mark O’Sullivan (Roseville)
2017: Phil Soegaard (Lakelands)
2016: Mick McCombe (Maleny)
2015: Simon Bourne (Cottesloe)
Services to golf: Ian Baker-Finch
Seldom does a professional golfer leave a lasting legacy upon retirement. Ian Baker-Finch achieved as much when he walked away from the broadcast booth this year after three decades behind the microphone.
In a teary farewell at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, Baker-Finch signed off alongside CBS colleagues Jim Nantz, Frank Nobilo and Trevor Immelman. Baker-Finch has been a staple of CBS’ tournament coverage for the past 19 years, notably during the network’s broadcast of the Masters Tournament when he would call the unfolding drama on Augusta National’s dramatic inward nine.
It was reassuring to have that Australian connection in April when we tuned in to watch the Masters. IBF’s dulcet tones will be missed Down Under, although he has promised to continue commentating on Australian tournaments.
Baker-Finch reinvented himself as a broadcaster after a successful playing career highlighted by the 1991 Open triumph when he scorched Royal Birkdale with closing rounds of 64-66 to win by two strokes from fellow Australian Mike Harwood. Alas, his game went into a well-publicised death spiral, culminating with a 92 in the first round of the 1997 Open at Royal Troon after which he retired from playing professional golf.
Fortuitously, another chapter opened the following year. ESPN and ABC Sports hired Baker-Finch in 1998 to work as their lead analyst and hole announcer, respectively.
Baker-Finch made a smooth transition into full-time broadcasting, acquiring a reputation as one of the most trusted and knowledgeable voices in golf. He had the warmest of relationships with PGA Tour players, characterised by his sincere demeanour. Through his own tribulations, Baker-Finch understand the challenges endured by professional golfers at the highest level.
Great praise came from Tiger Woods on social-media platform X: “Congrats Finchy for 30 incredible years behind the microphone. You brought insight into things that the viewing audience could understand and relate to. From all of us – thanks for the memories.”
Baker-Finch’s leadership qualities came to the fore as Australia’s inaugural Olympic golf captain for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. He also served as a three-time captain’s assistant under Gary Player for the International team at the Presidents Cup (2003, 2005, 2007).
Baker-Finch will continue to play a prominent role in golf here. He has spent the past seven years as a member-elected director of the PGA of Australia. Since May 2024 he has served as chairman of the PGA, a role he will fulfil until at least 2027.
In a sport where leading figures can appear disingenuous, Baker-Finch was an exception. Always dignified, he has been the epitome of how golfers should behave, engage and interact with fellow players, the media and the general public. CBS analyst and 2008 Masters champion Immelman described him as “such an incredible mentor to so many”.
During that emotional farewell at the Wyndham Championship, CBS anchor Nantz told Baker-Finch about the impact he had on television viewers: “You’ve been in their living rooms for decades. They feel like they know you. They do. And it’s easy to see why. Your warmth, your kindness. Whatever you think of Ian Baker-Finch being in your home the past 30 years – and I know it’s a great feeling having him as a friend from far away – whatever you thought he was like, he’s 10 times better.”
Recent winners
2024: Jared Kendler
2023: Greg Norman
2022: Sandy Jamieson
2021: David Greenhill
2020: Karrie Webb
2019: Peter McMaugh
2018: Jarrod Lyle
2017: David Cherry AM
2016: Duncan Andrews
2015: John Hopkins
Photographs by
sam tabone, Keyur Khamar/getty images
Joe Scarnici/getty images
Morgan Hancock, jason butler, Eurasia Sport Images/getty images
Michael Reaves, Sam Hodde/getty images
Glenelg course: Jake Milne
