[Photo:Four-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner Dimi Papadatos with the Joe Kirkwood Cup.]
The Kirkwood Cup has completed its 1,200-kilometre journey from Queensland to Sydney to take its place at The Lakes Golf Club in preparation for the 2026 BMW Australian PGA Championship to be held November 26-29.
The iconic BMW Australian PGA Championship trophy visited 15 golf clubs between Coolangatta and the Central Coast before its final trip into Sydney on Saturday, giving golf fans in regional centres the chance to get up close and personal with one of Australian golf’s most treasured pieces of silverware.
Across its six-day journey, the Kirkwood Cup was taken to the following golf clubs: Coolangatta and Tweed Heads Golf Club, Murwillumbah Golf Club, Ocean Shores Country Club, Byron Bay Golf Club, Ballina Golf and Sports Club, Yamba Golf and Country Club, Grafton District Golf Club, Coffs Harbour Golf Club, Bonville Golf Resort, Crescent Head Country Club, Port Macquarie Golf Club, Newcastle Golf Club, Waratah Golf Club, Magenta Shores Golf and Country Club and Shelly Beach Golf Club before being handed over at The Lakes Golf Club.
There were also photo opportunities at some of New South Wales’s most iconic tourist locations, including the Cape Byron Lighthouse, the Big Prawn at Ballina, Coffs Harbour’s Big Banana and the Tacking Point Lighthouse at Port Macquarie.
The Joe Kirkwood Cup dates to 1929, when Australian golf legend Joe Kirkwood Sr. donated the trophy for the inaugural Australian Professional Championship.
Its list of winners includes major champions Greg Norman, Adam Scott, Cam Smith, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Geoff Ogilvy and Ian Baker-Finch.
The BMW Australian PGA Championship will be played at The Lakes Golf Club from November 26-29, with a 156-player field competing for the $2.5 million purse.
The event’s headliners include Adam Scott, Cam Smith, Min Woo Lee, Lucas Herbert, Daniel Hillier and defending champion David Puig.
The 2026 BMW Australian PGA Championship is supported by the New South Wales Government through Destination NSW.
