The announcement last Friday that Marc Leishman intends to play in next month’s WA Open dovetailed with the first few episodes in the latest series of Australia’s most popular TV cooking show. And if you think that’s an odd connection to make in the first paragraph, bear with me.
It’s “My Kitchen Rules” (a.k.a. “MKR”) season in our house, where so far this series debate has centred on: should the contestants stretch themselves and try to impress the judges and their fellow diners with dishes that are at the edge of or even beyond their current capabilities, or should they choose ‘safe’ menu options but execute them exceptionally.
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That’s a debate for another day and another place. Where it links to golf, however, is when we examine the ‘recipe’ of executing exceptional golf tournaments. And that recipe is deceptively simple.
For all the gimmicks (think party holes, inflated hole-in-one prizes and celebrity entrants) that have become part of the tournament landscape in recent years, there really are just two ingredients required to pull off a memorable golf tournament: great players and a great course. Fortunately for Australian golf fans, the upcoming slate of tournaments on our local circuit is set to deliver both.
The long-overdue return of the men’s Australian Open to Royal Melbourne this December is perhaps the simplest ingredient of all to spice up our national championship. It’s tournament-golf’s equivalent of adding salt. Taking it to the best venues (noting that they aren’t all in Melbourne or Victoria) is the most basic positive move a golf event can make.
“It just shows you that the venues really matter these days, I believe,” Adam Scott told Australian Golf Digest in June when asked about this year’s Australian Open host.
The only other mandatory ingredient is a top field. This year’s cast received one of the meatiest injections of recent years in May when Rory McIlroy was announced as a confirmed starter fresh off winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. Kudos to those behind the national championship for signing the Northern Irishman for two appearances, too, and for revealing early that Kingston Heath will host the 2026 edition. You get to look forward to what’s being served to you for longer when the menu is revealed in advance.
But back to Leishman and his visit to the west. Anyone who was present at the NSW Open last November could feel the elevation in attention that tournament received by having Cam Smith and eventual winner Lucas Herbert in the field. While the host-venue ingredient didn’t quite reach the same heights (with apologies to the more-than-adequate Murray Downs course), it proved how getting right even just one of the two main parts of the recipe can still lift an event.
The WA Open, however, will feel the effects of both factors this year. Not only has the tournament lured a marquee signing in Leishman, it’ll also be staged at Mount Lawley Golf Club, where the much-vaunted course-architecture firm OCM has carried out a remarkable renovation. With Perth so repeatedly starved of top-tier tournament golf since the demise of the Perth International and innovative Super 6 event, it’s some consolation for a schedule so dominated by the eastern states.
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“I’m so excited to be playing the WA Open at Mount Lawley, a course that I’ve heard plenty about,” Leishman said while confirming he will also contest the Australian PGA and Open championships. “Winning at home would mean a lot to me, and to have three chances to do that before the end of the year is very exciting.”
MKR judge Manu Feildel reportedly plays golf. Chances are he’ll be impressed by what’s being served up on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia this spring and summer. And so should you.
