Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland has encouraged golf’s powerbrokers to consider the idea to award the Australian Open winner an exemption into all four majors, saying it would “elevate our event and our tour”.
It doesn’t have a confirmed date, a host city or a venue, but the Australian Open has morphed into a magic bullet that could end golf’s majors dilemma.
Oakleigh Golf Course in Melbourne’s south-east will continue as a nine-hole public course serving its range of community groups following a vote by City of Monash Council Tuesday evening.
Monash Council has a vote scheduled for next Tuesday, February 27, after a six-month period of consultation with the community with two options canvassed – to retain the golf course or to close it and create parkland.
Sydney’s Jeffrey Guan and Harrison Crowe and Perth’s Haydn Barron are the new additions to the squad of 12 players who will receive financial support and guidance from the national organisation in the early phases of their careers as professionals.
With two concurrently held ISPS Handa Australian Opens in the books, organisers now have twice the data – and twice as many opinions – to draw from when assessing what our national championship should look like from 2024 onwards. And it should tell them plenty.
Australian golf is celebrating a fourth consecutive year of participation growth, with 17.6 percent of adult Australians hitting a golf ball in 2022-2023.
The 47-year-old Californian pro is at the ISPS Handa Australian Open in Sydney this week as an invited guest of Golf Australia and the PGA Tour of Australasia after he made similar appearances across Europe and in the Middle East.
Australia’s newest LPGA Tour member and one of the longest standing are the latest commitments to the ISPS Handa Australian Open, with Gabi Ruffels and Sarah Kemp today confirming their places in Sydney from November 30.
Australian Golf Digest
