Imagine a celebrity pro-am with rounds at Victoria Golf Club, Metropolitan, Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath.
It’s an idea Shane Warne believes could rival the Pebble Beach Pro Am on the US PGA Tour or the Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour.
And if you think about the former sports stars, actors and business people who’d jump at the chance to play the Sandbelt’s finest offering, the idea has serious legs.
“I think everyone around the world has heard about the Melbourne Sandbelt and how good it is,” Warne tells Australian Golf Digest during the pro-am at the World Cup of Golf.
The former Test cricket great says it has a chance at aligning itself with a major tour and becoming a legitimate professional event.
It would require a sponsor to stump up several million dollars for a tournament purse, but Warne feels it’s possible.
Keen golfer Warnie is a regular at the Dunhill in Scotland, which is played across St Andrews (Old Course), Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
“I think the pros always take the opportunity when they can to come down and play (the Sandbelt),” Warne said.
“I wish there was someone who would come in and put up that much money for a tournament where you play all the sand belt courses, call it the ‘Sandbelt Classic’.
“I’ll (help) get it off the ground – the Australian version of the Dunhill.
“I’d invite some of my friends I know from around the world to come and play.”
For more information on a Golfing Great head to Visit Victoria.
