January 2022 was a slightly peculiar time in Australian golf. It was the start of a new year, however the 2021 edition of the Australian PGA Championship was being played even though it was already 2022.
Jed Morgan blitzed the field and the Royal Queensland course that week to surge to an 11-stroke victory that re-wrote the championship’s record books. Yet it’s easy to forget that there was another winner that week…
The much-trumpeted and long-awaited Australian WPGA Championship was held concurrently with the men’s edition that week and included an appropriately named trophy: the Karrie Webb Cup.
“It’s a really great honour and very pleased to have been thought of in that way and know that a future tournament will bear my name for many years to come,” Webb said at the event’s launch in November 2021.
The first staging saw Su Oh outshine a small but stellar field of 24 players to win, beating rising star (and now LPGA winner) Grace Kim by four shots and banking the $180,000 first prize.
Yet the championship has not been held again.
Later that year, the two Australian Opens were brought together as the men’s and women’s (and All Abilities) national championships embarked on a new era of unity, held simultaneously just like the twin Australian PGA Championships 11 months earlier.
It’s odd to think the tournament that was first into the dual-gender realm is seemingly no longer.
The good news is: the Australian WPGA Championship is not dead; it’s merely dormant.
There are plans afoot – with an official announcement likely in the coming months – to revive the championship from 2025 as a stand-alone event co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour. A March date is also the likely timing.
One reason for the Australian WPGA Championship’s hiatus is the desire to have both the men’s and women’s Australian PGA championships co-sanctioned, and the optimum dates from a local perspective don’t necessarily match with the respective schedules of the two Europe-based circuits.
Karen Lunn, the chief executive of the WPGA Tour of Australasia, says the ultimate aim for the Australian WPGA Championship is for it to become the premier stand-alone women’s tournament in Australia.
“The WPGA Tour of Australasia and the PGA of Australia are working towards a return of the Australian WPGA Championship to the tour as a stand-alone women’s event for the 2024-2025 season,” Lunn said today.
“The WPGA Tour of Australasia is committed to creating strong playing opportunities for our members, and we understand the great impact that a championship like this will have on inspiring the next generation of women and girls.”
