AusLeisure

WA Open welcomed back to the PGA Tour of Australasia calendar of events

For the first time in six years, the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia schedule will see the return of the Nexus Risk Western Australian Open – returning to the Royal Fremantle Golf Club in October.

PGA of Australia Tournaments Director Australasia, Nick Dastey notes “Clearly we are delighted to welcome the WA Open back to the PGA Tour of Australasia calendar of events.

“The events of last year and border restrictions made it impossible to conduct the WA Open as an Order of Merit event but we now have two weeks of championship golf back to back in WA that I’m sure our best players will embrace.

“In a difficult time for tournament golf we have taken some steps forward in the past six months and a WA Open that counts towards the Order of Merit is a continuation of that.”

Not since Zach Murray’s victory at the 2018 WA Open at Mount Lawley Golf Club has the WA Open counted towards the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit and along with the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder WA PGA Championship supported by TX Civil & Logistics forms a run of consecutive tournaments last seen in 2015.

With players to compete for a record prize purse of $150,000 at Kalgoorlie Golf Club from 7^th to 10th October, the Nexus Risk WA Open will follow the week after from 14^th to 17^th October at Royal Fremantle with total prizemoney of $125,000.

The WA PGA Championship will celebrate its 10th staging at Kalgoorlie Golf Club in 2021, the spectacular Graham Marsh design with the desert’s red dirt as the backdrop combined with the hospitality of the Kalgoorlie community making it one of the most popular stops on the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule.

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s support of the event has spanned the past 10 years and will continue through until at least 2023 and this year represents the seventh year of TX Civil & Logistics support that also includes the 2022 and 2023 championships.

The honour roll of WA Open winners includes icons of Australian golf such as Ossie Pickworth, Kel Nagle, Graham Marsh, Ian Baker-Finch, and Greg Norman along with international legends Gary Player (1956) and Peter Jacobsen (1979).

The WA Open will also serve as the third event in the recently announced PGA Affiliate Future Tour and restores one of the country’s most prestigious state championships to its rightful place on the golf calendar.

Amateurs Ollie Goss, Curtis Luck, Zach Murray and Hayden Hopewell have each won the WA Open since 2012 and Golf WA Chief Executive Gary Thomas said the state Open is a critical proving ground for amateurs and young professionals making their start in tournament golf.

Thomas explains “we see the opportunities for our elite amateurs, male and female, to test themselves against the best professional golfers in the country as one of the major outcomes of the WA Open.

“Since the Nexus Risk WA Open returned to its current rota format in 2009, three Western Australian amateurs have won the WA Open – Oliver Goss, Curtis Luck and Hayden Hopewell. Minjee Lee and Hannah Green also played in the Open as part of their development and in 2019, Kirsten Rudgeley became the first female golfer to make the cut of the WA Open.

“The WA Open has been a great opportunity for our best amateurs.”

Not only does the return of the WA Open provide an opportunity for players but also for golf fans in Perth and beyond.

The state capital has not seen a top tier event since Ryan Fox’s victory at the 2019 ISPS HANDA World Super 6 at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

“As a means of promoting golf in WA and with the expected quality of the field, it will give the public the opportunity to witness tournament golf at a high level,” Thomas said.

“Unfortunately, with the demise of the World Super 6 and the WA Open being a Non Order of Merit event last year, we have not had an event on the PGA Tour of Australasia for several years.

“It will be great to have an event of this standing and storied history in Perth.”

The WA PGA will be a PGATV broadcast event in 2021, which will see the event broadcast to Australia and New Zealand through partners such as Fox Sports, Kayo and Sky NZ.

The return of the WA Open adds to the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule that currently includes the Tailor-made Building Services NT PGA Championship (19th to 22nd August), WA PGA Championship (7th to 10th October), Australian PGA Championship (2nd to 5th December) and the New Zealand Open (24th to 27th February) … with the promise of more to come.

Image: 2020 Nexus Risk WA Open winner Hayden Hopewell

Related Articles

9th June 2021 - PGA of Australia and Golf Australia develop new pathway for elite amateurs

12th April 2021 - Dates announced for 2021 Australian PGA Championship

16th January 2021 - PGA Tour of Australasia will hold events despite ongoing border uncertainty

24th November 2020 - PGA and ALPG unveil world-first brand refresh to strengthen their alignment

12th November 2020 - PGA of Australia to launch national campaign promoting PGA Professionals

24th July 2020 - Northern Territory PGA rescheduled to October due to COVID -19 restrictions

1st July 2020 - PGA of NZ to relocate headquarters to North Shore Golf Club 

25th May 2020 - Golf Business Australia and PGA of Australia renew partnership

28th January 2020 - PGA TOUR and its tournaments generate more than US$3 billion in charitable funds

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.