Golf Australia

“if a player is upset about not being conceded a putt, that is the very reason why you don’t give it”

I can’t get enough of match play. In my opinion it is the most interesting and fun format of golf to play and watch. So, when the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup or Presidents Cup rolls around I’m glued to the action. The cut and thrust of head-to-head matches – no matter whether its fourball, foursomes or singles – is intriguing. It’s certainly more intriguing than stroke play, which only gets really exciting when it morphs into match play at the tail end of a tournament. One of the great traditions of match play is the conceded putt, the ‘gimme’. But, when it comes to Cup events, conceded putts (or lack thereof) always seem to cause controversy. At Whistling Straits, Justin Thomas was disappointed when he wasn’t conceded a putt he said was “inside…

maroochy river

BLI BLI • QUEENSLAND Maroochy River Golf Club is one of the great success stories in recent Australian golfing history. A decade ago, the club’s future was uncertain. Today, it is one of Queensland’s most impressive golf hubs with a nationally-ranked golf course, mini golf course, first class practice facilities and an expansive clubhouse. The back story of this success dates back more than 50 years and the foundation of the Horton Park Golf Club, which was the green centrepiece of Maroochydore. By the late ‘90s, residential and commercial development of its surrounds had ‘landlocked’ the course in Maroochydore’s CBD. It became apparent to some within the club that pressure would soon be applied move from the city centre. Plans to relocate away from the centre of the CBD were first tabled in 2004 when…

“was greg norman a ‘great’ player? really can’t make up my mind.”

Confined to quarters during all things COVID can get your mind racing. Here are some thoughts … It’s “pin position,” not “hole location”. It’s “hazard” not “penalty area”. When you are two-up with two holes to play (and you’re not going extra holes), you are “dormie”. Bring back the ampersand; it is 3 & 2, not 3 and 2. Bring back the stymie in match-play. Not every green should be the same speed. Every Tour needs to come up with something other than an almost endless diet of 72-hole stroke-play events. Stroke-play is only really interesting when it turns into match-play. Anyone taking more than three hours and 30 minutes to play 18-holes is too slow. Type “Seve Ballesteros” into YouTube and you are set for at least four hours. Brad Faxon and Loren Roberts are supposed to be great putters;…

our summer of golf is back

With COVID-related restrictions set to be eased across the country by mid-November, the first wave of PGA Tour of Australasia events for this summer have been announced. The spectacular desert landscape of Kalgoorlie Golf Course will serve as the backdrop to the start of the summer of golf following further changes to the 2021/2022 schedule. The PGA Tour of Australasia made adjustments to the summer schedule to provide the best chance of events going ahead with quality fields. Moving into the date previously scheduled for the Australian Open, the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder WA PGA Championship will now be played from November 25 to 28 at the Graham Marsh-designed Kalgoorlie Golf Course. The following week the Tour will move to Royal Fremantle Golf Club for the Nexus RISK WA Open. The Victorian PGA Championship…

‘man of steel’ nabs fifth open

In an era of Australian golf dominated by outstanding amateurs, Ivo Whitton was the best of them all. For nearly 25 years through to the mid 1930s, if Whitton was in the field he was the man to beat. His first big win was at the 1912 Australian Open when, as an 18-year-old working as a woolbroker in Melbourne, he claimed the title by five strokes from seasoned NSW pros Dan Soutar and Fred Popplewell. He successfully defended his title the following year but it would be the last Australian Open played until 1920, due to the outbreak of World War I. By mid-1931, Whitton’s winning record included four Australian Opens, two Australian Amateurs, five Victorian Amateurs and four Riversdale Cups, while being a mainstay of the Victorian team that won 10 Interstate…

australian career amateurs

SANDRA MCCAW A young Sandra Williams hit her first golf shot in 1965 and six years later she became Australian Junior Champion in 1971, defeating Jan Stephenson. The following year she won the first of a record four Australian Women’s Amateur Championship titles. Having married, and become Sandra McCaw, she took a year out of the game for the birth of her son, but returned in 1974 to defeat gallery favourite, Jane Lock, to get national title No.2. In 1975 McCaw also reached the final of the British Women’s Amateur, at St Andrews. McCaw was a mainstay of Australian teams, representing her country 30 times between 1971 and 1987. EDWINA KENNEDY Edwina Kennedy was the first Australian to win the British Ladies Amateur, claiming the title on her 19th birthday in 1978. In 1980 she won…