Golf Australia

Congratulations where congratulations are due. Greg Norman and his team at LIV Golf put on a great show in Adelaide. Don’t mind that there appeared to be more beer spilled than what was consumed, by shoe or can, over the three days. The course was beautifully set up for entertaining golf and that’s what we got. Talor Gooch was phenomenal over the first two days and when he got the chicken bone caught in his throat with nine holes to play, it thankfully made for a far more exciting finish than if he kept his 10-shot advantage. Of course, he held on to win which was no surprise to anyone, including Gooch. His biggest surprise came after he touched down in Singapore two days later and checked his bank account to see if…

William ‘Billy’ Meader and Oscar Damman are two names almost lost in the rich history of Australian golf, which is astounding when you consider the pair had such a strong influence on the creation of one of this country’s best courses. The Victoria Golf Club was established 120 years ago and played on links at Fisherman’s Bend near Port Melbourne. This was a year after the formation of the Victorian Golf Association, whose secretary treasurer, Billy Meader, was the driving force behind the new club. The career banker also became the champion for the club’s move to its present site in the heart of the Melbourne Sandbelt at Cheltenham in the mid 1920s. Meader had a keen ally in the club’s founding captain, Oscar Damman – a St Kilda born former Melbourne…

During the week of the LIV Golf League event in Adelaide, and indeed since, speculation has continued to grow that the Saudi-funded circuit will add a second Australian event to its schedule as early as 2024. The massive crowds that flocked toThe Grange Golf Club to see the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Cam Smith and co. signifying the most successful week in the Greg Norman-led Tour’s brief history. Players themselves did little to settle the stories, and neither did one of Australia’s organisational bodies, yet like everything associated with, or even said by LIV Golf at times, rumours don’t always become truths. And positive press about more Aussie events are the sort of thing Norman is about cultivating. “Look, right now we’re focused for the next 72 hours… Our…

JORDAN SPIETH IN PROFILE • A three-time major winner before the age of 24, Spieth needs just the PGA to complete the career Grand Slam.• He has won 13 times on the PGA Tour. Spieth’s last victory came at the RBC Heritage in April 2022.• Spieth finished third, behind Tiger and Rory, to win $9 million from the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program (PIP) for 2022.• In September, he won all five matches at the Presidents Cup, including four alongside Justin Thomas. Since 2018, the duo has won eight times and lost just twice in the Presidents and Ryder Cups. We haven’t seen you use your swing rehearsal as much recently. Has that been a goal for a while, to move away from that? Ideally, I don’t have to do it. I’m doing…

The U.S Open was last held in Los Angeles 75 years ago when the smooth-moving Ben Hogan claimed his third major championship and maiden national championship at Riviera Country Club. Riviera was a happy hunting ground for Hogan and, ultimately, his success there saw the famous LA course become one of two nicknamed, ‘Hogan’s Alley.’ The other was Hogan’s home club, Colonial Country Club, in Fort Worth, Texas. At Riviera, Hogan won the Los Angeles Open (what is known today as the Genesis Invitational) three times, with the first in 1942. But it was following the 1947-48 seasons that Riviera was referred to as Hogan’s Alley, as Hogan won there three times in a two-year period. He claimed the Los Angeles Open titles in both years, before adding to the LA haul…

Athlea Archer is a golfing icon in Western Victoria and, despite turning 90 years old this month, she continues to inspire. Athlea’s competitive record speaks for itself. She had a dozen club championship victories across five decades and claimed her 12th and final title at the age of 76. She was not just a home course specialist either, spending more than 25 years in the Western District representative side and winning seven Western District championships. Her first taste of the game was at 12, playing at the Cavendish Golf Club; she also got plenty of practice at home. Athlea and her family had three holes on their property, one parallel to the ‘bull paddock’ where her father’s Shorthorn stud grazed. As expected with any beginning golfer, many a wayward shot found the…