Golf Australia

For as long as I can remember, April has meant one thing… the Masters. The attraction of watching the year’s first major grabbed me at an early age, as I recall braving an early morning chill to watch an abbreviated coverage of the 1980 tournament before heading off to school. Of course, that was the year Seve Ballesteros won his first green jacket by four shots but it was the final round chase by the now late Jack Newton that had me enthralled. He finished second alongside Gibby Gilbert and, sadly, that was the last major Jack would seriously contend in. There have been plenty of anxious moments spent perched in the 42 years since. With the exception of a brief period of a few years early this century when the oohs…

BELLARINE PENINSULA • VICTORIA The past 20 years have been a bullish period for golf on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula. New courses, extensively remodelled layouts and the world-class VicOpen Championship have put the peninsula on the global golfing map. Portarlington is one of the region’s long-established clubs and in recent years it has emerged as a major player in the elevation of the Bellarine as a ‘must-visit’ for golfers near and far. The club celebrated its centenary in 2009 but it has improved significantly since then and in January this year it debuted at No.63 in Golf Australia magazine’s Top-100 Public Access Courses ranking. As I noted in that ranking: “Overlooked and underrated for several years, this Bellarine Peninsula gem makes its debut appearance in the Top-100 Public Access Courses ranking. Once you have picked your…

When, like me, you are a member of the rapidly diminishing band of journalists charged with informing the world about golf and golfers, it is the question I hear most often: What is (invariably superstar) player X really like? Almost every time my response is a shake of the head and, sometimes, a smile. Renowned swing coach Pete Cowen’s long-ago quip also comes to mind. Asked about his dealings with the game’s elite and the typically blunt Yorkshireman didn’t even hesitate. “They all turn into ‘*&%$s’ in the end,” he said. Now, while that may seem more than a little harsh, there is surely some truth contained therein. It’s a depressing fact that, with one or two notable exceptions like Nick Price and Sandy Lyle, the men who rise to the statistical…

There is a new event on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia calendar for 2023. The National will be played at The National Golf Club’s Moonah Course on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula from March 30 to April 2. The event will be the finale for the PGA Tour of Australasia’s 16-event season with a purse of $200,000 on offer. Beyond the opportunities on offer for the field, the event, which has been confirmed for the next three years as part of the schedule with a hope to become a Tour Championship of sorts, gives one of the top courses in the country a chance to shine on a big stage. The Moonah layout – designed by Greg Norman and Bob Harrison – is one of three courses on The National’s Cape Schanck property…

bad BRENDAN JAMES Golf Australia Editor In an extraordinary lapse in judgement, the St Andrews Links Trust painted a moustache on the Mona Lisa, stood back and admired its work with pride. Then, when a single photo of the ‘new’ Swilcan Bridge patio found its way onto the internet, the proverbial faecal matter hit the fan. The patio was gone a few days later and replaced with turf. While the Trust certainly had the best of intentions, it quickly learned, golfers – particularly hardcore passionate ones – don’t like change, especially when it comes to the game’s history and its landmarks. The Swilcan Bridge, dating back hundreds of years, is the most famous in the game. Tinkering with it, no matter what the reason, was always going to draw widespread criticism. It would be like putting a…

The smooth move of Argentinian Roberto De Vicenzo led him to more than 230 wins worldwide, including a victory at the 1967 Open Championship where he managed to fight off golfing royalty in Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. However, De Vicenzo’s biggest moment in the spotlight came on the hallowed turf of Augusta National in 1968. De Vicenzo was a student of the game, becoming a caddy at his local, Ranelagh Golf Club, on the outskirts of Buenos Aries at eight-years-old. The course would later be named after him as a tribute to his service to the game of golf, not only in the area, but around the globe. Golf in Argentina was largely a minority sport; therefore, De Vicenzo would mainly loop for ex-pat Englishmen. He and his friends picked up the…