Ashley Hall

Recommencing on October 22nd at the Western Australian Open at the Cottesloe Golf Club in the beachside suburbs of Perth, the remainder of the 2009 PGA Tour of Australasia’s schedule now will include all regional and State championships. Over the past ten years or so such events have formed part of the Development or Von Nida Tours although, interestingly, in the years prior they were very much a key ingredient of the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Why the change? Well, as it continues to play a key role in the establishment of the OneAsia model, the PGA of Australia sees events such as the Open and PGA Championships of WA, NSW, Victoria and Queensland as the ideal pathway for its emerging members to build the momentum and money necessary to prove their worth before graduating to the next level of their careers.

While some will be disappointed the name of Norman Von Nida, one of the great benefactors of Australian golf, is no longer directly associated with a breeding ground for young players, the bigger picture will ensure that his great legacy to the game will be even further enhanced.

Every cent earned in these events will now counts towards the overall Australasian Tour money list which is coincidentally named the Von Nida Trophy. Given the continuity of events the new schedule offers, opportunities should open up for young players, many without significant tours to play throughout the year, to leapfrog their way onto international tours.

There are now eight consecutive events between the WA Open in late October and the Australian PGA Championship in mid December. Five of those events play for a maximum of only $A135,000, but with so many players now given the opportunity to build on their overall Australasian Tour money list position while experiencing 72 hole tournament golf, only good can come out of the initiative.

Earlier this year the 2009 Victorian Open and PGA Championships became the first such events to come under that newly created category and the winners of those events, Ashley Hall and Andre Stolz are, as a result, are already reaping the rewards. They, along with others who did well early in the season, are in Korea as this article is written playing in a US$850,000 One Asia Tour event field that includes Ryo Ishikawa, Rory McIlroy and Danny Lee.

As a result of his win at the Victorian Open at Spring Valley in January and his subsequent improved status on the Australasian Tour, Victorian Ashley Hall also gained access to the Volvo China Open, the inaugural OneAsia Tournament which was played in April. In finishing third there in Beijing, Hall secured a cheque for US$113,000 which will prove of significant assistance in the immediate future as he looks to develop his game. It is a very tangible example of the benefits the repositioning of the former Von Nida Tour events is already yielding.

Last year after winning the NSW PGA Championship Victorian Tim Wood finished third the following week at the NSW Open and went very close to securing the Von Nida Tour Order of Merit. Wood was eventually narrowly beaten for that honour by New Zealander Michael Long but a month later he shared the lead early in the final round of the Australian Open at Royal Sydney further highlighting the benefit he gained from the experience in contention at Riverside Oaks and The Vintage.

Some might say it is a case of ‘Back to the Future’ as those events take up a position they enjoyed in Australian golf many years ago as part of mainstream tournament golf. One look at the list of names on any of the trophies for such events highlights the significance of those tournaments in the history of the game in Australia. Most of Australia’s greats have won at least one of these events and their re-emergence should provide a source of pleasure to players and golf fans alike.

For many young aspiring professionals however, just as Hall displayed in his win at Spring Valley, the change might be just the catalyst they need to burst out of the pack and set themselves up for a career on the international golfing stages of the world.

While the reintroduction of these events into the main tour’s schedule is good for players it is also good for the fans who attend such tournaments. Having been to several of the events late last in 2008 and earlier this year I can fully attest to the benefits the opportunity of watching tournament golf at close quarters can offer.

In most situations in modern day tournament golf fans are kept well away from the action, more often than not separated from witnessing the intrigue of decision making and shot execution by fairway ropes. While there are obvious reasons for this in events where crowd numbers dictate such security, it is not the case at State PGA and Open Championships. Spectators can walk the fairways and soak it all in.

The Victorian Open this year was a great example of how a reasonable sized crowd of around 1500 people can remain manageable and yet still be part of the action. If this writer was introducing a youngster to tournament golf, a very good place to start would be to such an event where the chance to get up close and personal with players offers an uninterrupted insight into the goings-on of professional golf.

Such proximity to play creates an atmosphere which is unique in tournament golf today and should be encouraged and cultivated. It also serves to break down the ‘them and us’ syndrome that seems to permeate larger events and helps demystify the shot by shot processes involved.

Another important milestone this year is that all such events will now be televised via an hour long highlights package whereby the action on the final three days and more especially the final day is encapsulated and shown a week later in an hour long package on One HD. Such coverage has played a key role in the selling of what may have been perceived as lesser tournaments to potential sponsors and lifts the profile of the tournament and the region in which it is being played.

The opportunity to promote such areas as the Hunter Valley, WA, the South Coast of NSW, the Darling Downs and other areas to a national and international audience will play a key role in Regional and State tourism organisations getting behind such events.