SYDNEY: The men’s and women’s Australian Open golf events will again take place at the same courses at the same time after the format’s debut success, organisers said yesterday.
Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland said last year’s tournaments, also with an equal split between men and women for prize money, had a “resoundingly positive impact”.
“Last year the world-first national open format pushed boundaries and broke new ground for golf,” he added, with the biggest crowds in a decade.
“The event will be further enhanced this year and will again talk to our commitment to growing golf as a sport for all.”
Sutherland has previously said that he wanted golf to have a more “inclusive look and feel” and that commercial partners “absolutely love this concept”.
In Melbourne last year Poland’s Adrian Meronk won the men’s Australian Open, co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour, while South Africa’s British Open champion Ashleigh Buhai took the women’s title. – AFP
