Golf Vic Vol 60 No 1

Talking to the European T Tour women, they loved the independence of living in hou visit things. They get sick of

Law upheld … the MyGolf kids provide a guard of honour for the Vic Open men’s champion.

The European (and LPGA) Tour players embraced the lack of ropes, a unique feature of this event, and Simon Brookhouse, Golf Australia’s General Manager – Golf Operations could only laugh at footage of the English player Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston walking the fairway talking to spectators, one of whom was walking a dog. Male and female players practised together on the course and squeezed in alongside each other on the driving range. On the final day, when a quirk of the draw left two men (Gavin Moynahan and Dale Williamson) and one woman (Manon de Roey), at the end of the field, the tours talked it over and let the three of them play together for a little slice of history. That’s the Vic Open, right there. It’s not the Saudi International, the previous week’s European Tour event in the Middle East, where no expense was spared to create a new event. “For us it’s not about money, it’s about having a good time,’’ said

Brookhouse. “We can’t match that. The Saudi Arabia event cost $65 million to put on and my understanding is there were between $10 million and $15 million in appearance fees. We can’t do that. “But if you talk to the players, it’s not always about money. If they enjoy the experience, they come back. Talking to the European Tour men and the LPGA Tour women, they loved the area. They enjoyed the independence of living in houses, being able to go and visit things. They get sick of hotels and room service.’’ The fields could have been better, it’s true, given the new co-sanctioning agreements. The highest-ranked player in the men’s field was ranked 69th, the Spaniard Adrian Otaegui. But Brookhouse says that drawing a field is about building. “I suspect it (the fields) will get better. I wasn’t disappointed at all, to be honest,’’ he said. “Just to get them on board, both the LPGA and the European Tour, word will spread. We want people spruiking how much fun it

was, get a few more people down there next year and build it. We’ve been lucky from day one. We probably had better fields than we deserved for the prizemoney we were paying in previous years.’’ This year’s event belonged to David Law, the 27-year-old Scot who had begun the final round three shots back but never really threatened to win until the final throes. Two Australians, 38-year-old Adelaide pro Wade Ormsby and 44-year- old Japanese Tour veteran Brad Kennedy were engaged in a duel throughout the final day, and Ormsby walked to the 17th tee with a one-shot lead in the final group. All day, the man from Adelaide, son of a South Australian golfing icon and himself a hardened European Tour professional, kept his face emotionless as he picked his way around the Beach course. But at the par-three 17th, he blinked. A smothered tee shot left him behind the green with a difficult 20-metre pitch uphill to the green and then downhill to the flag.

10 Golf Victoria