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Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland says several
possibilities are on the table for the Australian Open,
cancelled the past two years due to coronavirus travel
restrictions.
The event is finally back on the schedule, to be held at the
Victoria course in Melbourne's famed Sandbelt late in 2022.
Sutherland, who spoke to Reuters about the latest figures that
show a 21% increase in the overall number of Australians playing
golf, said there were pros and cons to teaming up with a foreign
tour for a co-sanctioned event.
"We certainly have significant aspirations for the Australian
Open to continue to step up as an event," he told Reuters in a
telephone interview.
"If co-sanctioning with one of the international tours is
something that is conducive to that, then we're really open to
that and will certainly entertain that.
"Sure, we'd like to see the best possible high-profile players
coming but if at the same time that adds a significant layer of
cost it can be counterproductive to the broader strategy, which
is all about growing golf and seeing more Australians playing
golf."
Sutherland said he had not spoken recently with Greg Norman, the
public face of the Saudi-backed Super Golf League that, if it
comes to fruition, could potentially transform the global game.
"I think we all need to be open to all of the opportunities that
might present from time to time," he said when asked about
whether Golf Australia would consider partnering with the WGL.
"Big picture, we want to talk to anyone but anything we do needs
to fit into our strategy. For us it's about making sure it works
for Australian golf as a whole."
The Australian Open was won seven times by Gary Player and six
by Jack Nicklaus during its halcyon days of the 1960s and 1970s.
But the field quality has declined in recent decades as prize
money has failed to keep pace with escalating purses in the
United States.
The Women's Australian Open, conversely, has gone in the other
direction, boasting a world class field since becoming a
co-sanctioned event with the U.S.-based LPGA Tour since 2012.
It too has been cancelled the past two summers, but Sutherland
said he hoped to get next summer's championship back as a
co-sanctioned event, though it was not a done deal.
There have also been rumours of the men's and women's Opens
being held simultaneously on the same course, with different
tees, a format that has worked successfully at the Vic Open,
though Sutherland did not comment directly on this.
More generally, Sutherland wants more professional tournaments
for women, and to boost participation numbers at all levels by
among other things dispelling the widespread perception that the
sport is too stuffy.
While the number of male golfers was up sharply in the 2019-20
financial year, women's participation was roughly flat, with
barely 2% of the female population (aged over 15) picking up a
club.
"There's no short-term fix but right from the bottom up we need
to attract more girls into the game," Sutherland said.
"It's not that young people, women and girls don't like golf. We
just haven't made the game as attractive to them as we could
have and should have."
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Ballarat, Australia; Editing by
Toby Davis)
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