It is the second event of the season, but the first in the next phase of the career of some of Australian golf’s brightest prospects who will make their professional debuts at this week’s Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship.
Fifteen months since Austin Bautista won by seven strokes, the NT PGA returns to a revitalised Palmerston Golf & Country Club with a host of winners from the 2022-2023 PGA Tour of Australasia season to tee it up.
Louis Dobbelaar (New Zealand PGA), Brett Coletta (TPS Hunter Valley), Andrew Martin (Vic PGA) and PNG Open winner Lachlan Barker will be in action along with a host of rookie professionals eager to make a strong first impression.
Made famous by his exploits on Channel Nine’s “Ninja Warrior” show, Charlie Robbins turned professional before Qualifying School in April and will make his pro debut alongside WA pair Adam Brady and Josh Greer along with Queensland’s Samuel Slater.
Robbins set a course record at Ranfurlie Golf Club in February to qualify for the Vic Open as an amateur, but said it wasn’t until he teed it up at final stage of Q-School that it hit home that he was now a pro golfer.
“It was kind of weird because there wasn’t really a big deal about it,” Robbins said of electing not to retain his amateur status at first stage of Q-School, thus turning professional.
“Getting through first stage was actually the really cool bit. I gave myself a bit of a pat on the back then because if you don’t get through first stage, you don’t get tournament membership or anything. Getting through stage one was the time where I got pretty pumped.”
Greer [pictured] will also play his first PGA Tour of Australasia tournament as a professional but is no stranger to pro tournaments on home soil. He first played the Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open in 2015 and last year finished top-12 twice as an amateur, his best result a tie for ninth at the Queensland PGA Championship.
Although the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne Golf Club from October 26-29 was a tempting lure, Greer believes the time is right to start forging a professional career.
“I did think about hanging on until October to play in the Asia-Pacific Amateur, but then I’d miss a lot of opportunities on the Aus PGA Tour,” he told GolfWA.
“I’m looking forward to trying to finish as high as I can on the Order of Merit, so I just want to get out there and start competing professionally.
“I’ve loved every part of my amateur career, but I’ve played golf my whole life with the goal of being a pro and experiencing what it’s like to play in events where every shot really matters to your earnings and your ranking.”
Runner-up to fellow West Australian Connor McKinney at the 2022 St Andrews Links Trophy, Brady earned tour membership by qualifying for the final stage of PGA Tour of Australasia Q-School, as did Toby Walker and Nathan Page, who will also play their first tour events as professionals in Palmerston.
