In a new series, PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman answers our readers’ questions on golf’s most pertinent issues
With Rory McIlroy signing on for the Australian Open, what can fans expect with the Australian PGA Championship field? Is the plan to try to attract marquee names?
– Jeff H, Bunbury, WA
Firstly, let me say how excited we are to see Rory on the Melbourne Sandbelt over the next two years in one of the major events on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia schedule each season.
As has been the case in recent years, one of our main priorities and focuses for the BMW Australian PGA Championship, and Australian Open, is to bring home as many of our top Australasian players to contest our two national championships. We know how proud Australian and New Zealanders are of our players competing overseas, while co-sanctioning with the DP World Tour continues to bring a strong contingent as the tour starts its season in addition to our next generation of talent.
Conversations with players and their management are always occurring, and although I can’t reveal any names at this point, our team has had and continues to conduct a significant number of face-to-face and online meetings with players and their management as we seek to compile the best possible fields.
Working collaboratively with Golf Australia has seen our organisation leading these conversations for both events, which we are thrilled are so highly anticipated this year, and outside of rare examples like Rory this year and Jason Day last year, we strive for very similar fields across both events.
What’s the latest with the PGA of Australia’s Strategic Alliance partnership with the PGA and DP World Tours? What benefits are there for the next wave of young professionals playing locally?
– Chris P, Belconnen, ACT
Announced in 2022, the current Strategic Alliance period runs through to 2026, and this collaboration has proven very positive for our local players on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
Both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour are significant supporters of our tour overall, and this support has helped our tour grow significantly in terms of number of events (14 in the 2021-2022 season to 19 in the 2024-2025 season), pathways overseas, more than doubling prizemoney since 2021-2022 and broadcast coverage (up from five events to 16) in just a few short years, all with our more than 250 tour members front of mind.
A great deal is made of the three DP World Tour cards on offer via our Order of Merit (OOM), and certainly David Micheluzzi, Kazuma Kobori and Elvis Smylie, who all played two majors in their winning year, provide a ‘north star’ for our playing group when setting their goals at the start of the season.
Beyond those three cards, pathways are available around the world through various qualifying schools and a multitude of events, including the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews for the top-10 of our OOM each year, and our tour team continues to work to provide the best playing opportunities and avenues to grow our overseas contingents on the biggest stages in the world for our membership.
A friend of mine has just taken up golf. He’s the last of our friendship group to do so. Is it best for us to teach him ourselves as we go or is there real merit in him seeing a PGA pro? – Steve M, Moore Park, NSW
Clearly my answer here is going to be a little biased, given my role representing our more than 3,000 PGA members.
Despite clear allegiance to our membership and their skills, the best starting place for any new golfer is with a PGA professional, be it in a group lesson or one-on-one, because every golfer’s first experience should be a positive one and your local PGA pro can help achieve that.
We all wish to help our friends and family learn the game with the best intentions, and even if you are a skilled player, PGA members are trained and experienced in teaching all levels of players and can work with any limitations.
If you are looking to add another golfer to your group, a PGA professional will start with the fundamentals of grip, stance and swing with the ultimate goal of fun, rather than frustration, and the evolution of the game means that can take place in a range of environments, be it on the course, driving range or simulator, again with fun as the focus.
Got something you want to ask the boss of the PGA of Australia? E-mail your question(s) to [email protected]