Golf CEO open to European sanction

GOLF Australia has renewed talks with the European Tour to explore the co-sanctioning of the Australian Open.

GA chief executive officer Stephen Pitt held fresh talks with European bosses at the weekend.

“It’s important to look at sanctioning opportunities and look at where we could take the event and what Eu- rope might mean for Australia,” Pitt said yesterday.

“We certainly understand in terms of player pathway that it offers something substantial and that is an important consideration — it’s not the total consideration but it’s something to certainly think about.

“At this stage it’s probably too early to call.

“But the key point is we’re open-minded on where we could go and we’re actively looking through what the options might be.” Finding a suitable date remained a pressing point.

Last year’s Australian Open was held from November 23-26, a few days after the European Tour’s World Championship event in Dubai.

“There’s always challenges just in terms of dates, that is always a massive challenge,” Pitt said.

“We (the Australian Open) have clashed with Dubai before and that would obviously be a killer in terms of the European Tour.

“So you’re worried about international events but you’re also worried that you would prefer not to go up against cricket; we clashed with the first Ashes Test last year.

“Long term, you would probably have to work out a way to accommodate them (the European Tour) and I think it could be done.

“It’s just working out how and when that might look.” Pitt said discussions — also involving Lagardere, the commercial arm of the Australian Open — would continue.

“There is no direct time frame on it but it’s important to make sure you keep talks moving forward, that is the commitment from here,” he said.