Vic Open’s Euro boost
THE men’s Vic Open golf tournament has moved another step closer to securing European Tour status, with next year’s prizemoney pool increasing to $1.5 million.
A similar pool in the women’s event will see the total prize money on offer reach $3 million, catapulting the Vic Open into Australia’s richest golf tournament.
It is a further shot in the arm for the sport in the Gee- long region and follows the State Government’s commitment to ensuring the Vic Open stays at Thirteenth Beach Golf Club for the next four years.
The women’s Vic Open, which already holds European Tour status, will also benefit from the increase in prizemoney as it will come into serious contention for LPGA tour status beyond 2019.
But the more likely outcome in the short term is that the men’s event will soon find a home on the European Tour.
More than 580 million homes across Europe tune into the Tour network every year and an event in Victoria would undoubtedly draw international stars to the men’s field.
Golfers such as Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, England’s Lee Westwood and South African Louis Oosthuizen have all played in the Perth Super 6 tournament — which holds European Tour status and is held two weeks after the Vic Open — in the past two years, and Golf Victoria chief executive Simon Brookhouse said he was confident negotiations to get the Vic Open co- sanctioned status would proceed smoothly.
“It is a chicken and egg thing and you have to get the prizemoney before you can start negotiating with them but our plan will be to try to negotiate with the European Tour and get co-sanction with them,” Brookhouse said.
“That is the next phase and we have certainly had discussions with them about if we got to a certain level of prizemoney would they be interested and we’re pretty sure that they will be.
“So the plan is with that in- creased prizemoney we will move full steam ahead to try to negotiate with them. This announcement is fantastic for Victorian golf, securing the future of a landmark tournament with global appeal right here in our state.”
The title of Australia’s richest tournament confirms Victoria’s status as the home of golf in Australia, with the Presidents Cup to be held here in 2019 as well as the 2020 and 2022 Australian Open.