Club looks forward to PGA next year as title put on hold
The NT PGA Championship is a popular event on the Australasia calendar giving Australian golfers a taste of the different conditions the Top End has on offer.
It is sponsored by the NT government through Major Events and is estimated to drive $1.6m of local spending each year.
However, it will not go ahead for the 2024 season as $3m worth of key irrigation works are underway at the Palmerston Golf and Country Club and won’t be ready in time for the comp.
General manager of tournaments and global tour relationships Nick Dastey said it was a disappointment the “muchloved” stop on the schedule couldn’t go ahead.
“The Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship is a much-loved stop on our Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia schedule,” he said.
“While we are disappointed to not be playing the event in 2024, we worked extremely closely with our partners at Sporties and it was unfortunately a series of events and challenges beyond both our controls that forced this decision. We look forward to the event returning next year and seeing the results of the continuing investment and improvements at the Palmerston Golf and Country Club which will see the best ever NT PGA Championship being played in 2025.”
It comes after the Palmerston club’s general manager Matthew Hewer said while they were “very disappointed” not to go ahead it was worth doing the irrigation properly.
“Since 2016, the NT has definitely, 100 per cent become a favourite on the tour, they love coming up here because the
Territory is such a unique place,” Mr Hewer said.
The event was first played at the Palmerston Golf and Country Club in 1995 with David Iwasaki-Smith the first winner, however it only lasted two years.
It was revived in 2016 as a Tier 2 event on the PGA tour with Jordan Zunic wining that year, and with the exception of a 2021 cancellation due to Covid, has been a consistent feature since.
Daniel Gale is the most recent winner in 2023 with a four-stroke victory over Chris Crabtree, while Territorian Aaron Pike was a popular victor in 2020.