Coolum spots on offer for club pros
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Peter Thomson with 2009 winner, Tony Mills
Two spots in the Australian PGA Championship will be up for grabs when 50 of some of Australia’s top club professionals tee off in the PGA Professionals Championship at the Sandhurst Club tomorrow.
Beginning Wednesday September 8 and to be played over 54 holes, the winner and runner up of next week’s PGA Professionals Championship will gain an automatic exemption into the final event on both the PGA Tour of Australasia and OneAsia Order of Merit, the Australian PGA Championship.
The chance to play alongside the likes of defending champion Robert Allenby and the big-hitting John Daly as well as the cream of Australasian golf will be an added bonus for the qualifiers who are also competing for a share of the $60,000 prize purse.
Last year’s PGA Professionals Championship winner Victorian Tony Mills is back to defend his title this year and said the opportunity to again claim a spot in the Australian PGA Championship is well worth playing for.
“It was great to play at Coolum last year and I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to make it two in a row,” Mills said.
“Winning the national title last year was a great experience, but I’ve been playing well so hopefully I’ll put myself in a good position come next week.”
The national title for PGA vocational members will be held at the home of the PGA’s head office, the Sandhurst Club, for the second consecutive year.
The first round will tee off from September 8 with the final round concluding on September10, 2010.
The players in this year’s field all qualified for the tournament via a series of state-wide qualifying events with the 50 man field this year made up of 18 New South Welshmen, 11 Queenslanders, 12 Victorians, 4 West Australians, 3 South Australians and 2 Tasmanians. (Click here for a full list of qualifiers.)
In addition to the title also up for grabs at the event is the Vicar’s Shield- an historic trophy dating back to 1930 that is nowadays awarded to the leading state and is calculated on the best two aggregate scores for the three rounds of competition.
The 2010 PGA Professionals Championship is proudly supported by three presenting sponsors in Coca-Cola, Club Car and Acushnet (through brands Titleist and Footjoy).