The DP World Tour's Opening Swing stays in Australia this week as the country holds its national championship at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open. Here are your five things to know.
Australian adventure continues
The DP World Tour is in Australia for the second week in a row as we move from Brisbane to Melbourne for the country's national open. Trips Down Under have become a popular feature of the DP World Tour's early season schedule, with this event appearing on the calendar for the third year in a row after wins for Adrian Meronk and Joaquin Niemann. The event's history dates back to 1904 and its list of winners reads like a who's who of the game, with Gene Sarazen, Peter Thomson, Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth all having their name on the trophy. The leading three players not already exempt who make the cut in the ISPS HANDA Australian Open will earn places in The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush next year. After this week, we head to South Africa for the Nedbank Golf Challenge and Alfred Dunhill Championship before the Opening Swing concludes at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
To view the draw for the first two rounds of the men's competition, click here.
Inclusivity to the fore
Once again, Australia's national open brings together the world of golf with the men's, women's and all abilities titles all on the line this week. With a field of 156 men and 84 women taking part along with 12 all abilities players of both genders, the event takes place over two courses, with Kingston Heath Golf Club seeing action all four days and The Victoria Golf Club hosting action before the cut. The men's and women's events are both 72 holes with a 36-hole cut, while the Australian All Abilities Championship - which is played at Kingston Heath only on Thursday to Saturday - is a 54-hole event with a 36-hole cut. An elite field of 12 players - featuring eight of the top ten players in the world. While G4D Tour winner Lachlan Wood is not back to defend his title, Niemann and Ashleigh Buhai do return aiming to go back to back in an event like no other.
Local stars set to thrill fans
It would not be the ISPS HANDA Australian Open without some serious Aussie star power and some of the country's biggest golfing stars are teeing it up this week. Major Champions Cameron Smith and Geoff Ogilvy are sure to take huge crowds with them alongside fellow Australian DP World Tour winners such as Min Woo Lee, Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert, and rising star David Micheluzzi. The women's event also features some local superstars including Min Woo's multiple Major-winning sister Minjee and World Number Five Hannah Green.
A new flag on the leaderboard
Meet Jean Bekirian - the first ever Armenian member of the DP World Tour. The 22-year-old changed his nationality from France to Armenia in the middle of the year and is proud to be showing his heritage after coming through the Qualifying School to make his DP World Tour debut this week. "I'm very happy because Armenia is a country with a lot of political problems so I do this for every guy like me who is in the war," he said after securing his card. "I am on the golf course and I think about that when I sleep, when I wake up, when I play. So this is for my country - Armenia."
The sensational Sandbelt
The famed Australian Sandbelt is our host this week as our field play on some of the most hallowed land in the golfing world. Often ranked inside the top 20 courses on earth, Kingston Heath was designed in 1925 by Dan Soutar and had alterations carried out by the great Dr Alister MacKenzie. It has previous hosted eight men's and women's Australian Opens and a World Cup of Golf, saw Tiger Woods win the 2009 Australian Masters and in 2028 will see its biggest spectacle yet with the Presidents Cup. The Victoria Golf Club is ranked as one of the finest courses in Australia and was the home club of the late great Peter Thomson, a five-time Open champion. It is hosting its eighth men's or women's Australian Open and due to its supporting role, the rank and file club members will be able to take it on in championship condition on Saturday morning.
