Time to expand the PGA tour of Australasia

The USPGA Tour already has an office in Melbourne, located out at Black Rock at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. They are staging the World Cup of Golf in 2018, then the President's Cup in 2019. They are partnered with Ticketmaster. So if ticket sales go well, it will help Melbourne's case. The Victorian government, under Andrews ALP is keen on helping staging an event here every year as he is a keen player, but the problem is finding space on the calendar as the distance and travel times are tricky. According to the PGA of America, they reckon the next decade Melbourne will be in probably as a part of the Asian swing. In the meantime, get out there and play the game.

"Pro golf in this country needs a massive overhaul." Maybe it needs something similar to the Crawford Report which led to the end of the NSL and the establishment of the A-League. There's a lot that needs to be done to get things to where they should be. The tour needs rebuilding from the ground up. To start with, Golf Australia could require event bidders to put forward a million dollar prize fund to secure an event on the tour. That should improve the quality of the field and get the attention of TV networks as well as the public. CURRENT PRIZE FUNDS - Wainui $100,000 Barwon Heads $650,000 Perth (World Super 6 - unofficial event) $1,750,000 Toowoomba $125,000 Palmerston North NZ$125,000 Arrowtown (New Zealand Open) NZ$1,150,000 Port Moresby $145,000 Kalgoorlie $125,000 Fiji International $1,250,000 Palmerston $150,000 Cape Schanck TBC Brisbane $110,000 Oakleigh (World Cup of Golf - unofficial event) USD$7,000,000 Gold Coast (Australian PGA Championship ) $1,500,000 https://www.pga.org.au/tourns/pga-tour/schedule

Just because there's a business insider article doesn't mean it's being spoken about by anyone with any weight in golf. Business Insider is the daily telegraph of global internet based news. There's more chance that the PGA of America use the PGA Champ to go global. Plus using a gimmicky format for a fifth major across a number of courses isn't happening. Ultimately a fifth major will have to have the blessing of the European Tour and the PGA Tour, by making another major it devalues the others. You think that Augusta will be happy about that? What about the R&A of the USGA? Sure the Dunes and Wickham look great, but they are inaccessible to the majority of people. They have nowhere for stands or spectators. The payouts for these events need sponsors, sponsors need hospitality, that isn't possible at these locations. What major brand is going to fork out $10m+ for the purse at such an isolated venue? I play at NSWGC, the main reason the Aus Open isn't there is because there isn't room for spectators. Your jab at the Euro tour is laughable. Why does the Aus domestic audience matter for the Euro Tour? What's the Aus domestic audience for any golf tour? Your tour and the quality of that tour is going to come from money. Aus broadcasters won't pay enough because there's no drawcards, you won't get enough sponsorship money from corporates, you don't have enough courses setup for big events. Sure we have wonderful courses, but they aren't setup for golf tournaments like the courses in the US or Europe - courses specifically designed for tournament golf. Without tv, corporates, spectators you aren't going to get good players, they go wherever the money is, without that, you aren't going to get a decent tour. Notice that Jason Day hardly ever comes down here for our summer? It's because it's not worth his time. When Spieth, McIlroy and Tiger come, Golf Aus or state tourism offer them guaranteed money. Just because we have a better 'lifestyle' (not sure what you're basing this on) doesn't mean anything. We have zero population compared to 300+m in USA, 200+m in Japan and over a billion when you look at the European tour. Look at the corporate market capitalisation those regions can leverage off of for money. You're naive to think that we can compete. World Cup of Golf, Presidents Cup, etc are where we can showcase Aus Golf.

You left out Toowoomba where the Qld PGA has been held for at least the last 5 years very successfully with the support of the City Golf Club, local council and community. It is consistently a top notch second-tier event. I agree with the previous comment about "money"....golf in this country has struggled big time to attract sponsorship and half-decent TV fees for 20 years. I recall when the Australasian Tour was a legitimate circuit attracting world class players to six or seven events during the summer. And I mean world class....just look at the history of some of the tournaments. The A'asian PGA Tour has been pathetic ... their One Asia experiment has been a disaster and attempts to co-sanction with Europe, the PGA Tour (US) and the Asian Tour have generally failed . I feel sorry for the dozens of players we produce who should be competing on the world stage. Worse than the local PGA Tour is the ALPG which lost the Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast when they unceremoniously "dudded" long-time promoter Bob Tuohy ... now we only have the Womens Aust Open which is propped up by Golf Australia. Pro golf in this country needs a massive overhaul.

"Where’s the money coming from?" TV networks want more live sport content, just make a good pitch. "Whist Launceston (I’m assuming you’re talking about Barbougle) and King Island are great courses, they won’t attract a crowd or sponsors." The NRL doesn't get big crowds but it's a huge TV product so maybe it could also work for King Island. You might not get big crowds but Cape Wickham will look amazing on TV. Barnbougle might need a bigger car park. "Are you suggesting the Sandbelt Cup, over five rounds, be added as a major – as in addition to the US Open, Open, Masters and PGA Champ? I think that ones pretty laughable." Yep. See below - https://www.businessinsider.com.au/pga-championship-move-add-golf-fifth-major-2017-8?r=US&IR=T Or at least one course in Melbourne. "Think about the population bases in Europe and Japan, and the additional money from players, spectators, sponsors and tv rights that they have. No compare to Aus – that’s why the Aus tour isn’t anywhere close to those tours." 1) What's the Australian domestic audience for the European Tour? Can't be that much. 2) Australia has a better lifestyle and better courses than Japan and we're in the same time zone, so we might be able to compete with them in time if more people watch. "Our best way forward is to hitch onto the Asian tour." Disagree. Australians have little interest in Asia, just look at the Asian Champions League. Australia has a great golfing history and we deserve a high grade tour of our own, unlike the current one.

Where's the money coming from? Whist Launceston (I'm assuming you're talking about Barbougle) and King Island are great courses, they won't attract a crowd or sponsors. Are you suggesting the Sandbelt Cup, over five rounds, be added as a major - as in addition to the US Open, Open, Masters and PGA Champ? I think that ones pretty laughable. Think about the population bases in Europe and Japan, and the additional money from players, spectators, sponsors and tv rights that they have. No compare to Aus - that's why the Aus tour isn't anywhere close to those tours. Our best way forward is to hitch onto the Asian tour.