Australian PGA Championship

The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour from 2009 to 2014. Since 2015 it has been co-sanctioned with the European Tour.
The championship started in 1929, when the Australian Golf Union decided to hold the Australian Professional Championship during their annual championship meeting. The leading 16 professionals in the Open championship qualified for the match play event, with matches over 36 holes. The winner, Rufus Stewart, received the "Joe Kirkwood Cup", donated by Australian golfer Joe Kirkwood Sr.. After World War II the PGA of Australia took over the organisation of the championship. It continued to be a match-play event until 1964, when it became a 72-hole stroke-play tournament. Kel Nagle holds the record for the most wins, with 6 wins, while Bill Dunk won the championship 5 times.
Before becoming a "championship" in 1929, a number of professional competitions were held at the AGU championship meetings, the first being held in 1904. Some sources treat some of these competitions as earlier editions of the same event. The Sun-Herald Tournament, which was held from 1924 and 1926, was sometimes reported in the press as being the Australian Professional Championship, although whether this was an official title is not clear.
History.
At the annual meeting of the Australian Golf Union, held during the 1928 championship meeting, it was decided to hold a professional championship, starting at Royal Adelaide in 1929, to add to the Australian Open Championship and the Australian Amateur Championship, which were already held during the meeting. Professional competitions had been held at the championship meeting since 1904 but had never been given the title of "championship". Winners of the Sun-Herald Tournament, held from 1924 to 1926, and which had a similar format to the new championship, had been reported as being the "professional championship of Australia" and the winners called the "professional champion of Australia", although these were not necessarily official titles. Joe Kirkwood, Sr., during a visit to Australia in late 1928, donated a trophy for the new championship. The Australian Professional Championship followed the format of the amateur event, with the leading 16 professionals in the open championship qualifying for the match play event. Matches were over 36 holes. There was tie for 16th place which was resolved by the first round scores in a professional "purse" at Kooyonga, played on the Saturday between the end of the open on Friday and the start of the professional championship on Monday. Rufus Stewart beat Ernie Bissett 8&7 in the final.
The same format was used throughout the 1930s, the only variation being the day of the final. In 1929 the final was played on a Saturday, three days after the semi-finals. From 1930 to 1932 and in 1938 and 1939 the four rounds were played from Monday to Thursday, while from 1933 to 1937 the final was delayed until Friday to avoid clashing with the amateur final which was played on a Thursday. Rufus Stewart reached the final again 1930 but lost a close match to Jock Robertson. Sam Richardson won the championship twice, in 1933 and 1935. He reached the final again in 1937 but lost to Eric Cremin, who also won in 1938. Two cousins, Ted and George Naismith, reached the 1939 final, Ted winning 7&5.
The first championship organised by the PGA of Australia was in 1946. It retained the previous format with 16 players competing over four days of 36-hole match-play. The qualifying system was similar to that used in for the earlier Sun-Herald Tournament with each state having a fixed number of qualifying places, determined by the number of members. New South Wales was allocated six places, Victoria five, Queensland two with South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia having one each. The states organised their own qualifying events. The championship was played at Manly from 11 to 14 December. The New South Wales qualifying event was a 36-hole stroke play event and was played immediately before the championship, at Manly on 9 December. The final was between two of the New South Wales players, with Norman Von Nida beating Eric Cremin by one hole. Cremin was to reached the final five times between 1946 and 1952, losing them all. In 1947 he lost to Ossie Pickworth and in 1948 he lost to Von Nida again. With only 16 competitors it became practical to play the event in different locations, the 1948 championship being played in Tasmania while it moved to Western Australia in 1949. The 1949 championship was won by Kel Nagle, the first of six wins in the event. The 1950 final was a repeat of the 1946 and 1948 finals and saw Von Nida beat Cremin for the third time.
In 1951 the schedule of events was revised, with the PGA Championship being played immediately after the Open. The leading 16 professionals in the Open qualified. Norman Von Nida won the championship, his fourth in six years. Qualification in 1952 was based on the leading professionals in the Sydney Ampol Tournament. Bill Holder beat Eric Cremin in the final. In 1953 the PGA Championship immediately followed the Open, with the Open acting as the qualifying event, as in 1951. Ossie Pickworth won his second championship, beating Peter Thomson in a close final. The Open again acted as the qualifying event in 1954, although the PGA Championship was not played until 6 weeks later, Kel Nagle winning his second title. From 1955 to 1961 the PGA Championship was played the week after the Open, which acted as the qualifying event. It was played in the same area as the Open, but not generally at the same club. In 1955 it was played in Queensland for the first time, Pickworth winning his third title. Les Wilson won in 1956, followed by Gary Player in 1957. Nagle won his third and fourth titles in 1958 and 1959, followed by John Sullivan in 1960 and Alan Murray in 1961. For scheduling reasons, only three days were allocated in 1961, with the first two rounds played over 18 holes on the first day.
In 1962, a 36-hole qualifying event was introduced. As in 1961, there were two rounds on the match-play first day, with 36-hole semi-finals and final. The final was one-sided, with Bill Dunk beating Eric Cremin 8&7. Cremin was playing in his seventh final since WWII, but lost them all. A similar format was used in 1963, except that all match-play matches were over 36 holes. Col Johnston beat the American Ron Howell in the final, which was played on a Sunday for the first time.
In 1964 the tournament changed its format to 72-hole stroke-play. It has been played in that format to the current day, with the exception of 1973 when it reverted to match-play for a single season. Initially it was played over three day, with the leading 40 and ties playing 36 hole on the final day. Col Johnston won for the second year in succession, a stroke ahead of Bruce Devlin. Kel Nagle won for the fifth time in 1964, a shot ahead of Frank Phillips. In 1966 Bill Dunk led by 9 strokes after two rounds. Peter Thomson had a third round 69, to reduce Dunk's lead to two but had a final round 73 to Dunk's 68. Dunk won by 7 from Thomson with Bob Stanton third, a further 6 strokes behind. Thomson had his only win in 1966, having been runner-up four times. Johnston and Phillips tied for second place, a shot behind, with Peter Townsend fourth. Townsend dropped shots at the 14th and 15th holes to fall behind, while Phillips missed a short putt at the final hole.
Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus competed in the 1968 championship, which was extended to four days with a Sunday finish. However, 47-year-old Kel Nagle won the title for the sixth time, 6 ahead of Nicklaus and Bruce Devlin third, a further 5 strokes behind. Bruce Devlin won for the first time in 1969, played in Canberra for the first time, and won again in 1970, when it was played at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. It was played at Surfers Paradise again in 1971, Bill Dunk winning by 3 shots. Dunk came close to winning again in 1972 but was eventually runner-up, two strokes behind Randall Vines. In 1973 the event returned to a match play format. There was a single stroke-play round with the leading 64 qualifying for six 18-hole rounds of match-play over the following three days. Vines repeated his 1972 success beating Stewart Ginn in the final. Dunk won again in 1974,after an 18-hole playoff, and won again in 1976, his fifth and final win, also after a playoff.
The 1977 event was sponsored by Telecom Australia and saw an increase in prize money from A$20,000 to A$100,000. Mike Cahill won by 4 strokes. Telecom Australia dropped their sponsorship after a single event and Mayne Nickless became the sponsor from 1978 to 1982, all five tournaments being played at Royal Melbourne. Prize money rose to A$175,000 in 1982. There were three overseas winner in this period, Hale Irwin in 1978, Sam Torrance in 1980 and Seve Ballesteros in 1981. Australians Stewart Ginn and Graham Marsh won in 1979 and 1982. Prize money dropped to A$40,000 in 1983 but rose to A$150,000 in 1984 under new sponsors Toshiba. Greg Norman won in 1984 and 1985, both times by 8 strokes, and was runner-up in 1986.
Venues.
The following venues have been used since the founding of the Australian Professional Championship in 1929.
Winners.
Earlier competitions.
Between the foundation of the Australian Open in 1904 and the formal creation of the Australian Professional Championship in 1929, the leading professionals attended the championship meeting and a number of professional competitions were held at this time. Each year there was a professional competition organised by the club hosting the championship meeting and, in addition, other nearby clubs organised professional events.
From 1904 to 1908 a two-day match-play event was organised. The first Australian Open finished on Saturday 3 September 1904, and the leading 8 professionals in it played a knock-out competition on the following Monday and Tuesday. The first two rounds were played on the Monday, followed by a 36-hole final. Carnegie Clark beat Alex McLaren 5&4 in the final. In 1905 the professional event was played on the two days before the open championship. After 36 holes of stroke-play, the leading 4 played match-play on the following day, matches being over 18 holes. Dan Soutar beat Gilbert Martin in the final. The 1906 tournament was played using the same format as in 1904 and resulted in another win for Soutar. Soutar won again in 1907, in a tournament with four rounds of match-play played over two days, with no qualification. The 1908 event was also match-play only, the first round on Monday, two rounds on Tuesday and the final played on the Saturday. Carnegie Clark repeated his success of 1904.
From 1909 to 1913 no match-play event was organised for the professionals, although a one-day 36-hole stroke-play event was organised each year on the championship course. In 1909 and 1910 it was played the day before the Australian Open. In 1909 there was a tie between Fred Popplewell and Willie Thomson, while Dan Soutar won by 8 strokes in 1910. From 1911 to 1913 the professional events were played after the Open. Charlie Campbell won in 1911, while Soutar won again in 1912. In 1913 the professionals had two events at the Royal Melbourne. The first, with prize money of £25, was played on the Monday following the Open and was won by Soutar, with Popplewell and Rufus Stewart runners-up. The professionals played at the Metropolitan Golf Club on the Wednesday and then another event at Royal Melbourne on the Thursday, again with prize money of £25. The result was similar to the Monday event with Soutar winning, Stewart second and Popplewell third. Soutar set a new course record of 70 in his morning round. The second event was sponsored by Watson's No. 10 Whisky with the intention that it would be an annual event.
From 1920 to 1928, a match-play competition was arranged for the professionals after the Open. A 36 hole stroke-play qualifying stage was held on the Monday with the leading four playing match-play on the Tuesday. In 1928 the event was held a day later, on the Tuesday and Wednesday. The 1920 and 1921 events were handicapped. In 1920, Joe Kirkwood Sr., the open champion, was handicapped at plus-6 and failed to qualify. Walter Clark, receiving 3 strokes, beat Dan Soutar 2&1 in the final. In 1921, Billy Iles, receiving 2 strokes, beat Arthur Le Fevre by 2 holes in the final. The handicap element was dropped in 1922, Charlie Campbell winning. Fred Popplewell won in 1923 while Tom Howard won in 1924 and 1925 followed by Arthur Le Fevre in 1926. Harry Sinclair repeated Howard's achievement, winning in 1927 and 1928.
The following competitions were played on the championship course during this period.
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