THE superb 36-hole Peninsula Kingswood Country Club could be on the verge of achieving a long-held ambition to take to the international stage by hosting next year’s Australian Open.
The club’s CEO, Heath Wilson said: “We have been trying to get it for years. There is no Royal Melbourne and no Kingston Heath in 2027. So surely, it’s time.”
Royal Melbourne hosted a hugely successful national championship last December with gallery numbers not seen for 20 years. Kingston Heath will host the event this year, with Northern Irishman McIlroy again locked in as the star attraction.
“We see Peninsula Kingwood as a perfect venue to host the 2027 Australian Open. Our courses are ready and the actual size of our property would suit the tournament, especially with the big crowds that the event attracted last year. We would love to host the 2027 event if we were lucky enough to be given the opportunity,” Wilson added.
Australian Open tournament director, Antonia Beggs, whose personal relationship with McIlroy’s team helped lure the World No 2 to RM, is playing her cards close to her chest about where the 2027 event will be held.
One thing is certain, though. Golf Australia is determined to build on the momentum gained at RM.
“Planning discussions around hosting the 2027 Men’s Australian Open are ongoing,” Beggs said
“If the tournament is hosted in Victoria in future years, we’re fortunate to have a depth of truly world-class venues capable of staging an event of this calibre.”
Amid all the deserved hubris in the corridors of power at Golf Australia following the resurrection of the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne, McIlroy had some words of wisdom after he, more than anyone else, had dragged the championship back into the land of the living.
“Yes, it’s been absolutely amazing, the scenes the crowds, the golf course…absolutely incredible. This is a golf tournament that has so much potential and I think it showed a whole a lot of that this week.
“But I think there is still a way to go. I would love to have a few more players come down and play but it’s hard with three tournaments in the schedule going on this week. Hopefully the Australian Open can get a date where everyone who wants to can have the option to come down here and play.”
Last year’s gracious and abundantly talented winner, Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, has said he will be back this year at Kingston Heath and GA hopes to draw other big names to the Heath as well.
The Dane won a spot in next month’s Masters at Augusta after hoisting the Stonehaven Cup at Royal Melbourne last December.
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