Golf Australia is the
governing body
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...
for the
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
of
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, formed in 2006 after the Australian Golf Union (AGU) and Women's Golf Australia (WGA) agreed to
merge
Merge, merging, or merger may refer to:
Concepts
* Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road
* Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program
* Merger (politics), the comb ...
.
["About Golf Australia"](_blank)
, Golf Australia official site
''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', 1 September 2005 The decision, which was formally ratified at a meeting in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
in August 2005,
["Merger averts crisis"](_blank)
''Herald Sun
The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
'', 1 September 2005 was made after the
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...
threatened to withdraw its financial support unless the two bodies amalgamated.
["Merger forces Phillips to quit"](_blank)
Martin Blake, ''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' 1 June 2005 The
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...
contributed approximately
A$1.5 million annually to the
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
for golf funding.
Colin Phillips, the AGU's
executive director
Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization.
The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
since 1978, retired from his position in 2005, claiming that the way the decision to merge had been forced upon the sport by the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
, had been a factor in his decision.
Following the merger,
IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image.
img or IMG may also refer to:
* IMG (company), global sports and media business headquartered in New York City but with its main offices in Cleveland, originally known as the "International Management Group ...
, the
sports marketing
Sports marketing as a concept has established itself as a branch of marketing over the past few decades, however, a generally accepted definition does not exist.
Academicians Kaser and Oelkers (2005, p. 9) define sports marketing as 'using spor ...
company which organizes the
Australian Open golf event, signed a three-year deal which increased its ties to Golf Australia.
["No major changes … yet"](_blank)
Martin Blake, ''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' 29 March 2006 Former
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
pro and new Open chairman
Paul McNamee
Paul McNamee (born 12 November 1954) is an Australian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player and prominent sports administrator.
Tennis career Juniors
In his hometown, McNamee won the boys' singles tournament at the 1973 Australian Open.
...
also renegotiated a deal signed by the old AGU, whereby the tournament would be hosted at the
Moonah Links course in
Rye, Victoria
Rye is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Rye recorded a p ...
three times in every five years. That decision had been heavily criticized by golf professionals who found issue with the course layout, low attendances and poor corporate interest,
["Parry sees no virtue in venue"](_blank)
Martin Blake, ''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' 27 November 2005 but the new organization was able to reduce its obligation to three tournaments before 2020.
["Sydney to keep Open until 2009"](_blank)
, Martin Blake, ''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', 11 February 2007
Golf Australia runs the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
and the
Women's Australian Open
The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it is ...
, the premier male and female golf tournaments in Australia, as well as the
Australian Amateur
The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has b ...
and other national amateur events. It also runs key programs promoting golf in Australia, the two major being the
MYGolf for juniors and the Crown Lager Social Golf Club. Australian golfer
Stuart Appleby
Stuart Appleby (born 1 May 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour.
Early life
Appleby was born in Cohuna, Victoria, and grew up on a nearby dairy farm. He began ...
is the ambassador for the Crown Lager Social Golf Club.
Golf Australia supports the state associations
Golf New South Wales
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
,
Golf Northern Territory
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit Golf ball, balls into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standar ...
,
Golf Queensland
Golf Queensland is the organisation responsible for the governance, delivery and direction of golf in Queensland, Australia.
History
The first golf known to be played in Queensland involved Francis Ivory (Member of the Queensland Legislative A ...
,
Golf South Australia
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit Golf ball, balls into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standar ...
,
Golf Tasmania
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
,
Golf Victoria
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
&
Golf Western Australia
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
who are responsible for the governance, delivery and direction of golf in their State.
The
Golf Australia National Squad
Golf Australia support elite male and female amateurs golfers through the Australian National Squad. Golf Australia also runs a Rookie Program assisting professional golfers as they enter their professional careers.
Notable members
Australian Nati ...
is the key component of the countries High Performance program which supports talented young golfers. Squad members have included
Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff Charles Ogilvy (born 11 June 1977) is an Australian professional golfer. He won the 2006 U.S. Open and has also won three World Golf Championships.
Professional career
Ogilvy was born in Adelaide, South Australia to an English-born fath ...
,
Karrie Webb
Karrie Ann Webb (born 21 December 1974) is an Australian professional golfer. She plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of ...
,
Adam Scott,
Aaron Baddeley
Aaron John Baddeley (born 17 March 1981) is an Australian professional golfer. He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA and now plays on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, he has joint U.S. and Australian citizenship and was raised in Australia from the ...
,
Michael Sim
Michael Sim (born 23 October 1984) is an Australian professional golfer.
Amateur career
Sim was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and moved to Australia when he was 5 years old. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder in 2002. He ...
and
Katherine Hull
Katherine Kirk (born 26 February 1982) is a professional golfer from Australia, currently playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the ALPG Tour. She played under her maiden name, Katherine Hull, until her marriage to Tom Kirk on 2 August 2012 ...
.
With golf being readmitted back into the Olympic fold at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
, the role of Golf Australia was strengthened further. As part of this the
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...
raised the funding to the sport in April 2013.
["Sailing, golf and rugby among the winners in new sports funding"](_blank)
Alison Caldwell, ''The ABC
"The ABC Song" is the best-known song used to recite the English alphabet in alphabetical order. It is commonly used to teach the alphabet to children in English-speaking countries. "The ABC Song" was first copyrighted in 1835 by Boston music pu ...
'' 22 April 2013
Golf Australia owns and runs the Australian
Handicapping system which operates throughout clubs nationally.
See also
*
Golf in Australia
Golf in Australia has been played in Australia since 1839. The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour of Australasia is the main men's tour in Australia. In women's golf, the ALPG Tour has operated since 1972.
Governing body
Golf Austral ...
*
Golf Australia National Squad
Golf Australia support elite male and female amateurs golfers through the Australian National Squad. Golf Australia also runs a Rookie Program assisting professional golfers as they enter their professional careers.
Notable members
Australian Nati ...
*
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
*
Women's Australian Open
The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it is ...
*
Australian Amateur
The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has b ...
*
Australian Women's Amateur
The Australian Women's Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It was first played in 1894 and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, it became a 72-hole stroke play event in 2021, h ...
*
Australian Boys' Amateur The Australian Boys' Amateur is the nations premier junior golf championship for boys. It is run by Golf Australia. It is a 72-hole stroke-play event for players under the age of 18. Until 1993 the age limit was 21.
Winners
Source:
See also
* ...
*
Australian Girls' Amateur
References
External links
golf.org.au Golf Australia official site
MYGolf official site
Australian Open official site
Women's Australian Open official site
{{Authority control
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
Golf associations
Sports governing bodies in Australia
Golf in Australia
2006 establishments in Australia
Sports organizations established in 2006