Date: January 05, 2015
Author: Mark Hayes / www.golf.org.au

Massive month of amateur golf tees off

Australia’s brightest amateur talent is gearing for a manic month – and a growing global challenge.

The Australian Master of the Amateurs starts at Royal Melbourne tomorrow, boasting a world-class field of 78 players.

Next week in Adelaide, the Commonwealth’s finest amateur women converge on The Grange Golf Club for the quadrennial Astor Trophy.

At the same time, the men head to Belmont Golf Club outside Newcastle for the Lake Macquarie Amateur.

And they all build up to the time-honoured Australian Amateur Championship in Sydney the following week – an event split between The Australian and The Lakes golf clubs.

The Master of the Amateurs, in its 18th year, will feature Australia’s top 30 amateurs alongside at least the No.1 player from each of Canada, England and New Zealand.

There are four of the world’s top 10 amateurs and 26 players with handicaps of +4 or better competing for the event’s green jacket plus an exemption into the 2015 Amateur Championship in the United Kingdom and American events the Porter Cup, Players Amateur and Dogwood Invitational.

Play begins at 8am and the tournament runs from Tuesday through Friday on Royal Melbourne’s revered West Course.