Golf Australia national squad member Antonio Murdaca has signed with global management company ISM.
Murdaca, 19, competed at The Masters last month and drew wide praise for his effort as the third-best-performed amateur at Augusta National.
The South Australian has aspirations to turn professional later this year, potentially before the European Tour’s qualifying school.
Golf Australia high performance director Brad James was delighted with Murdaca’s decision, saying it was important for athletes to have such reputable representation.
“We’ve begun to forge a really strong relationship with `Chubby’ (ISM chief executive Andrew Chandler) and it’s great to see Antonio have access to his knowledge and expertise,” James said.
“We have high hopes for what Antonio can achieve and this is a great next step on that path.”
Murdaca said ISM would be perfect when it comes time to make his transition from amateur ranks.
“I'm very excited to be signing with the ISM family to manage the next phase of my golf career,” Murdaca said.
“I'm looking forward to creating a long ongoing relationship with the best in sports management, Chubby Chandler and ISM. I can't wait for the journey to begin.”
Murdaca follows former GA national squad teammate Todd Sinnott and big-hitting New Zealand pro Ryan Fox to have also joined ISM in recent months.
Chandler is excited to have added such a prodigious talent to his company’s ranks.
“I first met Antonio at the Thailand Golf Championships in 2014 and he’s a good, strong player who will have really benefitted from the experience of Augusta,” Chandler said.
“(ISM is) building a really interesting group of talented young players in Australia and it is an exciting time.”
Murdaca qualified for Augusta by winning last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne by a record-breaking seven strokes.
The youngest player to win the Australian Boys’ Championship at age 14 in 2010, The Grange Golf Club member regained that title in 2013 having helped Australia to a first victory in the Toyota World Junior Cup in Japan in 2012.