Date: February 22, 2017
Author: Mark Hayes

Next stop Kooyonga for women’s juggernaut

 

The 2018 Women’s Australian Open will be hosted by Adelaide’s Kooyonga Golf Club.

The famous Lockleys course has been host of five men’s national championships, but never before the world’s best women from the LPGA Tour.

The course is always in immaculate condition and is a classic course that five-time Open champion Peter Thomson once described as needing to be “played with head as much as the hands”.

Home club of 1997 Women’s Australian Open champion Jane Crafter, Kooyonga is the third Adelaide club in succession to have hosted the tournament, following The Grange in 2016 and Royal Adelaide last week.

Tournament director Trevor Herden said Kooyonga would be a great fit in 2018.

“We’ve had rave reviews from the LPGA Tour field in the past two years in Adelaide for not only the courses, but for the city being a great host and destination,” Herden said.

“We are very confident that Kooyonga will live up the high expectations that have been set for the players – and also as a venue that will look superb to the millions of people watching on television around the world.

“Its turf quality is always exceptional and I’m sure it will be a grand test.”