The Oates Victorian Open gets underway tomorrow at the magnificent 13th Beach Golf Links at Barwon Heads.
The women’s field has shaped up nicely with numerous LPGA, LET and ALPG winners looking to add the Vic Open to their list of achievements.
Some of the players we are likely to see up on the leaderboard include:
Nikki Campbell – Nikki is coming off a great season on the Ladies European Tour where she posted 9 top 10 finishes and finished 4th on the Order of Merit. Campbell also has performed well in her past two appearances at the event, fourth and tied sixth.
Stacey Keating – the local crowd favourite grew up no far from 13th Beach and will once again have a great deal of local support. Keating is a former winner of the event and will be looking to use the experienced gained last year on the LPGA to capture her second Vic Open title.
Su Oh – this is Su first major tournament as a professional and the talented 18-year-old is looking forward to the challenge. The former No.1 World Amateur has played well here in the past, in 2014 she was in the final group on Sunday and finished fourth.
Laura Davies – the winner of 85 titles worldwide is coming into 2015 with confidence. 2014 was a very good year, posting a top 20 finish in the RICOH Women’s British Open mid year and then almost winning another LPGA title in Japan at the end of the year. Laura likes the event, the format and the courses and finished 11th in 2014.
Shelly Shin – currently ranked as the No.1 Australian amateur and is coming off recent wins in the Lake Macquarie Amateur and the Australian Amateur.
Nikki Garrett is another to watch out for; she currently leads the ALPG Club Car Series after a strong start to the season in the pro-ams. Eight time LPGA champion Rachel Hetherington is returning to tournament golf and is a world class player.
From an international perspective, four time LPGA winner Lorie Kane and LET winners Kylie Walker, Marianne Skarpnord and Holly Clyburn will be looking to get their 2015 year off to a win before heading into the co-sanctioned events, while American Beth Allen, who has been a very consistent player over the past three season in Europe.
The marquee groupings for round 1 include:
Creek Course:
7:40am 10th Tee Holly Clyburn (ENG), Marianne Skarpnord (NOR), Rebecca Artis (AUS)
8:10am 10th Tee Rachel Hetherington (AUS), Lorie Kane (CAN), Nikki Campbell (AUS)
8:20am 10th Tee Laura Davies (ENG), Su Oh (AUS), Stacey Keating (AUS)
By: ALPG Media