Golfers to tee-off in Warragul

Warragul Country Club will host a major professional golf tournament over four days in November.

Professional Golf Association tournaments director for Australasia Nick Dastey said 132 players would compete for a purse totalling $137,500 in the Gippsland Super 6 tournament from November 11 to 14.

The staging of the event was officially announced at the club last Wednesday.

There also will be a lead-up qualifying event for the professionals and a pro-am tournament ahead of the four-day tour event.

It will be the third year the Gippsland Super 6 has been staged, the previous two held at the Yallourn Golf Club, and one of 16 sanctioned PGA tour events across Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Dastey said professional golfers from Australia would be at Warragul and hopefully the status of any COVID restrictions in November would enable international players that visit Australia for tour events to be in the field.

The tournament is being supported by the Latrobe Valley Authority through a three-year partnership with the PGA and, this year, Baw Baw Shire Council which is contributing $10,000.

The PGA tour and Warragul Country Club have signed a commercial agreement to stage the event that gives the PGA exclusive access to the golf course for a week.

The Gippsland Super 6 is conducted in a different format to the usual four-day stroke events of major tournaments.

A field of 132 players will play 36 holes on the first two days with the top 50 and ties making a cut to continue on the third day.

The top 24 will then proceed to a match play format on the final day.

The knock-out matches will be over six holes located close to the clubhouse, those players finishing in the first eight after the qualifying rounds receiving a bye for the first round.

Mr Dastey said the format would provide an exciting finish to the tournament with spectators easily able to follow the play over the shortened course.

Prominent touring professional and defending Gippsland Super 6 champion Marcus Fraser, who was at Warragul for last week’s announcement, said he was looking forward to returning to Warragul in November after previously playing in pro-am events at the course.

Country Club board chair Kaye Rollinson said it was exciting for the club to be asked to stage the major professional competition although it will be a lot of hard work for members and the grounds staff.

However, she said it would provide major benefits by attracting visitors to the community over the week and perhaps encourage more people, particularly youngsters, to look to golf as a way to be active.