Aussies of the month: Awesome foursome
Australia’s four-player squad at the International Crown avenged their runner-up finish at the same event two years ago by going one better. Minjee Lee lifted a star-studded Australian team to a maiden victory at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown in late October. In Seoul, South Korea, a green-and-gold team comprised of three-time major winner Lee, fellow major champions Hannah Green and Grace Kim as well as Steph Kyriacou, defeated the US team in the final. Australia became the fifth different winner in five editions of the International Crown since it debuted in 2014.
Golfers in the news
Australian PGA Championship berth: Gold Creek Country Club trainee professional Lachlan Chamberlain secured his start in an Australian PGA Championship field that included Adam Scott and Cameron Smith after punching his ticket to Royal Queensland by winning the PGA Associates National Championship at Cobram Barooga Golf Club. Chamberlain took a two-shot lead into the final day and fired a four-under-par 68 for a three-stroke win.
Club championship dominance: West Australian Valerie Winfield, 89, recently won an eighth club championship. at Pinjarra Golf Club, an hour south of Perth, Winfield triumphed in the B Grade club championship only a month out from her 90th birthday.
Busy schedule: The first half of the WPGA Tour of Australasia schedule for 2026 was revealed recently, with nearly $5 million in prizemoney on offer and an exciting stretch of four consecutive weeks of Ladies European Tour (LET) co-sanctioned events. The calendar kicks off with the Webex Players Series Perth (hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee) form January 8-11 and the Vic Open at 13th Beach Golf Links the next week. The Ford Women’s NSW Open at Wollongong Golf Club from February 26 to March 1 (€350,000 purse) kicks off the four LET events in a row. From March 5-8, the WPGA then heads to the Australian Women’s Classic at Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club (€350,000), followed by the 2026 Women’s Australian Open at Adelaide’s Kooyonga Golf Club from March 12-15 ($1,700,000) and the Australian WPGA Championship at Sanctuary Cove from March 19-22.
Norris triumphs: Australian golf veteran Jason Norris [above] won the Sharp EIT Solutions Australian PGA Seniors Championship at Sydney’s Richmond Golf Club, his second victory at the biggest tournament on the Australian over-50s schedule. Norris finished at 10-under-par for a one-shot win over big Aussie names Peter Lonard and Brendan Jones.
17 aces in a tournament? New Zealand’s Matt Ansley channelled his inner Happy Gilmore when he bagged 17 holes-in-one across 72 holes to smash records during his Australian Mini-Golf Championship victory at Thornleigh Golf Centre in Sydney [above]. The event was played over two rounds of 36 holes. Ansley posted a 19-under par 61 in his opening 36, which included 11 aces, and then New Zealand’s No.1-ranked mini-golfer made a further six holes-in-one to win the $2,000 event.
Lee confirms his PGA Tour future: Australian Golf Digest confirmed with Min Woo Lee’s team in September that he was remaining with the PGA and DP World tours in 2026 despite rumours swirling online that he was considering a move to LIV Golf in the offseason. This speculation was despite Lee recording his career-first PGA Tour win at the Houston Open in March. Recently, Lee was asked publicly about the rumours. “There have been a lot of rumours; I’m not going and am just going to play on the PGA Tour,” Lee said in Sydney at a media opportunity for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 [above], for which he is an ambassador. “I’m happy with where I’m at… I’m looking forward to next year.”
Drive to thrive: The R&A recently announced the “Golf Course 2030 (GC2030) project” in Australia and New Zealand, an initiative that aims to highlight the positive role golf courses play in nature conservation and ecological restoration. The GC2030 Australia/New Zealand will be led by Australia’s leading golf-course biodiversity experts, Kate Torgersen and Monina Gilbey from Torgersen Gilbey, who will demonstrate how golf facilities can provide thriving habitats for native wildlife and contribute to wider environmental goals.
Doak’s backyard: Tom Doak has contributed some world-class layouts and re-designs to Australian golf course architecture, including Barnbougle Dunes and the Gunnamatta course at The National Golf Club. So, it came as a fun factoid when the acclaimed American course designer named St Andrews Beach Golf Course, which he created with Mike Clayton on the Mornington Peninsula, as the one golf course among his globally renowned portfolio that he dreams of having in his own backyard. He spoke to us for our feature that starts on page 74.
“St Andrews Beach may be the best example of my design philosophy, and the course that I wish I had in my backyard; [ironically, it’s Clayton who owns a house nearby],” Doak told Australian Golf Digest. “It was a beautiful piece of land for golf, and it didn’t take much to build it. Most of the greens took a matter of hours to build, so really, digging the bunkers was the lion’s share of the work. The rest of the course just needed mowing out and re-grassing.”
Photographs by yoshimasa nakano, phil inglis/getty images, brendon thorne/getty images