\u201cCathedral is very young, we are only eight years old, so it\u2019s starting to get international notoriety now. I think the tournament will start to get on people\u2019s radars. I\u2019m hoping that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019d like it to be something that international players, as well as some of Australia\u2019s best players, want to come and play.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, that\u2019s difficult given it\u2019s on the other side of the world and it\u2019s such a crowded calendar already, but if we can make the product really good where the players really want to play it and it\u2019s quintessentially Australian, we are obviously going to have to have a very big prize pool, but I think we have started well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evans, a golf lover who plays off a low single-figure handicap, has travelled to Augusta several times to watch the US Masters.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s built Cathedral with that course and the clubhouse in the back of his mind.<\/p>\n
Now he wants to build an internationally renowned event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Masters were originally called the Augusta Invitational, so it\u2019s an extension of that I guess,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think our event will ever be as big as that. But at the same time, it\u2019s in a remote part of Victoria. The topography is extraordinary, the golf course is very unique. There are differences to what Augusta have done. Ours is a family club, but the uniqueness of Augusta is something that I\u2019ve studied very closely.<\/p>\n
\u201cLots of what I have done with Cathedral, Augusta has been a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Several thousand people are expected to make their way to the course in Thornton, a two-hour drive north-east of Melbourne through the Black Spur Drive.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big crowd for a club that is so private its membership figures are kept secret.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not something we publicise. But it\u2019s less than 200,\u201d Evans said. <\/p>\n
For players such as Scott, Leishman and Lucas Herbert, the event is a chance to promote local golf away from the prestigious Melbourne sand belt.<\/p>\n
But none of those players is expected to travel to the course by car. That\u2019s where the club\u2019s own helicopter and private helipad will come into use.<\/p>\n