PGA date a lock for Royal Queensland but Australian Open timeslot remains up in air

A boom summer of golf has been mapped out in an attempt to restore the Australasian Tour to its glory days, with the dates for one of the big-ticket items at Royal Queensland already locked in.

Lucas Herbert and Peter Senior at Royal Queensland Golf Club.

Royal Queensland’s return as Australian PGA host has been locked in for December 3-6 as part of a new wraparound summer season to shake up golf.

The first big spin-off is how much consideration is given to switching the marquee Australian Open at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath from its November-December slot to January-February as a one-off.

Such a move might best take advantage of coronavirus restrictions being wound back so a crowd can attend but also create an “Aussie Swing” for top European golfers already eyeing off the successful Vic Open in early February.

Trying to recreate a “Summer of Golf” is a smart back-to-the-future play to condense the season, which has devolved into haphazard bursts of events over 12 months.

The glory days of Greg Norman supercharging an Australian summer are in a time capsule from the 1980s and ‘90s, but a tighter tournament swing from October to March will elevate the crowning of an Australasian Tour Order of Merit winner.

Lucas Herbert (left) and veteran Peter Senior at Royal Queensland Golf Club to unveil the Aussie PGA dates. Picture: Attila Csaszar

The restrictions caused by the pandemic have extended the season to March to fit re­scheduled events but the wraparound schedule across the new year will become the norm, PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments director Nick Dastey said.

It is a mythical idea for now, with no new tournaments for the concept kick-off.

The hope is that some of the ideas of recent years come off — a Sandbelt Classic, the return of the Australian Masters or a worthy Victorian tournament to honour the late Jarrod Lyle.

Seeking co-sanctioning with the European Tour for a February Australian Open could be a winner.

“The talk on tour (in Europe) is that guys would love to come play in Australia, but it’s so far to come for just one event,” Victoria’s Dubai Desert Classic winner Lucas Herbert said.

Added decorated veteran Peter Senior: “That link with the European Tour is probably our best bet to fill in that January-February schedule if we are able to grasp the opportunity.

Royal Queensland looms as the biggest winner in the summer of golf revamp.

“January-February is a very important period to get a good start on the PGA Tour, so it may be hard to get some of our very good players back then from the US.”

Senior and Herbert were at RQ for the unveiling of the PGA dates but were unsure whether fans would be able to attend the club’s Centenary Year climax.

“Our team is building contingency plans for every possible scenario and we will work intimately with the Queensland Government and health authorities,” PGA of Australia boss Gavin Kirkman said.

At present, the wraparound schedule would feature the NSW Open, Australian Open, Australian PGA, Vic Open, Queensland PGA, Queensland Open and NZ Open between November and March.

Peter Senior is certain to be teeing off at Royal Queensland in early December.

The concept is exciting in theory but also highlights all that the Australasian Tour has lost over the past two decades.

In 2000-01, Senior played an upbeat stretch of five successive events across January-February, with the Canon Challenge, Heineken Classic, Greg Norman Holden International, Ericsson Masters and ANZ Tour Championship.

All those events disappeared long ago. There are ­potential tournament slots waiting to be filled in January, when there is the opportunity to lure an American star before the PGA Tour starts in Hawaii.

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