Gender behind call to make Australian Open course easier: Green

Champion Australian golfer Hannah Green says the course for the Australian Open was set up to be easier because women were playing alongside men, after compatriot Cam Smith delivered a blistering assessment of the conditions on Victoria’s famous Sandbelt.

Smith caused a storm on the eve of the tournament when he said Melbourne’s heavy rainfall was a “bullshit” excuse for the soft greens and course layout, and it had been “prepared like this for a reason”.

Australian golf star Hannah Green played an outstanding opening round at the women’s Open.Credit: Getty Images

The British Open champion stood by his comments after hitting a 65 at the par-71 Victoria Golf Club to be six under on Thursday, declaring other players “liked” what he said.

Green, who was one shot off the lead after shooting a six-under 67 at Kingston Heath, said it made sense that tournament organisers would not want players’ scores to be too high but agreed the pin placements were too generous.

“The pins were pretty generous today. They obviously did try to tuck some pins on perhaps the shorter holes and holes that are easier but I do think if the men played at this course, the pins would be much more tucked,” Green said.

“I think they want to make sure everyone gets play in and they don’t want the scores to be too high ... I do like playing in championships where if you shoot one or two under that’s a really good score.”

Challenging layouts, where the pin is located closer to the edge of the green, and harder, faster greens, theoretically benefit more skilled golfers such as Smith and Green, while softer greens and friendlier pins provide more margin for error.

Lucas Herbert shot an eight-under 63 to lead the men’s tournament after the opening round while Green’s best friend Su Oh is joint leader of the women’s tournament with Korean amateur Hyojin Yang on seven-under.

Herbert backed Smith’s comments but said the conditions changed when the heavens opened on Wednesday afternoon, after the layout was set, dropping torrential rain on the courses.

“It’s probably sacrilegious to come to the Sandbelt and feel like you are trying to land it past the hole. It’s just not the way these courses are designed to be played. It’s a little frustrating seeing where some of the pins are ... I get where he [Smith] is coming from,” Herbert said.

Smith said the winner would need to shoot 20-under. But he remained direct in his disappointment that the courses won’t provide the test expected at the famed Sandbelt courses.

Cameron Smith plays a shot from the bunker at the first hole at Victoria Golf Club during the first round of the Australian Open.Credit: Getty Images

“Hopefully, it firms up a bit and becomes a bit of a tougher test, but I can’t really see that happening,” Smith said after his round.

Golf Australia refused to comment on the way the course had been prepared or the future of the dual-gender tournament, which is being co-hosted by Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Club.

No deal has been reached with the state government beyond this year for the Australian Open to remain there.

Leader and notable players scores

Men: Lucas Herbert (-7), Rintaro Nakano (-7), Ryggs Johnston (-7) Cam Smith (-6) Kazuma Kobori (-4) Marc Leishman (-3) Elvis Smylie (-1) Min Woo Lee (-1) Cam Davis (+2)

Women: Su Oh (-7) Hyojin Yang (-7) Hannah Green (-6) Grace Kim (-2) Ashleigh Buhai (even) Minjee Lee (+2)

All-Abilities: Leader after 16 holes was Kipp Popert (0-2) 

The government was noncommittal about the future of the event, which it says brings $1 billion per year to the Victorian economy through golf tourism.

“As Australia’s major events capital, we’re always working to secure major events that boost tourism and support jobs across the state,” a spokesperson told this masthead.

Green said she enjoyed the dual gender tournaments but made it clear that she would prefer it was played in February because of the LPGA schedule.

“It does not work for the best female players to come down to Australia ... If you want the best of the best to come and play for the trophy unfortunately this is not the time of the year,” Green said. “I do wish it would go back to [being played] in February just so we could have Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson and all the girls that did come down to Australia.”

Smith was good enough on Thursday to make the most of the conditions. Having started on the back nine at 7am, Smith hit the lead midway through his round when he hit six birdies in a row between the 14th and the first holes. He finished his round with two birdies.

“Finally woke up, the coffee worked, and I got on a good roll through the turn,” he said.

“The course is definitely gettable; the greens are soft and there wasn’t much wind out there this morning, a lot of those par fives played quite short.

“Six-under [par] is a really good score, but I’m sure it won’t be leading.”

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