So 2028, it is going to North Adelaide, but then 29 and 30 back in Victoria locked in.

Yep, that's right.

And South Australia then have 31, 32.

So, I mean, the big story around this is for us, we've got seven years of certainty as to our government partnership and also, I guess, host venues ultimately for the Australian Open.

It's a luxury that we haven't had before.

it's really important for golf because if you think about you know australian open tennis or or afl grand finals or whatever they know where their event is going to be every year we don't know that with golf and we've got to go and plug into a new venue uh every year so it's a it's a great position to be and to have that certainty and it helps with our i guess aspirations of being one of the top 10 golf tournaments of the world

What about the relationship between Golf Australia and the PGA? Can we expect an even bigger, better field moving forward in the Australian Open?

Yeah, well, we announced last week that we were extending our co-sanctioning arrangement with the European Tour, the DP World Tour, and for the first time ever as part of that, a partnership with the US PGA Tour.

Mm

... um, and, and the Australian Open being played at Royal Melbourne.

Since then in August, uh, we announced that, uh, Augusta, um, will provide the winner, um, of the Australian Open a, a ticket to play in the Masters.

That was obviously an extension, um, an extension with the R&A and the Open Qualifying Series where the top three get to play in the Open Championship.

But then, uh, the success of the Open, um, DP World Tour extension, this PGA Tour, we've announced South Australia and Victoria as hosts, and Capital.com as the, the, the title partner of the Australian Open.

There's a whole lot of things that have happened, um, that really do elevate, um, our National Open.

Um, we have, we have seven years of certainty now as to where the Australian Open is gonna be played and our state government agreements.

Is this the chance?

Who are some of the big names you've already got committed or the ones that are on the hit list?

Well, in terms of...

I mean, really, we're one year at a time.

We've obviously got Rory coming back this year for 2026.

And what we always do is we prioritise the Australian players to... try to make sure that we're in a window of time that allows them to commit.

Because they don't spend a lot of time in Australia, these guys.

And one of the things that surprised me coming into golf is just how important the Australian Open is to the Australian players.

How open, I would say, the PGA, are they becoming more open is probably what I'm trying to get to with the flexibility of other tournaments and being involved and getting elevated.

Who are some of the big names you've already got committed or the ones that are on the hit list?

Well, in terms of...

I mean, really, we're one year at a time.

We've obviously got Rory coming back this year for 2026.

And what we always do is we prioritise the Australian players to... try to make sure that we're in a window of time that allows them to commit.

Because they don't spend a lot of time in Australia, these guys.

And one of the things that surprised me coming into golf is just how important the Australian Open is to the Australian players.

How open, I would say, the PGA, they're becoming more open is probably what I'm trying to get to with the flexibility of other tournaments and being involved and getting elevated.

And the move, CEO of Cricket Australia to CEO of Golf Australia, um, what, what about the different cultures? Is there similarities, um, between the players and administration and all that sort of, um, str- actually getting the scheduling right? Is there, is there things to compare with cricket?

It's a, yeah.

I mean, there are, there's a lot of similarities.

Um, but there's a lot of difference as well.

Obviously, the players themselves are individual contractors rather than people being contracted like they are at Cricket Australia.

And we're probably a, a smaller player in the world of golf, and so we sort of, uh, we have to sort of fit in with, with everyone else.

Um, we'd like to think that's changing with, you know, the way that the Australian Open's developing, but, um, yeah, it, it's a smaller sport and the revenues don't flow from television in the way that it does in cricket.

It's naming rights on handicaps, doesn't it?

How have you gone about making sure that, say, the governance at Golf Australia or the governance of golf clubs is appropriate for what's needed?

Yeah, it's a great question.

And, and I think, uh, there's, there's really, well, there's probably multi prongs to that, but if I can separate the two.

I- in the first instance, from a Golf Australia perspective, we are very conscious of and focused on our role in the community and, and I guess being the, being the governing body for the game and supporting the game.

We, we operate in a federal structure, and by that I mean that our state associations are our members.

Our state associations have members which are districts and, and associations, and th- then in turn they have members that are golf clubs, and golf clubs have members who are the golfers themselves in, in the broader community.

So often I think people can be guilty of thinking about Golf Australia or the national governing body sitting on top of a pyramid and, and looking down on everyone and telling everyone what to do.Um, I like to tell people in our organization, p- particularly newcomers i- into our sport who are working at Golf Australia, that we operate in a pyramid.

How do you make sure you're getting that right balance between the passion, achieving the, the cause, but also keeping that commercial focus firmly in view?

Talk us through your thinking, please.

Well, I think the announcement a week or so ago about Adelaide needs to be seen in the context of the 2028 summer, which we'll see the President's Cup played in Victoria.

So the reason why we have moved that and Adelaide have taken up the opportunity to play at North Adelaide is because The President's Cup will be in Melbourne and Visit Victoria and the Victorian government were unable to support it because of their commitment to the President's Cup.

So that created that window and Adelaide's come in and they've extended their deal with the Women's Open, but also they've picked up a couple of other men's events that will be played over the course of the next...

Six years or so, but we'll continue to talk to Victoria and we're very hopeful of being able to work through a situation where we still see the Australian Open on a regular basis played in Melbourne.

It's great to see the big names feeling confident enough and well done to you and your team for getting them back out here.

Yeah, it's worked out pretty well, Mick.

I think, as we know, he won the Masters last year for the first time and came out to Royal Melbourne and he's done the right thing again.

A- and it sounds like, uh, a bit of a, a mission statement for Golf Australia moving forward.

Yeah, I think, Mark, it's probably important to note at the outset as we launch this new strategy is that it's not a Golf Australia strategy, it's actually an industry-wide strategy.

And we've, uh, over the last six months, worked very closely with Gavin and his team at the PGA, as well as Karen at the WPGA and then other industry players, um, to talk about where golf is at right now and, uh, and, and what the future looks like, how people feel about it, and what our aspirations for the game are.

So, um, we are launching a new strategy.

Obviously, the game is on fire.

Um, it's not just true here in Australia, it's all over the world, and we're conscious we're riding a wave.

But the, the key messages, uh, for us are all about maintaining momentum, to ease, um, points of resistance, um, and, and to some extent, some of the growing pains that are out there, but also to seize the opportunities as we look to, uh, grow the game of golf and, and make it more accessible to, uh, everyone around the country.

[laughs]