Asia’s Gateway to Australia hosts Championship golf for the first time 09:24, 18/07/2016

The 2016 NT PGA Championship will represent much more than just a new tournament week on a burgeoning ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, which now boasts 16 events annually across five countries. It heralds what is anticipated to be the beginning of an acceleration of growth in the game in a region that is best known for its vast expanse of ancient lands, stunning landscapes and an unbridled potential.

The tournament is being staged at Darwin’s Palmerston Golf Club where locals still recount stories of a 15-year old Queenslander named Jason Day appearing in a schoolboy event at the club. Sightings of players of the calibre of a Jason Day have been rare occurrences in the Top End but there is an air of anticipation and excitement that this inaugural event will be the beginning of something significant, with a view to the championship becoming an entrenched fixture and a major drawcard event in the region for years to come.

World Number One Jason Day played in schoolboy event at Darwin's Palmerston GC/ Source: Golf Plus Media

"Tournaments like the Northern Territory PGA Championship are incredibly important to the ongoing success of Australian golf on the world stage," Chief Executive of the PGA Tour of Australia, Brian Thorburn said,

They provide the rising stars of Aussie golf with the opportunity to hone their craft. Some of the our best players including PGA TOUR winners Steven Bowditch and Marc Leishman began their careers competing in tournaments like this.”

NT PGA entrant Jordan Zunic may be no better example of someone seizing an opportunity of this nature when presented. The young Wollongong star took leave from work in the Port Kembla Golf Club pro shop in early 2015 to travel to New Zealand to attempt to qualify for the NZ PGA. A high finish in that tournament qualified him for a start in the rich NZ Open the following week, which he duly won in spectacular fashion with a tap-in birdie on the final hole.

JORDAN ZUNIC. Courtesy - PGA of Australia/ Source: Golf Plus Media

Territorian golf fans who followed the 2015 Emirates Australian Open closely will be excited that NSW’s Lincoln Tighe will bring his explosive game to Palmerston in August. After an opening 66 at The Australian Golf Club, Tighe impressed with his composure as he battled alongside two-time major champion Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Lee Westwood and eventual winner Matt Jones to finish in a tie for 5th, narrowly missing out on an automatic exemption to The Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Lincoln Tighe, 5th in the 2015 Australian Open/ Source: Golf Plus Media

Spectators can be assured that they will witness golf being played in a manner with which they are not familiar watching the likes of Tighe, Todd Sinnott, Max McCardle, who has been in hot form on the PGA TOUR China Series this year, and many more of their peers perform at Palmerston for the first time.

For Darwin products Unho Park and Aaron Pike, the inaugural championship will be a special event in their careers. Both are proud and excited about the opportunity that lies ahead not only themselves, but for Darwin and the Territory to showcase its abundant tourism attractions, diverse culture and economic potential to a wide audience.

Unho Park / Source: Golf Plus Media

“Hosting the event in Darwin for the first time will be a unique and valued experience for locals and visitors alike,” Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment, The Hon Peter Styles said.

“The Northern Territory is an open and friendly place, with a multicultural population. As Australia’s Northern Territory emerges as a destination of choice for investors, our government is actively promoting growth and innovation with a range of business friendly policies.”

“There are investment opportunities to discover in many sectors and we welcome the opportunity to help you prosper in the Northern Territory.”

Singapore-based Park once represented the Northern Territory in his junior days and now campaigns full-time on the Asian Tour. He will be will be making a rare but very welcome start in an Australian tournament field and will return ‘home’ to Darwin seeking to add the title to the four-consecutive Hong Kong PGA Championships won from 2011-14.

In an expansive gesture and with an eye to the championship’s future, organisers have also made provision for 10 places in the field for players from nearby Asian countries willing to make the short hop down to Darwin for the inaugural event.

"While the tournament will bring the PGA Tour of Australasia to the Territory for the week, it is planned that it will continue to grow the game in the area," Thorburn added.

"The Northern Territory PGA Championship will be a festival of golf and we look forward to working with the Territory Government and Palmerston Golf Course on a successful first tournament and set a benchmark for a long and successful future."

Tournament facts

• 11 – 14 August 2016
• Prize purse of AU$150,000;
• Attracts Official World Golf Ranking points;
• Champion fully exemption onto the PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2017 season.

www.pga.org.au