2013 Australian PGA Championship set for November
The dates are set for the 2013 Australian PGA Championship.
The PGA of Australia today announced that the Australian PGA Championship will be moving away from its traditional December dates and moving to November 7 – 10, 2013 hosted at Royal Pines Resort.
There has been no word on the dates for Australia’s third big golf tournament, The Australian Open but today’s announcement means that the Australian PGA Championship will be held the week before the Australian Masters at Royal Melbourne. Lining up the tournaments back to back increases the chances of the world’s best golfers sticking around for a few weeks to play in more than one Australian event.
Brian Thornburn, CEO of the PGA of Australia made the announcement this morning and was hoping for quality field on the Gold Coast.
“Our priority for this year is to ensure we position ourselves to maximise opportunities for the Australian PGA Championship, in terms of attracting both a quality field and the fans.” said Thornburn.
“With the date now confirmed we can get on with business, which will mean doing everything in our power to create one of the most successful and popular events on the Gold Coast calendar.”
Last month it was announced that the tournament would be held on the Gold Coast for the first time at the Royal Pines Resort, after shifting away from Palmer Coolum Resort where the Australian PGA Championship was hosted since 2002.
Critics of the move are largely concerned with the quality of the Royal Pines golf course. It is widely regarded as a mundane, easy track that will see professionals take to the cleaners.
It is believed the course will be toughened before November and with Royal Pines owners reportedly paying good money to host the event, let’s hope there is enough in the coffers to lure some of the game’s big name golfers.