Australia’s future golf stars will give some of their prizemoney back to Golf Australia
Golf Australia’s high performance graduates sign off on groundbreaking “give back” program.
A few weeks ago Golf Australia announced a new “Give Back” program that will see the most successful graduates from their national or rookie squads putting back some of their earnings to the high performance programs.
Every player who has been a part of these squads since 2015 have signed off to commit a small percentage of any future prize-money back to the high performance program that was an essential part of their success in the first place.
Of course, golfers will have to achieve a certain threshold of success before any earnings are given back – a top 125 world ranking for men and top 50 for women – and once a golfer reaches the fifth or sixth year as a professional.
“In essence, when graduates of our high performance squads reach a certain threshold in professional world rankings each year on the world’s top tours, they will put some of their earnings back into the GA high performance pot for the next generation,” Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt said.
“We could not be prouder that our brightest young talent are effectively putting their hands into their pockets to say thanks to all those who’ve helped them achieve their professional goals.”
Players such as Cameron Smith, Minjee Lee and Nathan Holman have all committed to the “Give Back” program but as relatively new professionals they won’t have to put aside any winnings for several years to come.
But Cameron Smith has already decided he should give back to the program. Smith has set up a scholarship in his own name that gives $12,500 sponsorship to a golfer from Golf Australia’s high performance team.
Impressive stuff from 22-year-old Smith who is only just finding his feet on the PGA Tour.
The program a similar idea to the one that Australian tennis has used for some time but not one that has gained much traction anywhere else in the world. No doubt other golf development organisations will be taking note as a great way to ensure future success while celebrating current achievements.