from the ceo
Ladies leading by example
A united front for golf
Karen Lunn
Brian Thorburn
Executive Director – ALPG
CEO – PGA of Australia
What a year 2014 has been so far for our guys on the PGA
Tour! Five individual winners, currently 4 Australians in the
top 35 of the Fedex Cup Standings, and of course to top it off
Adam Scott has become the first Australian become the No.
1 golfer on the planet since Greg Norman held that mantle
some sixteen years ago.
At this time each year the PGA puts the call out to find
the next breed of Professionals to commence in the
PGA Trainee Program the following year. Delivering
multiple career paths within the Australian and
international industries, the PGA Trainee Program
is a highly respected and sought after golf-specific
education program. The three-year program covers
subject matter including coaching, game development,
small business and management and boasts a graduate
employee rate above 90 per cent. Applications for the
2015 program close at the end of August.
Meanwhile on the LPGA Tour their counterparts have also
had a strong start to the LPGA tour, led of course by Karrie
Webb who won twice in the early part of the season. Looking
from the outside in, this year has a slightly different feel to
past years, when we have had the stalwarts of the Australian
game, of course Webb, along with Katherine Kirk (nee Hull),
Lindsey Wright, Sarah Jane Smith and Sarah Kemp competing.
Last month I travelled to Parliament House alongside
industry delegates including Stephen Pitt and one of
our PGA Member Directors, Peter O’Malley. Over the
course of the day we had the opportunity to meet
with numerous portfolio representatives in some way
aligned to golf, telling many a positive story about
our industry’s recent past, present and future. As I’ve
mentioned previously ongoing collaboration and the
presentation of a strong united front to all levels of
Government is in the greater interest of the entire golf
industry. Working alongside Golf Australia and other
industry bodies I’m confident that this will deliver
tangible benefits in months and years to come.
In 2014, whether Webb’s incredible start to the season has
been a motivating factor who knows, but we seem to have a
more focused and determined group of players who all seem
to be feeding off their colleagues, of course led by the still
incredibly determined world number 5 Karrie Webb.
Katherine Hull, who became Mrs Tom Kirk in 2012, has had
a promising start to 2014 and looks to have regained some of
the form that has seen her earn more than US$3.7 million and
record two LPGA wins. Katherine has been a regular on LPGA
leaderboards so far in 2014 and while she has not converted
any of those surely it is only a matter of time until a player of
her class finds her way back into the winner’s circle.
Fellow Queenslander Sarah Jane Smith’s best finish in her
8 year LPGA career was 6th place until her 2nd place finish
a few weeks back at the Kingsmill Championship. For Sarah
Jane who travels on tour with her husband Duane who also
acts as her caddy, 2nd place is not the win she covets but it
certainly does make her plans for the rest of 2014 a lot easier!
Apart from the $90,000 cheque, she will now most likely
qualify for all of the remaining majors as well as the limited
field events at the end of 2014 and early 2015, by virtue of
her position on the LPGA money list. This could really be the
break “SJ” has been working so hard for and she now has
the opportunity to establish herself in the upper echelon of
women’s golf.
Sarah Kemp decided over Christmas that it was time to get
the whip cracking and along with her close friend French
professional Joanna Klatten, put in some tough gym time
and long hours on the practice