New South Wales Open (golf)


The New South Wales Open is an annual golf tournament held in New South Wales, Australia. The 2019 event was held at Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club and had prize money of A$400,000. Josh Younger won the tournament, beating Travis Smyth in a playoff.

History

The event was founded in 1931 as the New South Wales Close Championship, being restricted to residents of New South Wales. The first event was held at Manly Golf Club and, after 72 holes played over two days, resulted in a tie between three professionals Charlie Gray, Tom Howard and Sam Richardson. Gray won the title after a 36-hole playoff scoring 147 to Howard's 148. Richardson took 80 in the first round and didn't complete the 36 holes. Richardson won in 1932 but the remainder of the 1930s were dominated by Jim Ferrier who won five times and was runner-up twice between 1933 and 1939. Three times he won by 10 or more strokes.
Norman Von Nida won in 1939 and then again from 1946 to 1948, to repeat Ferrier record of four successive wins. In 1951 a New South Wales Jubilee Open was organised, the state's first open championship, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Federation of Australia. The tournament was won by Dai Rees while Kel Nagle was runner-up and won the Close title. Von Nida won the Close championship again in 1953 and 1954, setting a record of six championship wins. The 1955 event clashed with the first Pelaco Tournament in Melbourne, an event which attracted all the leading New South Wales professionals.
In 1958 the championship was opened up to players from outside New South Wales, becoming the New South Wales Open Championship. Peter Thomson from Victoria won in 1961. Two amateur's won in the 1970s, Owen Beldham in 1972 and Tony Gresham in 1975, while American Ed Sneed won in 1973.
The tournament continued to be a major event in the 1980s. Greg Norman won three times in the decade and the 1989 event had prize money of A$300,000. The event then struggled for a number of years. The 1990 championship had prize money of A$50,000 and there was no event in 1991. In 1992 it had increased prize money of A$150,000 but there was again no event the following year. It returned in 1994 on the second-tier Foundation Tour with prize money of A$50,000 and was then not played again until 2002, when it returned with prize money of A$200,000.
From 2003 to 2008 the event was part of the second-tier Von Nida Tour, while from 2009 to 2015 it was a Tier 2 event on the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule. In 2016 it became a Tier 1 event with prize money of A$400,000 compared to the A$110,000 in 2015.

Winners

;PGA Tour of Australasia event
;Von Nida Tour event
YearWinnerCountryVenueScoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner-upRef
2008Aaron TownsendVintage267−177 strokes Steven Jones
2007Jason NorrisVintage277−71 stroke Jarrod Lyle
James Nitties
2006Rick Kulacz Moore Park270−10Playoff Tony McFadyean
2005Michael WrightLiverpool271
2004Peter LonardLiverpool270−182 strokes Anthony Summers
2003Craig CarmichaelMacquarie Links273−151 stroke Andrew McKenzie

;PGA Tour of Australasia event
;Foundation Tour event
YearWinnerCountryVenueScoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner-upRef
1994Darren ChivasManly283−51 stroke David Ecob

;Earlier events
In 2019 Younger won with a birdie at the second extra hole. In 2014 Brown won at the second hole of the playoff. In 2010 O'Malley won at the third extra hole. Cooke had dropped out after the second extra hole. In 2006 Kulacz won the playoff with a par at the first extra hole. In 1992 Parry won with a par at the third playoff hole. In 1983 Norman won the playoff at the second extra hole. In 1977 McDonald won the playoff with a birdie at the second extra hole. In 1970 Phillips won the 18-hole playoff, scoring 67 to Graham's 69. In 1968 Nagle took 73, while Dunk scored 76 and Coxon 80. In 1966 Phillips won the 18-hole playoff with a score of 70 to Woolbank's 74. In 1931 Gray won the 36-hole playoff with a score of 147, one ahead of Howard's 148. Richardson took 80 in his first round and didn't complete the 36 holes.
The 1951 New South Wales Close title was contested as part of the New South Wales Jubilee Open. Dai Rees won the event by 5 strokes from Kel Nagle but Nagle took the Close title.