ISPS Handa Perth International (Perth, Australia)
February 25-28, 2016
Prize fund: A$1,750,000 (€1,147,592/US$1,264,707)
Course: Lake Karrinyup GC
Yardage: 7,143 yards
The ISPS Handa Perth International returns after a one-year absence. The event, now tri-sanctioned with the Asian Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia, will be played at Lake Karrinyup GC for the fourth year running. This is a classic course, with plenty of trees and bunkers, not to mention the kangaroos who frequent the course. The wind usually is a factor in this part of western Australia.
The winning scores have been better than average, with Thorbjorn Olesen winning at -17 in 2014, Jin Jeong winning at -10 in the preceding year and Bo Van Pelt winning the first edition at -16. This year's field is headlined by Louis Oosthuizen, ranked 21st in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Other notable players include Perth's own Brett Rumford, last week's winner Marcus Fraser, Victor Dubuisson, Olesen, Stephen Gallacher, and impressive rookies Paul Dunne and Ricardo Gouveia.
It's nice to see two Australian tournaments (Australian PGA Championship took place in December) on the European Tour schedule. If there can be some kind of partnership between the two tours where a few more tournaments could be co-sanctioned, that would be great. The courses, fans, and weather are fantastic but the country presents a similar option to South Africa. The Rainbow Nation stages five tournaments co-sanctioned with the European Tour. Maybe one South African tournament could be taken off the schedule in favor of the addition of one Australian event.
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