Golf Australia is the governing body for the sport of golf in Australia, formed in 2006 after the Australian Golf Union (AGU) and Women's Golf Australia (WGA) agreed to merge. The decision, which was formally ratified at a meeting in Melbourne in August 2005, was made after the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) threatened to withdraw its financial support unless the two bodies amalgamated. The ASC contributed approximately A$1 million annually to the Australian Institute of Sport for golf funding.
Colin Phillips, the AGU's executive director since 1978, retired from his position in 2005, claiming that the way the decision to merge had been forced upon the sport by the federal government, had been a factor in his decision.
Following the merger, IMG, the sports marketing company which organizes the Australian Open golf event, signed a three-year deal which increased its ties to Golf Australia. Former tennis pro and new Open chairman Paul McNamee also renegotiated a deal signed by the old AGU, whereby the tournament would be hosted at the Moonah Links course in Rye, Victoria three times in every five years. That decision had been heavily criticized by golf professionals who found issue with the course layout, low attendances and poor corporate interest, but the new organization was able to reduce its obligation to three tournaments before 2020.
Golf Australia runs the Australian Open and the Women's Australian Open, the premier male and female golf tournaments in Australia, as well as National amateur events. It also runs key programs promoting golf in Australia, the two major being the MYGolf for juniors and the Crown Lager Social Golf Club. Australian golfer Stuart Appleby is the ambassador for the Crown Lager Social Golf Club.
Golf Australia supports the state associations Golf New South Wales, Golf Northern Territory, Golf Queensland, Golf South Australia, Golf Tasmania, Golf Victoria & Golf Western Australia who are responsible for the governance, delivery and direction of golf in their State.
Famous quotes containing the words golf and/or australia:
“A golf course is nothing but a pool room moved outdoors.”
—Frank Butler (1890–1967)
“It is very considerably smaller than Australia and British Somaliland put together. As things stand at present there is nothing much the Texans can do about this, and ... they are inclined to shy away from the subject in ordinary conversation, muttering defensively about the size of oranges.”
—Alex Atkinson, British humor writer. repr. In Present Laughter, ed. Alan Coren (1982)