Popular Vic Open gets underway Thursday
Two time winner Dimi Papdatos – looking to continue success at 13th Beach
One of the PGA Tour of Australasia’s more popular events, the Vic Open, begins at the 13th Beach Golf Club’s two course facility on Thursday, the event highlighting two separate events for women and men, both playing for separate purses of A420,000.
The figure pales in comparison to the A1.6 million on offer in previous years when jointly sanctioned with the then European Tour but nevertheless the venue and format, which includes the men and women’s events being played concurrently, has proven popular since moving to the Bellarine Peninsula from Spring Valley in 2013.
Dimi Papadatos will defend the title he won by a narrow one shot over New Zealander Ben Campbell, the women’s event won last year by Hannah Green who won her first Australian title as a professional when she took that title by six shots over Gold Coast golfer, Karis Davidson.
For Papadatos, it was his second Vic Open title and his 5th as a professional having previously won in 2017.
Papadatos again embarked on a campaign in Europe in 2022 following his win but there was not a lot to get excited about as he played both Challenge and DP World Tour events but he has an affinity with the layouts at the Creek and Beach courses at 13th beach and might do well again.
It may however be some of the emerging young players who end up as contenders by week’s end and the likes David Micheluzzi, Elvis Smylie, an improving Shae Wools Cobb and Hayden Hopewell might make their presence felt.
Green not only won this event twelve months ago but she would win the following week in a mixed Australasian Tour event (the TPS Murray River) and went on to record several top tens on the LPGA Tour and is currently the 19th ranked player in the Rolex World Rankings.
Green is not in this week’s field however and the women are headed in terms of world ranking by Korea’s Ji Yai Shin, a still prolific performer on the Japan and Korean LPGA Tours. Shin has also an excellent record in Australia having won the 2013 Australian Women’s Open, the RACV Ladies Masters and the Actew AGL event in Canberra. The two time Women’s British Open champion is a formidable force and the event is fortunate to have a player of her standing in the field.
Others of note are last week’s winner of the TPS Murray event, Sarah Jane Smith, TPS Victoria winner, Min Yoon, and LPGA players Grace Kim, last year’s runner-up Karis Davidson, Sarah Kemp, Su Oh and the legendary Karrie Webb.
