2023–24 PGA Tour of Australasia

2023–24 PGA Tour of Australasia season
Duration4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) – 17 March 2024 (2024-03-17)
Number of official events18
Most winsNew Zealand Kazuma Kobori (3)
Order of MeritNew Zealand Kazuma Kobori
Player of the YearNew Zealand Kazuma Kobori
Rookie of the YearNew Zealand Kazuma Kobori

The 2023–24 PGA Tour of Australasia, titled as the 2023–24 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, was the 50th season on the PGA Tour of Australasia, the main professional golf tour in Australia and New Zealand since it was formed in 1973.

Changes for 2023–24

The season marked the return of the PNG Open, being played for the first time since 2019.[1] The Heritage Classic also returned to the schedule, having not been played since 2013.[2]

Challenger title sponsorship

In October 2023, it was announced that the tour had signed a title sponsorship agreement with Australian investment firm Challenger, being renamed as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.[3]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2023–24 season.[4][5]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(A$) 		Winner[a] OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
7 May PNG Open Papua New Guinea 180,000 Australia Lachlan Barker (1) 0.39
20 Aug Tailor-made Building Services NT PGA Championship Northern Territory 200,000 Australia Daniel Gale (2) 1.07
8 Oct Nexus Advisernet/Bowra & O'Dea WA Open Western Australia 175,000 Australia Simon Hawkes (2) 1.14
15 Oct CKB WA PGA Championship Western Australia 250,000 Australia Ben Eccles (2) 1.30
22 Oct Webex Players Series SA South Australia 200,000 Australia Austin Bautista (2) 1.50 WANZ Mixed event
5 Nov Queensland PGA Championship Queensland 250,000 Australia Phoenix Campbell (a) (1) 1.69
12 Nov Gippsland Super 6 Victoria 200,000 New Zealand Kerry Mountcastle (1) 1.12
19 Nov Victorian PGA Championship Victoria 250,000 Australia David Micheluzzi (4) 1.53
26 Nov Fortinet Australian PGA Championship Queensland 2,000,000 Australia Min Woo Lee (2) 13.51 EUR
3 Dec ISPS Handa Australian Open New South Wales 1,700,000 Chile Joaquín Niemann (n/a) 14.80 EUR
14 Jan Heritage Classic Victoria 200,000 Australia Matthew Griffin (4) 1.89
21 Jan Webex Players Series Murray River Victoria 250,000 New Zealand Kazuma Kobori (2) 1.47 WANZ Mixed event
28 Jan Webex Players Series Victoria Victoria 250,000 New Zealand Kazuma Kobori (3) 2.48 WANZ Mixed event
4 Feb Vic Open Victoria 420,000 Australia Brett Coletta (3) 3.07
11 Feb Webex Players Series Sydney New South Wales 250,000 New Zealand Kazuma Kobori (4) 2.11 WANZ Mixed event
18 Feb Webex Players Series Hunter Valley New South Wales 250,000 Australia Daniel Gale (3) 1.67 WANZ Mixed event
3 Mar New Zealand Open New Zealand NZ$2,000,000 Japan Takahiro Hataji (n/a) 6.63 ASA
17 Mar The National Tournament Victoria 200,000 Australia Cameron John (1) 2.32

Unofficial events

The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
(A$) 		Winner OWGR
points 		Other
tours[b] 		Notes
6 Dec Cathedral Invitational Victoria 300,000 Australia Adam Scott n/a Limited-field event

Order of Merit

The Order of Merit was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[6][7] The top three players on the Order of Merit earned status to play on the 2025 European Tour (DP World Tour).[8]

Position Player Points Status earned
1 New Zealand Kazuma Kobori 841 Promoted to European Tour
2 Australia Daniel Gale 647
3 Australia Brett Coletta 604
4 Australia Matthew Griffin 506
5 Australia David Micheluzzi 384

Awards

Award Winner Ref.
Player of the Year New Zealand Kazuma Kobori [9]
Rookie of the Year New Zealand Kazuma Kobori [10][8]

Notes

  1. ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour of Australasia events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour of Australasia members.
  2. ^ a b ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour; WANZ − WPGA Tour of Australasia.

References

  1. ^ "PNG Open returns to kick off 2023 season". PGA of Australia. Australian Golf Media. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Heritage Classic returns to PGA Tour of Australasia on three-year deal". PGA of Australia. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  3. ^ Campbell, Hayden (5 October 2023). "Challenger Investment Firm Secures Exclusive Title Sponsorship Of PGA Tour Australasia". Ministry of Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  4. ^ "2023/24 Tournament schedule". PGA Tour of Australasia. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Min Woo Lee locked in as date set for Fortinet Australian PGA Championship". Australian Golf Digest. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  6. ^ "2023/24 Order of Merit". PGA Tour of Australasia. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  7. ^ Webeck, Tony (12 March 2024). "Kobori crowned Order of Merit champion for 2023/2024". PGA of Australia. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  8. ^ a b Webeck, Tony (17 March 2024). "Gale, Coletta join Kobori with DP World Tour cards". PGA of Australia. Retrieved 18 March 2024. Kobori was presented with the Von Nida Medal as Order of Merit champion and the Rookie of the Year trophy at the completion of the season-ending The National Tournament presented by BMW at The National Golf Club on Sunday.
  9. ^ "Hannah Green crowned with second Greg Norman Medal". Australian Golf Digest. Australian Golf Media. 20 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024. Three-time winner and Order of Merit champion Kazuma Kobori was named Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year...
  10. ^ "2023/24 Rookie of the Year". PGA Tour of Australasia. Retrieved 18 March 2024.