British Open places up for grabs in Melbourne
BY iseekgolf.com | Australasian PGA Tour | 2006 British Open International Final Qualifying | Preview | 31 Jan 2006
Four places will be up for grabs at the 2006 Open Championships when Final International Qualifying gets underway at the Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne on Tuesday.
A total of 53 players from Australia and New Zealand will compete in the 36 hole stroke play event held today and tomorrow, with the top four finishers earning a start at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club from July 20-23.
The top four players will automatically qualify for The Open so it’s not surprising so many of Australasia’s better players have decided to enter at Kingston Heath. They include many players who have played on the European Tour including Jarrod Moseley, Stephen Scahill (NZL), Scott Gardiner, Brad Hughes and former US amateur champion, Nick Flanagan.
Also lining up at Kingston Heath is 2005 Von Nida Tour winner, South Australian Adam Bland, as well as 2004 World Junior Champion Jason Day of Queensland and young New Zealand sensation Brad Iles, who took the Australasian Tour by storm last December when in just his second professional event he finished T6 at the MasterCard Masters.
Also lining up to grab the chance to play in the Open Championship are amateurs Ashley Hall from Victoria, winner of the 2005 NEC Master of The Amateurs, New South Welshman and 2005 Korean Amateur Champion Woon Joon Lee and Victorian Andrew Tampion, member of the 2005 Australian Junior Team, who also finished T17 at the 2005 MFS Australian Open.
Players tee off at 8:30am with Australians Jarrod Moseley and Wayne Perske the first group to take to the Kingston Heath course.
The final group of Andrew Tampion, Ryan Haller and Leigh McKechnie will take to the course at 11:52am.
Final International Qualifying has been held in Africa at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington in South Africa from January 18-19 and will also take place in Asia in Sentosa, Singapore from April 6-7; America at the Congressional, Maryland, USA on June 26 and in Europe at Sunningdale, Berkshire, England on June 26.
Source – PGA Tour
