Von Nida attends QLD Open launch
BY Bruce Young | Von Nida Tour | 2006 Queensland Open | General | 13 Sep 2006
The Von Nida Tour’s 2006 Roadcon Group Queensland Open Championship to be held from October 26th – 29th was launched today at the Ipswich Golf Club with the great man himself, Norman Von Nida, in attendance.
Von Nida won the Queensland Open on seven occasions between 1935 and 1961 but said today that having his name associated with a Tour which offers support and opportunities for emerging players, provides him with as much pleasure as any of his Queensland Open victories.
From one of the earliest winners to the latest and defending champion, Brad McIntosh, was present today to help launch the 2006 event.
“Clearly I have a comfort zone with the Ipswich Golf Club,” said McIntosh. “Winning here last year was a great boost for me and it carried over to the PGA the next week where I shot 59 in the second round. I was also runner up here in 2004 so this course has been a happy hunting ground for me. Unfortunately just a few weeks after this event last year I suffered a back injury which upset my plans a little for 2006 but I am now fit and raring to go.”
Roadcon Group are again proud to be sponsoring the event. Roadcon and the Ipswich Golf Club have an ongoing relationship, with the development of the new Course. Under their agreement, eleven new holes will be built and seven of the existing holes will be remodelled to create a new championship course and Golfing Facility. In addition part of the existing course will be set aside for residential development to be undertaken by Roadcon’s Queensland based Property Development Division.
“This is the second year the Roadcon Group has been involved with the Open,” said Roadcon’s Managing Director, Andre Agterhuis. “It is with great pleasure that we are able to support an event so steeped in proud history.”
The 2006 Roadcon Group Queensland Open Golf Championship is also benefiting from a $22,500 investment under the Queensland Events Regional Development Program (QERDP), a State Government initiative designed to take unique and creative regional events to their full potential.
Since the program began in 2001, over $6.9 million has been invested in more than 340 regional events.
This year’s Roadcon Queensland Open is the third in a series of four Von Nida Tour events in Queensland in October and November. It follows the North Queensland Xray Services Cairns Classic and the Minnecon and Burke Queensland Masters in Townsville and is being played the week prior to the Greater Building Society’s Queensland PGA on the Gold Coast.
The Queensland Open has a long and proud history, having first been played in 1925. The list of winners is a veritable who’s who of Australian golf with many of this country’s most outstanding golfers having won the coveted title. Jim Ferrier, Kel Nagle, Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch and David Graham are all players who won this event before going on to join the ranks of Australia’s major championship winners. Other great names of Australian golf including Ivo Whitton, Eric Cremin, Norman Von Nida himself, Graham Marsh, Ossie Pickworth, Bruce Devlin, Billy Dunk and more recently Peter Senior and Stuart Appleby also grace the trophy.
Since the event was reborn in 2002 with its switch to the Ipswich Golf Club, it has seen several of Australia’s rising young stars win the event under the new Von Nida Tour banner. In his very first event as a professional in 2002 Andrew Buckle came from behind on the final day to win and, as a winner on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, he now stands on the verge of gaining his USPGA Tour card for 2007.
Scott Hend was the winner in 2003 and just over a month later gained his USPGA Tour card for 2004 via their qualifying school in Florida. Steven Bowditch won in 2004 and three months later won the Nationwide Tour’s Jacob’s Creek Open in Adelaide en route to winning his way through to the USPGA Tour via the Nationwide Tour.
In 2005 Brad McIntosh held off a determined late challenge from Peter Senior before going on the following week to become the first person in the history of Australian professional golf to break 60 in a professional event.
Queensland Golf Union President Barry Shepherd said, “The Queensland Golf Union is delighted that the 70th Queensland Open Golf Championship will be held once again at Ipswich Golf Club. We appreciate the commitment of the Ipswich Golf Club Board and its members and the backing of the Ipswich City Council and we encourage the public to attend this event and witness the possible emergence of a future star on the world golf scene.”
This year, for the first time, a highlights package of the tournament will be shown on The PGA Golf Show on Fox Sports on the Tuesday immediately following the event. A team from Fox Sports will be present during the final day of the event and on the Monday following will record openers for the show at the Ipswich Golf Club.
The tournament carries prizemoney of $105,000.
Photo – Anthony Powter
