Record entries for NAB Victorian PGA
IN: News | Von Nida | Victorian PGA Championship (2006) | General | 12 Jan 2006
A record 257 players including seven individual PGA tournament winners since 2000 have entered the National Australia Bank Victorian PGA Championship at Sanctuary Lakes Resort from January 26 - 29.
Heading the incredibly strong entry list is Paul Sheehan, runner-up in the recent Australian Open and ranked 96 in the world.
Several more internationals including West Australians Kim Felton, Steven Collins and Jarrod Moseley have also targeted the Melbourne event as a launch pad into a new season.
Felton is keen to repeat the success of last year when he tasted success on the USPGA Nationwide Tour with a thrilling win in the Knoxville Open in Tennessee.
Collins will join Felton in the Unites States from late February, while Moseley - joint-winner of the 2002 Australian PGA Championship - is looking to regain his best form before venturing overseas.
Scott Draper, the former Davis Cup star who found a sporting afterlife as a tournament golfer, is another of the marquee entrants.
The National Australia Bank Victorian PGA Championship will be the 31-year-old's first outing as a professional golfer since finishing 24th and graduating from the Australasian PGA Tour School.
Up-and-comers in the field include Nick Flanagan, who showed he had plenty in the tank by finishing tied 23rd in the British Open at St Andrews only six months ago.
Sydney young gun Aron Price is also starting to prove himself, a 13th place finish in the Australian Masters backing up a decorated US college career.
Victorian PGA executive officer Andrew Lapthorne said the size and quality of the field vindicated the decision to move the date of the tournament forward.
"The first consideration was to avoid a clash with the Commonwealth Games," he said. "But the date-change also meant players who regularly compete on the Nationwide Tour in the United States would also be available. So the decision proved a win-win for everyone, and that is a very pleasing outcome."
The National Australia Bank Victorian PGA Championship is the first event of the 2006 Von Nida Tour. Victorian Cameron Percy will defend the title.
The honour roll of champions to have won the Victorian PGA Championship reads like a Who's Who of the sport. Names like Peter Thomson, Bruce Devlin, Peter Senior and Stuart Appleby are all former winners.
Source - Von Nida Tour
