In this Issue

1. 🏆 Results Recap

   • Royal Melbourne shines for Asia-Pacific Amateur

   • Boutier wins again

2.  🍴Quick Bites

   • World Golf Awards

   • Update on the PGAT/LIV/DPWT Framework Agreement

   • Top 100 Golf Course list controversy

   • Dan Andrews prospecting for a job in golf

   • Golf Twitter personalities get nasty

3.  📅 Schedule for the Week

🏆 Results Recap

Royal Melbourne Shines for Asia-Pacific Amateur

It was a thrilling finish at the Asia Pacific Amateur golf tournament held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club over the last week. 21-year-old Australian Jasper Stubbs won the prestigious event in front of his home crowd after a two-hole playoff against China's Wenyi Ding and Sampson Zheng. Stubbs, who lives just a few kilometers from the course, started the final round six shots behind Zheng, but rallied with four birdies in his last 12 holes to make the playoff at one-over par. On the first playoff hole, Stubbs made the first birdie of the entire day on the 18th by draining an incredible sliding downhill putt, only to see Ding waste no time in sinking his birdie putt to extend the playoff (and end overnight leader Zheng’s tournament). Stubbs and Ding both found the fairway on the second extra hole. Stubbs’ approach shot was cautious, finishing at the back of the green but safe, whilst Ding made a crucial error plonking his second shot into the right greenside bunker. Stubbs then sealed his victory with a sublime 2-putt to make par and earn himself invitations to the 2024 Masters and The Open Championship.

Royal Melbourne showed that it is truly one of the best venues in world golf for tournament play. The players had to contend with tough conditions, as strong winds and firm greens and fairways made scoring difficult. Hence, none of the field finished under par following completion of the 4 rounds. It is amazing how the greenskeepers at Royal Melbourne are able to really dial up the course to test the world’s best golfers. Strategy and placement are the premium skills, not just power and length, like so much of the golf we see on the PGAT week to week.

Stubbs was not the only one who impressed at Royal Melbourne, as the amateur course record was broken twice by two different golfers. New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori shot a brilliant 66 in the opening round, only to be bettered by Zheng on Saturday with a 65 to take the 54-hole lead. The tournament showcased some of the best amateur talent in the region and provided another example of how Australian golf courses and conditions produce compelling events for players and fans. If only the PGAT would harness this to ensure an annual spot on its schedule for an Australian event!!!

Boutier wins again

Celine Boutier has won her fourth LPGA Tour title of the year in record-breaking fashion at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia. The French star shot a flawless final round of 64, with eight birdies, to finish at 21-under par and enter a playoff with Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul, who birdied three of her last four holes in regulation. The two players battled for nine extra holes, and the playoff was interrupted by a 90-minute rain delay, adding to the drama and suspense of the event. Boutier finally made a birdie on the par-3 15th to seal the win.

Boutier is now the only player on tour with four wins in 2023 and has taken the lead in the Race to CME Globe rankings. She also became the first player from France to win four times in a single season on the LPGA Tour. Boutier's performance this year has been spectacular, showing consistency and grit as she has played her way through a career best season which has included a Major win and being an integral member of the dominant Solheim Cup team for the Euros.

🍴 Quick Bites

Whilst there was not a lot of tournament golf played this last week, with the PGAT having a break in its schedule and LIV finished for the year, there certainly was a lot happening off the course.

Here are some quick bites for you to snack on:

• World Golf Awards - have you ever heard of the World Golf Awards? We haven’t and neither has most of the golfing world. However, LIV Golf and its CEO, Greg Norman, certainly have after picking up a number of awards including World’s Best Golf Tournament (LIV Golf Adelaide), World’s Best Golf Innovation (no innovation specified??) and Norman himself was awarded Golf Course Designer of the Year. Once the golf mainstream got a hold of these announcements, it became apparent the World Golf Awards are somewhat of a sham with LIV being the only nominee in the categories it won and very little substance to the remainder of the awards. Seems like something LIV might have cooked up themselves behind the scenes, but who knows.

• Update on the PGAT/LIV/DPWT Framework Agreement - we said in our last issue that we felt the Framework Agreement was on life support. Respected golf journalist, Rex Hoggard, did some investigative work at the LIV Miami event and his sources on the ground had some interesting things to say. Read about it here.

• Top 100 Golf Course list controversy - Golf Magazine had a leak of its Top 100 Courses for 2023. As reported by the Fried Egg, the UK Golf Guy somehow got his hands on the list and published it via his Twitter account before Golf Magazine had formally released it. This was followed by the usual controversy regarding courses moving up/down and in/out of the list. Six courses from Australia feature in the list with Royal Melbourne (West) highest at #7 whilst Victoria was the lowest, re-entering the Top 100 at #96.

• Much to The Shank Show’s shock and horror, there were reports in The Australian newspaper this week that Dan Andrews has been in the US prospecting for a job in golf with the PGA Tour. Andrews, who is a member at Kingston Health, would be a total embarrassment for Australian golf on the global stage, especially given his breathtaking backflip in walking away from Melbourne hosting the Commonwealth Games. Surely this won’t go anywhere??!! Thanks to loyal Shank Show subscriber Symesy for the heads up on this disturbing development.

• Golf Twitter can be a nasty place at times, especially when some of the more vocal personalities with large followers start to throw tweets around. But nothing prepared The Shank Show for the verbal assault waged by Flushing It against Tron Carter from No Laying Up. We have no idea what instigated this nuclear spray from Flushing It (who is usually composed and cordial), but we’ll leave it to you to read the colourful language. Tron did well not to take the bait.

📅 Schedule for the Week

Your golfing schedule for the week, and how to watch is below:

• PGAT: WWT Championship - El Cardonal at Diamante (Los Cabos, Mexico), $8.2m purse, Friday 3/11 to Monday 4/11 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 6.30am Friday.

• Australasian Tour: Queensland PGA - Nudgee Golf Club (Kurrai Course), $250,000 purse, Thursday 2/11 to Sunday 5/11 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 1.30pm Saturday.

• Asian Tour: China Open - Hidden Grace Golf Club (Shenzen, China), $1.5m purse, Thursday 26/10 to Sunday 29/10 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 2.30pm Thursday.

• LPGA: TOTO Japan Classic - Taiheiyo Club Minori Course (Japan), $2m purse, Thursday 2/11 to Sunday 5/11 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 12.30pm Saturday.

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Thanks again for your support and readership. We’ll be back next week and leave you with one a timely Halloween costume that only golfers will understand.