Words: Paul Prendergast.
Image: Australian Golf Media
The third staging of the WPGA Tour of Australasia’s innovative The Athena tournament again served one of its many key aims in that it exposed Australian audiences to a cross section of players with stars in their eyes and aspirations for greater things in the game. Prior to The Athena, many of the names in the field might have been on the periphery of our awareness as golf watchers, without having ever seen them strike a ball. I count myself among them so the opportunity to enjoy the bubbling effervescence of runner-up Sarah Yamaki Branch, Day 1 ‘Combine’ aka skills challenge winner Caitlin Peirce and a host of others who impressed with their games and personalities once again made for great viewing. I learned that Jordan O’Brien has been working on her game over several years under the tutelage of WPGA professional Ali Orchard at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, not 10kms from my home. If her skillset wasn’t already obvious from watching her at The Athena, it was underlined when she parlayed her performance at Sandy Links into her first professional win at the Navigate Advisors Wagga Wagga Country Club pro-am just a few days later. The Athena champion Grace Lennon is one who has been on the radar after several years as a WPGA Tour professional, tournament player and a coach at the Albert Park Driving range in Melbourne. Her experience of sandbelt golf as a member of Kingston Heath proved to be crucial in the outcome, mastering the firm, bouncy greens with a deft putting touch that helped seal victories not only over Yamaki Branch in the final, but against amateur Keeley Marx and Peirce in the earlier four-hole stroke play matches. The $30,000 winner’s cheque may contribute to some contemplation of a renewed bid to compete around the world but regardless of her decision in that regard, she is due some positive karma if only for an incredible gesture that received little fanfare in post-tournament coverage. Dating back the first Athena event two years ago at Coolangatta-Tweed Heads, the WPGA Tour and organisers have provided a wonderful opportunity for up-and-coming local juniors to caddy for players in the head-to-head matches on Day 2. The day starts with the top eight players who qualified from the previous day’s skills challenges and through a quick procession of four-hole matches, is whittled down to two to determine the champion. In 2023, eight Australian Golf Foundation Junior Girls Scholarship recipients tagged along with their players, soaking up all manner of experiences alongside an elite amateur or professional that can only be of value to them moving forward. It’s one of the unique aspects to The Athena that makes this such a special event and I’ve no doubt that in a few years’ time, we’ll be talking to a new Athena participant who has graduated from the event’s caddy ranks. However, for those who blinked and missed it was this final line of the post-tournament press release that says so much about the character of the winner: ‘Lennon revealed that she will be donating ten percent of her winnings to her caddie Emily to help her follow her golfing dreams.’ Think about this for a moment if you will. On the professional tours of the world, it’s been a standard arrangement for caddies to receive a 10% bonus from the winner’s payout when a player wins an event. This is generally on top of an agreed weekly amount to cover expenses over a week that includes travel, accommodation, meals, scouting the golf course, up to six rounds when you count practice rounds and pro-ams, plus hours spent in pre and post round practice. For Lennon to donate $3000 to young Emily after she helped over a few hours on Sunday at The Athena, is staggeringly generous and uplifting in what has been a fractious time in the professional game at certain levels of late. “Grace came up to both Gavin Kirkman (CEO, PGA of Australia) and I right after she won and asked if it was alright to donate this money to help Emily’s golf career.” WPGA Tour CEO Karen Lunn said. “I immediately thought ‘Oh my God, that’s just amazing’. It just shows the person she is.” “She’s a fantastic person who’s been through some hard times in her own life and golf career, but she obviously realises what a difference this can make in this young girl’s life. It’s quite extraordinary.” Let’s hope the karma she is due kicks in proper for Lennon as she prepares to tackle Kelsey Bennett, Momoko Kobori, Kristalle Blum, Stephanie Bunque and many of her Athena contestants as the WPGA Tour and Golf NSW stage a fortnight of big events on the NSW mid-north coast – the Women’s NSW Open (Tuncurry) and Australian Women’s Classic (Bonville Resort) – from March 24th. According to Lunn, Lennon aspires to use The Athena win to propel her towards a long-time goal of playing in a Women’s British Open in the future. One thing’s for certain, she surely won’t be short of offers to pull her bag. |
