There was a clear standout among Australian golfers competing around the world in the year just completed.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: HANNAH GREEN

Whether chasing the lead or as a tournament frontrunner, Hannah Green found avenues to victory in 2024 as she became the dominant force in Australian golf. From putting on a ball-striking clinic to providing a short-game masterclass, Green had three victories on the LPGA Tour along with a runner-up finish, a tie for fourth at the Paris Olympic Games and seven top-10 results from 21 tournament appearances.

In January, Green married fellow professional golfer Jarryd Felton, who plays on the PGA Tour of Australasia. The newlyweds skipped their honeymoon to hit the fairways. Her season kickstarted in spectacular fashion in March when she holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore by a stroke from France’s Celine Boutier. Three birdies over the final three holes at Sentosa Golf Club provided redemption for Green after she bogeyed the last two holes of the 2021 tournament to lose by a shot.

After missing the cut at the year’s first major (Chevron Championship), Green rebounded the next week to successfully defend the JM Eagle LA Championship in Los Angeles. The three-stroke triumph at Wilshire Country Club was the most convincing victory of her career as she hit 50 of 56 fairways and 57 of 72 greens for the week.

Green challenged world No.1 Nelly Korda at the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey where she finished one stroke adrift in outright second. Then in her second Olympic appearance at the Paris Games, Green opened with a 77 but rallied to finish in a tie for fourth and miss the bronze medal by a stroke.

On the northern Asian swing, Green claimed the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea where she again pipped Boutier by a shot in a wire-to-wire victory. This time it was Green’s clutch short game down the stretch that proved decisive as she battled firm greens, tucked pins, fluctuating winds and a hopelessly slow pace of play to claim her sixth LPGA title.

Green couldn’t quite produce her top form in the five women’s majors, where her best result was a tie for 16th at the US Women’s Open. However at the age of 28, Green will finish the year at No.6 on the Women’s World Golf Ranking.

While it appears the two-time Greg Norman Medallist (2019, 2024) has taken her game to another level, long-time coach Ritchie Smith says Green has been one of the LPGA’s best players since 2022 after beginning that year ranked world No.26.

“For the second half of the year she was about the fifth or sixth best statistically on [the LPGA] Tour,” Smith says. “Then she spent a year preparing for her wedding. But as soon as the wedding was done, then she could release the shackles a little bit and play golf again. So I actually think she’s been at this level for almost two-and-a-half years. I can’t see it stopping anytime soon, either.

“What’s happening now is that she’s holing a few more putts. She’s changed to a centre-shaft putter over the pre-season this year (2024)… That was purely just trying to encourage the reduction in the rotation of the [putter] face so that the face plane and the swing plane matched up better.

“I don’t necessarily think she’s swinging it better; she’s just putting better. She’s a great chipper and she’s as hard as old boots. She’s so tough, that kid. I had one of the caddies come up to me and say, ‘She’s the hardest player we play against. But she does it all with a smile on her face. You just don’t expect her to be an absolute terrier.’

“As a coach, that’s just the most wonderful attribute to have. She never complains. She just gets on with it. She’s tough. She’s almost the perfect client.”

Recent winners:
2023: Minjee Lee
2022: Cameron Smith
2021: Minjee Lee
2020: Cameron Smith
2019: Hannah Green
2018: Minjee Lee
2017: Marc Leishman
2016: Jason Day
2015: Jason Day
2014: Adam Scott

MALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: CAMERON SMITH

In a year when Australia’s male professionals failed to leave much of an impression on the world stage, Cameron Smith provided inspiration at home and abroad with charismatic performances.

In the LIV Golf League, Smith secured three runner-up finishes in Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom. He registered seven top-10s from 12 LIV tournaments to finish seventh on the LIV Golf individual standings.

Smith thrived in LIV Golf’s innovative team format where the Ripper GC captain inspired the all-Australian foursome to three epic victories. He led Ripper GC to a pulsating triumph at LIV Golf Adelaide in the league’s first team playoff against Stinger GC that heralded a new dawn in Australian tournament golf as more than 30,000 boisterous fans packed The Grange Golf Club.

The next week, Ripper GC captured the team title in Singapore and achieved podium finishes in the UK and Greensboro. At the season-ending LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship, Smith paired with Matt Jones to win the decisive point in a matchplay semi-final against Fireballs GC’s Sergio Garcia and Abraham Ancer. In the strokeplay final, Smith carded a four-under 68 as Ripper GC posted an 11-under-277 aggregate for a three-stroke victory and $14 million payday.

Undoubtedly, the 31-year-old would have been disappointed with his performances at golf’s four majors. A commendable tie for sixth at the Masters was followed by T-63 at the PGA, T-32 at the US Open and a missed cut at Royal Troon. (Adam Scott was the only other Australian to achieve a top-10 at a major with a tie for 10th at The Open.)

Smith described his year as a “solid season” and a “very good year, technically”. He was left frustrated that good range sessions didn’t translate to the course. His stats during the LIV Golf season give an insight towards the state of his game. He struggled with the driver with 50.38 percent of Fairways Hit to be ranked a lowly 51st. He was 26th for Greens In Regulation (66.96 percent). Yet Smith was sixth in Birdies, averaging 4.68 per round, while he was at his best on the greens where he led the league in Putting Average (1.52 putts per hole).

Australian men registered just a single victory on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour in 2024 (Cameron Davis’ victory at the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic). The trigger for Smith to receive Male Player Of The Year was his commitment to the PGA Tour of Australasia’s ‘Summer of Golf’. He was third at the Queensland PGA, tied second at the NSW Open, runner-up at the Australian PGA and tied for 39th at the Australian Open.

With those four appearances, Smith provided golf with much-needed publicity for the game as well as inspiration for the next generation of Australian golfers.

ROOKIE PLAYER OF THE YEAR + AMATEUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: KARL VILIPS

Bound for the PGA Tour in 2025, Karl Vilips’ feats as both an amateur and professional led to a unique Amateur/Rookie double that’s never been achieved in Player Of The Year history.

The 23-year-old has been on golf’s radar ever since the precocious talent relocated to the United States on golf scholarships at the age of 11 and started winning junior tournaments.

The highlight of Vilips’ amateur season occurred at the PAC-12 Men’s Golf Championship at Desert Forest Golf Club in Arizona where he won by a single stroke. He also tied for second at The Prestige among four top-10 results against talent-rich college fields.

Vilips turned professional in June after graduating from Stanford University when he was ranked No.12 on the men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. His 10th placing on the PGA Tour University ranking earned conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour and fully exempt status on the PGA Tour of Americas.

Vilips finished runner-up at the NV5 Invitational on the Korn Ferry circuit in his fifth event as a professional. The next week he won the Utah Championship after reaching 25-under-par. By October, he had secured the 19th of 30 PGA Tour cards available on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. He had acquired the coveted ticket from just 10 events on the secondary circuit where he was named 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year.

Recent winners (rookie)
2023: Maddison Hinson-Tolchard
2022: Harrison Crowe
2021: Louis Dobbelaar
2020: Gabriela Ruffels
2019: Gabriela Ruffels
2018: David Micheluzzi
2017: Dylan Perry
2016: Curtis Luck
2015: Ryan Ruffels
2014: Minjee Lee

Recent winners (amateur)
2023: Kirsten Rudgeley
2022: Jed Morgan 
2021: Gabriela Ruffels
2020: Stephanie Kyriacou
2019: Min Woo Lee
2018: Karis Davidson
2017: Hannah Green
2016: Su Oh
2015: Minjee Lee
2014: Cameron Smith

JUNIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: SPENCER HARRISON

Spencer Harrison is the latest young gun to emerge from the seemingly endless conveyer belt of talent in the west. The 16-year-old member of Royal Perth Golf Club produced a bunch of fine performances against both junior and open-age amateurs.

Against elite amateurs, Harrison won the Mandurah Amateur Open and finished second at the West Australian Amateur and West Coast Open. Against teenagers, he won the Western Australia Junior Amateur and was runner-up at the South Australia Junior Amateur, School Sport Australia 18 Years & Under Championship and the Drummond Golf 54 Hole Junior Classic.

Harrison rated his third placing at the Australian Boys’ Amateur as his best junior performance given that he won his age group by six strokes. His rapid improvement has come under the tutelage of short-game wizard Brett Rumford and he has climbed to No.360 on the men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Recent winners:
2023: Sarah Hammett
2022: Jeffrey Guan 
2021: Jeffrey Guan
2020: Elvis Smylie
2019: Karl Vilips
2018: Karl Vilips
2017: Karl Vilips
2016: Min Woo Lee
2015: Ryan Ruffels
2014: Ryan Ruffels

SENIOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: NADINE GOLE

Two decades after retiring from professional golf to raise two children, Nadene Gole has returned to the game and created history by becoming the first Australian to win the R&A Women’s Senior Amateur Championship and the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.

At Saunton Golf Club in Devon, England, Gole rallied from six strokes behind early in the final round to defeat England’s Jackie Foster in a playoff for the R&A Women’s Senior Amateur. Then at Broadmoor Golf Club near Seattle, she overcame Canada’s Shelly Stouffer in the matchplay final of the US Senior Women’s Amateur.

Gole won seven tournaments in 2024 to retain her status as the No.1-ranked woman aged 50 and older on the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The 55-year-old successfully defended the Tasmanian Senior Amateur, South Australian Senior Amateur and Victorian Senior Amateur titles. She also won the New Zealand Senior Championship across the Tasman and the Cobram Barooga Senior Amateur.

Recent winners:
2023: Nadene Gole
2022: Richard Green
2021: Rod Pampling
2020: Rod Pampling
2019: Sue Wooster
2018: Sue Wooster
2017: Sue Wooster
2016: Peter Fowler
2015: Peter Fowler
2014: Peter Fowler

PGA ASSOCIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: JOE HODGSON

First-year trainee professional Joe Hodgson compiled an extraordinary season in which the Mount Osmond Golf Club apprentice led the national Adjusted Scoring Average for associates (2.5 strokes under par).

Hodgson won a remarkable 21 South Australia Associate Matches throughout the year, however it should be noted the field sizes were often a dozen or so players. He won the SA PGA Associate Championship by 10 strokes at Copperclub at The Dunes Port Hughes. He was runner-up in the PGA Associate National Championship at Cobram Barooga and tied for sixth in the Victorian PGA Associate Championship at Tocumwal.

The 26-year-old is a bit of a late developer, having played college golf for Illinois State University from where he graduated in 2022. Hodgson has been described as the ultimate professional and “built for tour golf”. He has a caddie for every match and treats every professional tournament the same, regardless of field size or purse.

Recent winners:
2023: Tim Walker
2022: Jak Carter 
2021: Lachlan Aylen
2020: Elliot Beel
2019: Brayden Petersen
2018: Frazer Droop
2017: Frazer Droop
2016: Brody Martin
2015: Deyen Lawson
2014: Taylor Cooper

COACH OF THE YEAR: COL SWATTON

Seventeen years after guiding Jason Day towards a PGA Tour card, Col Swatton has overseen the breakthrough of another child prodigy in Karl Vilips who earned his ticket to the world’s premier circuit just four months after turning professional.

Swatton has worked with Vilips for the past four years while he attended Stanford University in California. His presence has helped Vilips to focus and use college golf as a platform to prepare for a professional career, says Brad James, Golf Australia’s director of high performance.

“Col’s had an amazing influence on Karl Vilips… Jason Day certainly had his challenges, but I think Karl Vilips has had his challenges tenfold,” James says.

“Most people would think a coach just works with them on their technical aspects, but a really good golf coach looks at the athlete holistically. That’s what Col has done really well – looked at Karl Vilips holistically and made sure that every aspect of his life is going in the right direction. And putting the right people around Karl to make sure he reaches his potential. A lot of the coaches won’t even think about that.

“He’s got balance both on and off the golf course. He’s got friends, he’s got people around him that care about him. Karl Vilips has got interests outside of golf. He doesn’t define himself by the results that he has on the golf course.”

Recent winners:
2023: Ritchie Smith
2022: Grant Field
2021: Dominic Azzopardi
2020: Ritchie Smith
2019: Ritchie Smith
2018: Gareth Jones
2017: Ritchie Smith
2016: Dean Kinney
2015: Cameron McCormick
2014: Ritchie Smith

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE YEAR: TOM TRISTRAM

Tom Tristram once considered a career with the Australian Defence Force or the Police when he left high school. However, a job at a local nursery led to landscaping work and subsequently into turf management where he is now superintendent at Secret Harbour Golf Links, south of Perth.

Tristram has implemented major changes in his four years at Secret Harbour. His efforts were acknowledged as the recipient of the 2024 Excellence in Golf Course Management Award from the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association.

Tristram has achieved outstanding results at Secret Harbour with a relatively modest budget ($810,000 per year) and a small maintenance crew (six full-time staff) to manage 54 hectares of turf. The playing surfaces are aesthetically pleasing despite the climatic challenge of dry summers with heatwaves and strong winds.

Meanwhile Tristram dabbled in course design to address boundary safety issues. Secret Harbour is part of a residential community and up to 50 golf balls were landing in homes each week. He redesigned the par-5 third hole with an intricate bunker complex to minimise damage from wayward tee shots. He also constructed new tees on the 10th and 18th holes to change the shot shape and steer golfers away from the housing.

Recent winners:
2023: Craig Walker (Devonport)
2022: Lance Knox (Busselton)
2021: Craig Molloy (Cypress Lakes)
2020: Anthony Mills (The Lakes)
2019: Jon Carter (Wanneroo)
2018: Mark O’Sullivan (Roseville)
2017: Phil Soegaard (Lakelands)
2016: Mick McCombe (Maleny)
2015: Simon Bourne (Cottesloe)
2014: Shaun Cross (Byron Bay)

SERVICES TO GOLF: JARED KENDLER

When Jared Kendler became a member of Sydney’s Moore Park Golf in April 2021, little did he know he would become the driving force behind the club’s campaign to retain its 18-hole course.

In October 2023, the Chris Minns NSW Labor Government announced plans to reduce Moore Park to a nine-hole layout to give inner-city residents more recreational space. That decision appeased agitators such as Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore who had long argued for more open space at the expense of the golf course. This in spite of the fact that local residents already had more than 300 hectares of open public space within two kilometres of the Moore Park course.

When mainstream media arrived at Moore Park to interview club members for their reaction, Kendler put himself in front of the cameras and launched a passionate defence of the public course that hosts more than 100,000 rounds per year.

Since then Kendler has been the driving force behind the Save Moore Park Golf campaign. He began making videos on Twitter, asking junior golfers what it would mean to them if the course was reduced to nine holes.

The 3-handicapper handed out ‘flyers’ at Royal Queensland during the 2023 Australian PGA Championship while wearing a T-shirt with a QR code to attract support for a petition to “Save Moore Park Golf”. He did the same the next week at the Australian Open in Sydney.

In November 2023, Kendler joined the Moore Park board and started pulling together a diverse group of club members to lead the campaign to save its 18 holes. He also reached out to golf-course architects Mike Clayton and Harley Kruse, the latter of whom was instrumental in a plan to redesign Moore Park and add non-golf recreational facilities.

“As Sydney grows, how do we get people affordable access to the right kinds of recreational facilities to meet their needs – such that they can have healthier lives and better wellbeing outcomes?” Kendler asks.

Now running an import/distribution business, Kendler drew upon his skillset in the banking industry and later as a treasury bureaucrat in the Berejiklian NSW Liberal Government where he was responsible for driving the state’s “place-based economic development” – focusing on how government can deliver thriving places, services and jobs for the people of NSW.

The difference with the Moore Park campaign is that Kendler has devoted all his time in a voluntary capacity. “I couldn’t even add up the amount of hours I’ve put in to try and do all this,” he says. “I care a lot about saving the golf course for golf reasons, but ultimately I actually want to help the government make what is the best decision for the whole community.”

On the eve of this summer’s golf, the Moore Park Golf Collective – comprising Golf Australia, Golf NSW, the PGA of Australia and Moore Park Golf – announced an initiative to transform Moore Park South into a multi-purpose, recreational facility that would retain 18 holes with a reduced par-68 layout.

The proposal includes barbecue and picnic facilities, a dog park, BMX pump track, skate park, half courts and three kilometres of walking, running and cycling paths. It has also set aside area for Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub regeneration as well as a multi-level, 500-space carpark built into the surrounding landscape.

But will the proposal convince the Minns NSW Government to abandon its decision to reduce Moore Park to nine holes?

“I think it will be saved as an 18-hole golf course,” Kendler says. “Because there’s a great plan out there that shows you can keep a reduced 18-hole golf course that maintains the capacity for golf while it also opening up the course and adding all these additional things that will make it a world-leading recreational facility. It should become the template for these kind of courses in metro areas around the world.

“Golf’s in this really interesting position where it has never been more popular… At the same time, public golf courses have never been more under threat in metro areas.”

The 39-year-old is keen to share his experiences, helping golf clubs learn how they should engage with government and explain how their land asset can be better utilised by the wider community. 

Recent winners:
2023: Greg Norman
2022: Sandy Jamieson
2021: David Greenhill
2020: Karrie Webb
2019: Peter McMaugh
2018: Jarrod Lyle
2017: David Cherry AM
2016: Duncan Andrews
2015: John Hopkins
2014: Warren Sevil