Aussie Of The Month: ‘Koala’ Karl

All hail Australia’s newest star on the PGA Tour, Karl Vilips. Fans acutely dialled into Australian golf might have known his name for years, given his rise has been documented on social media, where he is known as “Koala Karl”. Vilips climbed through the junior ranks in Perth before moving to the US as a teenager, where he attended high school in Florida. He then played college golf at the elite Stanford University in California. While at Stanford, he qualified for the 2023 US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

If you hadn’t already heard of Vilips, well, he’s about to become a household name in Australian golf. He’s got a PGA Tour card for 2025 and he’s only 23.

Vilips was all but assured a PGA Tour card several months ago, but it recently became official. He arrived at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship ranked 18th on the secondary circuit’s points standings, with the top 30 at the end of the season finale earning promotions to the PGA Tour. Vilips bounced back from an opening round of 75 with scores of 70, 71, 70. He finished T-20 and was 19th on the final points list. Vilips’ results through his first four months as a pro were epic – he had earned an exemption on the PGA Tour Americas through his high standing in the PGA Tour University ranking. After two events on the South American tour, he began playing on the Korn Ferry circuit and recorded top-15 finishes in each of his first four events. He then strode to a breakthrough victory at the Utah Championship in August, which effectively secured his eventual card on the PGA Tour.

Golfers in the news

Porter also joins the ranks: Speaking of promotions to the big league, Cassie Porter secured one of 15 LPGA Tour cards up for grabs at the secondary Epson Tour season finale. Porter was 11th in the Race For The Card standings, and in the closing rounds she shot 66-69 to finish 17th at the event. That was enough to clinch the 10th LPGA Tour card. “I am actually really struggling to believe it,” Porter said. She will join a strong crop of Australian women on the LPGA Tour, highlighted by major winners Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, as well as Gabi Ruffels, Steph Kyriacou, Grace Kim and Hira Naveed.

Jack Newton champions: Raegan Denton and Josiah Edwards [left] took out the Jack Newton International Junior Classic in the girls and boys divisions, respectively. Denton, a 17-year-old from Royal Adelaide Golf Club, won with an 11-under-par total at Cypress Lakes Golf & Country Club. “This is definitely a high in my career; I had a new [personal best] at the start of the week,” Denton said. In the boys division, Edwards, also 17, from Perth’s Gosnells Golf Club, carded a scintillating 66 in the final round to win by two shots at nine-under.

Homecoming: Queenslander Jason Day will contest his first event in Australia since the 2017 Australian Open when he heads to Royal Queensland Golf Club for the BMW Australian PGA Championship, from November 21-24. The major winner’s presence will be a boost for an event already growing in stature thanks to a welcoming Brisbane crowd, quality golf course and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith making it his home PGA Tour of Australasia event in the city he grew up in.

C’mon Aussies: All seven members of the Australian contingent made the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan. The Aussie squad included Jasper Stubbs, who made dream major debuts at Augusta National and Royal Troon from his 2023 Asia-Pacific win, Quinnton Croker, Tony Chen, Billy Dowling, Phoenix Campbell, Lukas Michel and Connor Fewkes. China’s Wenyi Ding won the tournament.

Birdie of the month: MyGolf and AGF Girls Scholarship

Recently, MyGolf and the AGF Girls Scholarship held a three-day golf camp for juniors in the Northern Territory. The event included a MyGolf Camp and an AGF Girls Scholarship Alumni camp, with 59 participants attending for the first two days. These golfers travelled long distances to get to Darwin Golf Club, including from Gove, Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin and across the Top End. Incredible work from all involved.

Bogey of the month: Mike Weir

For the second month in a row, we’re giving the Canadian golf legend, and recent International Presidents Cup team captain, a flared tee shot, out-of-bounds and into the carpark bogey of the month. Why? Mike Weir benched Australians Jason Day and Min Woo Lee for the entire Saturday (two sessions) at Royal Montreal. Seriously? Just when the Internationals roared back from a 5-0 drubbing in the first session with a 5-0 session win of their own on day two. They were gaining momentum.

Day is a 13-time PGA Tour winner and matchplay specialist. He also won a point in foursomes with Christiaan Bezuidenhout the day prior. Lee boasts firepower off the tee and has one of the best short games on the PGA Tour. At age 26 and on debut, Lee should have been let loose and should have been used in all five sessions. This was a month after Weir decided not to choose Australian Cameron Davis – a winner on the PGA Tour this year – among his six captain’s picks. These types of sloppy captaincy decisions contributed to the Internationals getting thumped, 18½–11½. Any player eligible for the International team who wins a PGA Tour event in the calendar year of a Presidents Cup should automatically qualify for the team.

Triple bogey of the month: PGA Tour

In Stableford terms, the PGA Tour’s decision to take the 15th edition of the Presidents Cup to Quebec was a complete wipe. No points.

International team member Tom Kim publicly called out the lack of fans and noise on the first day after the Internationals took that 5-0 hammering in four-balls.

“I think it was a little too quiet today being on home soil,” Kim said.  “I don’t think the fans were really – I wish they would have helped us out a bit more, especially being in Canada.”

How often do you hear a player say that? This was the first “home game” for the International team since Royal Melbourne in 2019 – when tens of thousands of fans packed into the Sandbelt masterpiece every day to watch Tiger Woods squeeze the last bit of great golf out of himself as a playing captain for the US. 

From Melbourne to Montreal, what a waste of an overseas Presidents Cup. It’s a tournament that has infinite potential when executed properly – as we saw in 2019 – and as evidenced in Kim and Si Woo Kim’s hilarious, inspiring and entertaining antics on the course in Montreal. This event could be so much better.