[PHOTO: Getty Images]

Splitting up the men and women from a mixed Australian Open after three years would not be easy nor a good move financially, Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland said today in Melbourne.

The 2024 Australian Open, a mixed event played at co-hosts Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Club, has spent the week under controversy related to scheduling, course set-up and a complicated TV broadcast that has drawn the ire of viewers venting on social media. The Australian men’s and women’s Opens have been played concurrently for equal (total) prizemoney of $1.7 million each since the 2022 edition.

Smith blasted a “soft and slow” setup of the two courses on Wednesday which he felt were not how layouts on the usually firm and fast Melbourne Sandbelt region were meant to be played. Separately, major winner Hannah Green advocated for the women’s Open to return to its February date to work better with the LPGA Tour schedule. She and three others flew from the LPGA finale in Florida and arrived in Melbourne Wednesday morning and had no practice round before the event.

There has been some speculation this week that 2024 is the final year of the dual-gender format, but that has not been confirmed.

Sutherland says Golf Australia is listening to concerns but returning to separate Opens couldn’t be done at the drop of a hat. Broadcasters, corporate sponsors and WPGA chief executive Karen Lunn prefer the mixed format. Golf Australia would need to fund two stand-alone events if they were to split them.

“It’s no secret that some of our leading men’s players don’t like the format, but they like the date. And on the flip side, some of our leading female players don’t like the date, but like the format,” Sutherland told reporters at Kingston Heath today. “And so the simple answer to that is to separate the two events at different times… but it’s not quite that easy.

“In the cold, hard light of day, we need to consider what we do in the best interest of Australian golf and make good decisions around that. There’s a whole lot of very, very important stakeholders that bring this event together and make it economically viable and financially sustainable, but also sustainable in terms of getting the outcomes we want that need to be consulted and work with along the way.”

Earlier on Sunday, 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, the highest-profile golfer in Australia, was asked about returning for next year’s Australian Open. While the former world No.2 sounded warm on returning to his homeland after the 2025 LIV Golf and majors season, Smith said it would depend on how parenthood is treating he and and wife Shanel. The couple are expecting their first child in late March and are based in the US.

In a whirlwind summer of golf, Smith played two state events, the Queensland PGA and the NSW Open on the Murray River, before teeing it up in the Australian PGA in Brisbane. Smith finished in the top three at all three tournaments before a disappointing back nine during the second round in Melbourne derailed his quest for a maiden Open crown.

Three-time Australian PGA winner Smith said he hoped to return in 2025 for at least two tournaments but it wasn’t a certainty.

“I would love to, I think I’ve got to take that as it comes as everyone knows now we’re expecting,” Smith said today. “I think that’s going to have a big thing to do with it, which was really part of the reason why I wanted to do it this year. “But we finish again in the middle of August, so there’s no reason that I can’t play at least one or two more again – I’ve loved doing it. So whether it’s the same two or a different two, I don’t really know.”

In the meantime, Sutherland said organisers would explore all options including a suitable 36-hole venue were the could separate the men and women on two different courses but on the same property. Two of Australia’s best 36-hole facilities are located on the Sandbelt – Royal Melbourne’s East and West layouts and Peninsula Kingswood’s North and South courses.

“We don’t operate in a vacuum,” Sutherland said. “The 36-hole venue could suit this event as in its current format better than, than two courses. But I guess when you’re playing at courses like Kingston Heath and Victoria, there’s very, very few players complaining about that.”