The upcoming Australian Master of the Amateurs tournament in Melbourne is ripe with opportunities for every player in the two talent-rich fields

If the object of the exercise in staging a significant amateur tournament is to provide the next champions with avenues to further their games, consider the Australian Master of the Amateurs (AMOTA) a raging success.

When the AMOTA returns to Melbourne’s Southern Golf Club from January 3-6, the 28th staging of men’s – and eighth year of the women’s – event will offer the winning pair more exemptions into sought-after tournaments than ever before. The male winner will receive a place in the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Heritage Classic and New South Wales Open, while the female champion will tee it up in the Ladies European Tour-co-sanctioned Australian WPGA Championship and Australian Women’s Classic.

Both fields will include 84 players, with prospective entrants given multiple ways to gain a start. All current state junior champions are exempt, while there will once again be a strong presence from American college golfers, which has the happy side effect of opening potential future pathways for players who catch the eye of the college coaches accompanying their squads. In all, 23 countries will be represented across both fields, one more nation than last time.

Yet in a nod to the lopsided nature of the World Amateur Golf Ranking – the points weighting for which does few favours for Australians – the AMOTA staged a qualifying event in mid-November. Such a pathway is useful for those players who don’t or can’t play in enough high-point world amateur events. Additionally, those who miss out at the qualifier will have priority on the reserve list.

Adding such perks and entryways is part of the event’s ongoing bid to be viewed as the premier amateur tournament in Australia.

“We are delighted to be working with the PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman and the WPGA Tour of Australasia chief executive Karen Lunn to create pathways for elite amateur golfers on the cusp of turning professional,” said Peter and Angela Mann, the tournament founders and directors.

Two bumper fields

Reigning champion Rianne Malixi, whose victory at Southern a year ago began a banner year, is coming back to defend. The 17-year-old star from the Philippines became just the second golfer to capture the US Girls’ Junior and US Women’s Amateur in the same year.

Joining Malixi in the women’s field is Savannah De Bock, Belgium’s No.1-ranked player and a golfer armed with an imposing plus-7 handicap at club level, as well as South Korea’s fifth-ranked amateur, Hyojin Yang, and Koh Kurabayashi and Reina Todaka from Japan.

On the men’s side, Billy Dowling, Spencer Harrison, Queensland Junior champion Chase Oberle and former AMOTA winner Lukas Michel are confirmed starters, as is Ian Gilligan, the American who beat a rare blood disease as a teen and has already played in two PGA Tour events. His dream is to win a green jacket, which just happens to be the trophy for AMOTA champions.

Noted US college golf coach Rick LaRose is returning, bringing Gilligan and fellow exciting prospect Jase Summy to Melbourne with him, while further international flavour will come via Japan’s Kota Iwai.

Once again, Foxtel/Kayo and the Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) will provide coverage of the final two days of the 2025 tournament, while a live stream will also operate on the AMOTA website (the 2024 tournament drew 726,000 viewers in total). Meanwhile Southern Golf Club has confirmed its intentions
to stay on as host until at least 2028.

“We are delighted to have the ongoing support of Southern Golf Club’s board, staff and its members,” the Manns said. “The support given to this event by the members of Southern Golf Club as volunteers in a number of roles during the week of the tournament is outstanding, and the members positive comments about the championship history being created at the club, as these elite international and national players turn professional and are successful on their professional tours.” 

Visit masteroftheamateurs.com.au for the latest field updates and news about the 2025 Australian Master of the Amateurs.

Southern GC Image: Gary Lisbon