Melbourne, Australia: In a first for the Australian Amateur and Australian Junior, 2022 will see players competing for prize money.

This move takes advantage of changes to the Rules of Amateur Status that were announced recently by golf’s governing bodies, The R&A and USGA.

The male and female champions for both events will each receive A$1,350, which is a bonus to their current exemption into the men’s and women’s Australian Opens.

Runners-up will receive A$1,000 and third place getters A$750. For the Australian Amateur, positions down to eighth place will receive prize money, and for the Australian Junior prize money will be paid to those in the top five.

The prize money component will ensure the events have even greater alignment with professional tournaments and will enable players the experience of playing under increased pressure.

Brad James, Golf Australia’s General Manager of High Performance, said: “For players to experience the real pressure of needing to sink that six-foot putt which may make a difference of A$350, will be a further boost for their on-going development.

“We want our events to demonstrate a strong flavour of what players will experience when they make the move into professional golf, and this is a great step in that direction.”

Kirsten Rudgeley, the reigning English Women’s Amateur champion and Australia’s highest ranked amateur golfer and Order of Merit winner, said: “I’m excited for this year’s Australian Amateur to replicate some of the pressures professional golfers face each week.

“Dealing with the added pressure that comes from needing to make a birdie or make a par at the last to secure the prize money is an important step in my development.”

The new Rule to allow prize money in amateur golf competitions comes with the following restrictions:

• Prize money may only be awarded to amateurs in ‘scratch competitions’. (For the purposes of the Rules of Amateur Status, a scratch competition is a competition that does not have a net score element in any part of the competition and handicaps must not be used to separate players into different scratch categories. Any competition that is not a scratch competition is considered by the Rules of Amateur Status to be a handicap competition. Note: In a scratch competition, handicaps may be used to limit who is eligible to enter, such as allowing entry only to players with a GA Handicap of 5.0 or better.)
• A$1,350 is the limit for the total value of prizes accepted by an individual in a single competition (or in multiple competitions being conducted at the same time, eg. long-drive, nearest-the-pin, team event).

The Australian Amateur will be played at Cranbourne Golf Club in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs from March 29-April 1.