Perth will be home to Australia’s richest golf tournament from October next year, when the inaugural Perth International Golf Championship is played at Lake Karrinyup Country Club from 18-21 October, 2012.
The tournament will be co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European Tour.
Announcing the US$2 million Perth International Golf Championship at the Eventscorp 2012 Calendar launch, Western Australian Tourism Minister Dr Kim Hames said the tournament would attract some of the world’s best golfers:
“Perth has a strong history of hosting successful international golf events, notably the Heineken Classic, Johnnie Walker Classic and the Lexus Cup, and this tournament will well and truly put the city back on the golfing map,” Dr Hames said.
“The Perth International is a joint initiative of Eventscorp and International Management Group (IMG) to bring another major international golf event to Perth.
“IMG will be the owner and promoter of the tournament, which will be sanctioned by the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. The European Tour is currently experiencing unprecedented success and boasts the top four ranked golf players in world.
“We have a three-year agreement for this tournament with options to continue, and our goal is to develop the Perth International into a feature event in the Asia Pacific region that is anchored in Perth,” the Minister said.
“The PGA Tour of Australasia is delighted to add the Perth International Golf Championship to its 2012 schedule and look forward to welcoming the European Tour and its players back to Australia,” said Brian Thorburn, CEO of the PGA Tour of Australasia.
“Perth has a proud history of staging world class golf tournaments and, following on from one of Australia’s most successful golf seasons ever, we look forward to working with the State Government and indeed all parties to grow this prestigious tournament over the next three years.”
Keith Waters, Chief Operating Officer and Director of International Policy for The European Tour, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Perth International Golf Championship onto our 2012 International Schedule. Returning to Australia, and the city of Perth in particular, will further enhance the global nature of The European Tour. We would like to thank the Western Australian Government for their valuable support and look forward to working with our partners at the PGA Tour of Australasia, Eventscorp and IMG to ensure a successful return to Australia for our Members. The Perth International Golf Championship, at the outstanding
Lake Karrinyup Country Club, will be played in a key date towards the end of our 2012 Schedule, the remainder of which will be released in the coming weeks.”
The Perth International Golf Championship will be broadcast to 350 million homes in over 65 countries