The Yamba community will soon be rubbing shoulders with some of the state's best golfers thanks to The Nationals in government securing a partnership bringing the Women's NSW Open Championship to the Yamba Golf and Country Club.
The Nationals, through Destination NSW and the Department of Regional NSW, have partnered with Golf NSW to secure a bumper program of men's and women's professional tournaments and qualifying events from 2024-2026.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said the program of events would allow some of Australia's leading golfers to compete at the best courses across regional NSW.
"These events will inject more money into our regional hotels, restaurants and small businesses and put more regional courses like the Yamba Golf and Country Club on the 'must visit' list of passionate golfers," Mr Toole said.
"We expect that these 51 strategically placed golf events over three years will attract more than 16,000 visitors to the host regions, injecting an estimated $13.58 million into the regional NSW visitor economy,"
Clarence Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis said he was delighted Yamba had been chosen to host this prestigious event.
"The Yamba Golf and Country Club do a terrific job in maintaining the course to a very high standard and I know they are very excited to be hosting the women's open championships," Mr Gulaptis said.
"This will be a real economic boost for Yamba and the wider community as well as being a sporting spectacular."
Mr Gulaptis said this series of golf events highlights the commitment to building and securing a diverse events program across NSW with beneficiaries in the Clarence.
"The NSW Nationals have demonstrated a commitment to regional NSW through this partnership with Golf NSW by creating a pipeline of events that will provide a welcome boost to our local visitor economy," Mr Gulaptis said.
Golf NSW CEO Stuart Fraser thanked the NSW Government for its support.
"Golf is as popular as ever and so the variety of tournaments we can deliver for our players is growing thanks to the support of our partners, in particular the NSW Government," Mr Fraser said.
"It is an exciting era for us to enter this three-year partnership and to plan our events schedule knowing that we will be supporting regional NSW and giving back to local communities."
The Golf NSW major event calendar from 2024-2026 will include:
· Men's NSW Open Championship (annual)
· Men's NSW Open Regional qualifying events (x 6 annually)
· Men's NSW Senior Open Championship (annual)
· Women's NSW Open Championship (annual)
· Women's NSW Open Regional qualifying events (x 6 annually)
· Australian Women's Classic (annual)
· World Sand Greens Championship - Men & Women (annual)
