Gill Takes on the Men at PGA Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series
Photo courtesy of Tristan Jones.
Women playing in men’s events isn’t an unheard of phenomenon with the likes of Hannah Green competing against the guys at the WA Open, and more recently Becky Kay qualifying her way into the 2018 Queensland Open.
Though what doesn’t happen often, is a female competitor teeing it up in consecutive events on the PGA of Australia’s Ladbrokes Pro-Am series. Breanna Gill, along with Adele Huggard, have spent the last two weeks travelling the northern NSW coast taking on the men in the Northern Rivers Swing of the PGA Ladbrokes Pro-Am series.
Gill found her form during the Northern Rivers Swing, boasting three top ten finishes from six starts.
“I was really happy with how I performed during the Northern Rivers swing of PGA events,” commented Gill. “I knew that in playing six events in succession that I would find my groove and hopefully contend for a victory.”
And contending is exactly what Gill did. In her very first event of the swing, Gill shot an impressive 68 (-4) and was only one shot behind co-winners Tim Hart and Christopher Wood at the McKimm Real Estate Grafton Pro-Am.
A desire to get out of her comfort zone and raise the level of her game to compete against the men was a contributing factor in wanting to be involved in the Ladbrokes Pro-Am series.
“Great players such as Tim Hart, Matt Millar and Brett Rankin have won over 20 pro-ams between the this year with low scores. I wanted to test myself and force myself to rise to that level.”
“Also, the 19/20 ALPG season is getting underway in Thailand in a few weeks time and I wanted the opportunity to sharpen my game up with seven guaranteed rounds and continue to work on some processes to improve my putting which has been a week area of my game.”
The opportunity for ALPG members to compete in the Ladbrokes Pro-Am series has grown in recent years, whereby the leading 60 players on the order of merit are able to apply for temporary membership of the PGA of Australia to gain access to these pro-ams. PGA officials have been undergoing research and testing of course set-ups to ensure a fair playing field for both male and female participants at each event.
The Trust Golf Thailand LPGA Masters at Panya Indra Golf Club in Bangkok, Thailand, will kick off the 2019/2020 ALPG season fom the 4-6 September, 2019. This event will count toward the 19/20 order of merit and money lists where ALPG members can earn starts into the LPGA co-sanctioned events held in February 2020.
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