Golf professional David Diaz and general manager Darrin Ramshaw launched the Sanctuary Lakes Pro Am last week. 88228_02 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By LIAM TWOMEY
GOLF lovers from the western suburbs have an important date to mark on their calendars.
Last week the Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club made the exciting announcement that it would be hosting the inaugural Sanctuary Lakes Pro Am on Monday 19 November.
The event will be held the day after the Australian Masters and club general manager Darrin Ramshaw said he was hoping a number of professionals who had played in the Masters would make Sanctuary Lakes the next stop on their tour.
“We will try and attract the best possible field we can,” he said.
“At the end of the day it will be up to each professional as to which events they enter but some will have played in the Australian Masters the week before.
“Obviously it is the first year Sanctuary Lakes has held it and it is a great chance to introduce the course to the wider public. We think the exposure from the event will be great for the club.”
The Pro Am will also provide a rare opportunity for golfers to be able to play a round with a professional.
Ramshaw encouraged any local golfers interested in participating to log on to the Sanctuary Lakes website (http://www.sanctuarylakes.com.au) to register or find out more details.
“For people wanting to enter the event it is a great opportunity to be able to spend four or five hours with a professional and watch them go about constructing a round and shoot 70-odd compared to most amateurs shooting 90 or 100,” he said.
“There are plenty of spots for the public so we will try and give everyone who wants to a chance to play.”
The latest tournament continues Sanctuary Lakes’ commitment to golf both at senior and junior levels throughout the western suburbs.
The club also runs the Sanctuary Lakes Foundation which is designed to assistant young athletes through sponsorship and support to ensure they get the best out of themselves.
A former beneficiary of the foundation, Stacey Keating, broke through for her biggest tournament win earlier this year when she claimed the French Open title on the Women’s European Tour.
She is also still a member at Sanctuary Lakes.
“We have had a junior program here for quite a long time and Stacey was part of that. We have also just had the Junior Masters last week,” Ramshaw said.
“We had a good turnout. Once again it was the first time Sanctuary Lakes has held the event and we had a field of about 80 in the end which I think is pretty promising.”
Ramshaw joined Sanctuary Lakes a little over a month ago and said he was looking forward to further improving the club, which is already ranked inside Australia’s top 60 golf courses.
“It is a great facility out here. The first impressions of the club and the course are that it is exceptional. That will allow us the opportunity to host these types of events,” he said.
“In addition to the golf course we obviously have the off-course facilities, the practice facilities that surrounded that. There is on-course accommodation. We really have it all.”
