In 2019, household names of Australian golf – including Peter Lonard, Peter O’Malley, Peter Fowler, Michael Harwood and Michael Long – will arrive in Perth to play the newly-created WA swing of the Ladbrokes Legends Tour, vying for a portion of the $85,000 on offer across four events.

It has been many years since the over-50s professionals have been to WA to compete and based on the number of players travelling west, everyone is excited to be back.

“I’m excited to get back to WA especially with the family. It’s been years since I played the WA pro-am circuit”, said former PGA Tour winner Peter Lonard.

“I’m looking forward to getting started with the three Legends events, then can’t wait to get back to some of the events that are still on the main pro-am calendar, like the Southwest Open and Spalding Park Open,” Lonard said.

Following on from the Ladbrokes Legends Tour events will be the lucrative Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series, where players will compete for a total of $295,000.

Amateurs across Western Australia will once again have the opportunity to watch and rub shoulders with some of Australia’s in-form professionals including Simon Hawkes, Matthew Millar as well as local favourites Jarryd Felton, Daniel Fox and rookie professional Cooper Geddes.

The WA Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series will tee off at the John Hewett West Coast Wines Pro-Am at Hartfield Country Club, before moving around some of the region’s best golf courses north and south and drawing to conclusion at the Broome Open at the end of June.

RIGHT: Peter Lonard says he is excited to get back to Western Australia. PHOTO: Michael Dodge/Getty Images.

The TSA Sanwell Cottesloe Open will be the first two-day event held from May 18-19 with a prize purse of $40,000 and a very impressive field, with former PGA Tour stars Nick O’Hern and Peter Lonard teeing it up this year.

Following the Cottesloe Open, the swing stays in Perth for the WA HINO Pro-Am at the Western Australian GC, followed by The Metal West Lakelands Pro Am, the Kwinana Pro Am and the Gosnells Golf Club Pro-Am.

Players will then head south with the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series playing The Brittish Sausage Ham & Bacon Co Busselton Pro-Am, Jetline Capel Pro-Am, Urban Quarter Dunsborough Lakes Pro-Am and the always-popular Southwest Open hosted by Bunbury Golf Club.

The series then moves north for the Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Open, once again boasting prize money of $40,000.

CITIC Pacific Mining Pro-Am Karratha returns to the schedule, welcoming players to the warmest events on the swing including the Roy Hill Port Hedland Classic, WS6 Broome and the Broome Furnishings, Carpet, Paint and Tile Open.

WA State Manager of the PGA of Australia, Kim Felton said: “Amazing support continues to come from the WA Clubs providing a fantastic schedule for our PGA Professionals to hone their skills whilst in between Tour events. The WA swing is always a favourite stop on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series for the players – and with a shorter, more compact swing this year, $300,000 in prize money, you can see by the oversubscribed events that the players can’t wait to get back. This series will not disappoint.

“Pro-Ams are an important part of player development for our professionals as they look to build skills and earn further opportunities to compete on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and progress to other international Tours.”