The category two Cyclone Alfred put paid to the hotly anticipated Australian WPGA Championship last week, which was to have been played at the renovated Palms course at the Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club.

The weather event’s enormous size and glacially slow pace to hit land resulted in the south- east Queensland and northern NSW regions being inundated with heavy rain and winds which gusted up to 140km/h hour over several days from Thursday onwards.

As the national emergency was playing out, players from the Ladies European Tour (LET) and around Australia who had descended on the Gold Coast for the tournament were left wondering about their next steps, until WPGA and PGA of Australia members stepped in to house players to the south of the cyclone’s reach.

Social media has revealed many players being hosted at golf courses near hastily arranged accommodations on the NSW Central Coast, in Sydney and even down in Wollongong, where the likes of Kelsey Bennett and Sarah Kemp were able to get in some early preparation at the following week’s NSW Open venue. 

The cancellation of the WPGA Championship is, of course, a disappointment for all concerned, but in the dire circumstances absolutely the correct decision. For the handful of locals who were to have played, Alfred created more than just concern for their homes, communities and families; it robbed them of a rare opportunity to play in an event of this stature at home in front of their loved ones.

Included in those numbers was to have been 28-year-old Royal Pines member O’Brien who, like everyone else, is waiting with bated breath to see if the ongoing ravages of the cyclone will allow the now 54-hole Australian Women’s Classic at the Coffs Harbour Golf Club to proceed this week.

Many will remember O’Brien thrusting her name firmly into the spotlight when she qualified for the 2021 Queensland Open, shooting a five-under 67 off the same tees as the men to snag one of the few qualifying places on offer. The significance of that achievement was not lost on O’Brien and the injection of self-belief she took from that performance has been a contributor to her growth as a professional.   

Having ticked her first WPGA win off the list at the 2023 Wagga Wagga Pro-Am, O’Brien will tee it up at Coffs Harbour with a growing reputation as one of the WPGA Tour’s most consistent players. O’Brien logged six Top-10s across several events dating back to November last year and was only a decent final round away from adding to her win total in Narrabri and Dubbo.  

However, it’s been these co-sanctioned events with the LET which have been in her sights for some months, knowing that performing well at home alongside some of Europe’s best will be not only a great experience, but also laden with significant opportunities. 

“Being co-sanctioned with the LET, it’s pretty incredible to have opportunities like this at home.” O’Brien said “The WPGA Championship and the next two events had been the ones I’ve definitely been getting ready for.”

“I had a really good start to the year and have been a little up and down since. During the down times, I’d just been telling myself that I’m trying to prepare for Sanctuary Cove [WPGA Championship], Coffs Harbour [Australian Women’s Classic] and Wollongong [NSW Open]. Those are my ‘majors’ I guess, in Australia.”

“I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work and hopefully it pays off and I get a good result along the way. I’m not putting pressure on myself, but it’s good to embrace the opportunity of having these events in Australia without having to travel too much.”

“I’d had the opportunity to reset at home over the last few weeks prior to the cyclone hitting and had been able to do some really good work with my coach, Ali Orchard, at Royal Pines. We’ve just kept telling ourselves, ‘You never know what can happen’ and just keep working.”

And although thoughts of how things are going at home will not be far from her mind, playing well and being part of putting on a show for the people of Coffs Harbour – who also had the tournament impacted by weather last year - will be a driving motivation for O’Brien.  

“It’s always good fun competing against the LET girls. They’re really good players and obviously, they’re the best on their Tour. To be able to compete against them is awesome.”

AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S CLASSIC

Venue: Coffs Harbour Golf Club
Dates: 13-16 March 2025.
Prize Purse: $500,000

Tickets: Tickets for the 2025 Australian Women's Classic are available online at the tournament website https://auswomensclassic.com.au/

The Australian Women's Classic is proudly supported by the NSW Government's tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.