Founded by former Tour pro turned commentator Ewan Porter, the circuit has made it around Australia and New Zealand as it continues to grow. The final at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open co-host the 20th of the season and a World Amateur Golf Ranking event with 12 professional tournament exemptions on offer.

The leading players from the season have converged on the Melbourne Sandbelt for the event, which will also see four adidas and two TaylorMade scholarships handed out following the 54-holes of strokeplay and Super 6s match play portion. The overall winner also collecting a cheque for $1,000 and a seven-night stay at Hotel Melia Bali.

Boys points leader Jeffrey Guan has made a mad dash from the United States after claiming the Junior Players Championship in record setting fashion last week, before he returns to America to take part in the Junior Presidents Cup.

Meanwhile, sitting in second on the Girls points list, Kiwi Tara Raj has made the trip to Australia. Both players’ journeys highlighting the stature of the Tour that is only in its infancy after Porter initially created one event to honour his late father, Norm.

RIGHT: Boys Points leader Jeffrey Guan collects yet another adidas Junior 6s Tour prize from Ewan Porter. PHOTO: Supplied.

"At the end of the day all I want to do is do something that my Dad would be proud of and create opportunities for the kids,” Porter told Golf Australia magazine of the concept back in 2020.

Porter himself will be making a big trip home from his honeymoon in Europe and can’t wait for the event to get started.

“It is so exciting to finally get to this point and play the World Final,” he said. “After COVID disruptions to the schedule in 2020 and 2021 it is a real achievement to be at this point and get to watch some of the region’s brightest talents compete on one of the best courses in Australia.

“A big thank you is required to adidas, the PGA and WPGA Tours of Australasia, the Ladies European Tour, Golf NSW, Back 2 Basics, Cool Clubs, Golf Genius and TaylorMade for their continued support of the Junior 6s Tour.”

COURSE: Ranked No.5 in the country according to this publication’s Top-100 Courses Ranking for 2022, Kingston Heath welcomes the Junior 6s Tour and a collection of players who will hope to follow in the footsteps of the big names to tread its fairways over the years.

Offering something of a dry run before the early rounds of the Australian Open are played across its layout and nearby Victoria Golf Club, Kingston Heath will present immaculate and interesting putting surfaces, while the bunkering of the Heatherton layout is world famous.

Originally designed by Dan Soutar in 1925 after the club moved from what is now Elsternwick Park, ‘The Heath’ has been touched to varying degrees by architects Dr Alister MacKenzie, Graeme Grant, Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Clayton, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead over the journey.

New Zealand's Tara Raj, described by Porter has "putts the dots of it" has made the trip for the World Final. PHOTO: Supplied.

A typical Sandbelt examination of golf, the course meanders through native vegetation and uses subtle undulations and its bunkering to place a premium on strategy rather than out and out power. Although almost every hole is worthy of mention, it is the closing stretch where the Juniors will need to be at their best.

The par-5 14th allows for scoring opportunities if navigated smartly, before the iconic par-3 15th takes centre stage. Three long par-4s then close the round and return players the classic clubhouse.

“A routing that twists and weaves yet never feels cramped, Kingston Heath doesn’t bludgeon you but gently and subtlety lets you know that it’s a very good course,” Top-100 Rankings judge Brian Walshe says. “From the likes of the brilliant short par-3 10th to the sweeping downhill par-4 16th, it doesn’t try to overwhelm you but instead keeps asking questions for the golfer to answer.”

FORMAT: The competitors will play 54 holes of strokeplay, with the boys and girls winners receiving two of the Tour exemptions on offer. The top two boys then play a six hole match play format, as do the leading two girls, for a spot in the Super 6s Final and another exemption to their credit. The winning boy and girl will then face off for the final professional tournament start and the prizes on offer.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Having led the Boys points race for much of the season, Jeffrey Guan enters this week as the player to beat.

The New South Welshman who now plays his golf at The Australian after starting the game at Bexley is in a rare vein of form after some very successful trips to America mixed in among regular wins on this Tour and his defence of the Australian Junior Boys title.

Guan’s win at TPC Sawgrass was his second in America after claiming the UNIQLO/Adam Scott Junior Championship in February. The 18-year-old also a quarterfinalist at the recent U.S. Junior Amateur.

Queenslander Harry Takis is one of the players to watch this week in Melbourne. PHOTO: Supplied.

Guan is on track for a career as a touring professional and the wealth of tournament starts on offer here would be a strong motivator to once again take out one of Porter’s events.

Sitting behind the Sydneysider on the points list is Harry Takis who hails from Virginia Golf Club in Queensland.

A winner in his last WAGR event, the men’s Pacific Harbour Amateur last month, Takis also has good form on his side.

The Queenslander has been a consistent performer all year in big events, and took out a win in Singapore in the middle of the year.

Grace Lee is on top of the Girls points race after a year in which she has been a regular feature at the pointy end of Junior 6s Tour leaderboards.

RIGHT: Grace Lee leads the Girls Points race into the final event. PHOTO: Supplied.

At just 14 years of age, Lee took down Guan earlier this year at the circuit’s Concord event in the match play portion and has four strokeplay wins on the Tour.

Close on her heels, is Tara Raj who is seemingly close to a victory every time she makes an appearance at one of Porter’s events.

The New Zealander’s performance at a recent event at Cromer was described as an “Absolute stripe show” by Porter with her putting stroke the envy of many a golfer.

There are many others in the field worth keeping an eye on not only this week but for the future, with 16-year-old Kai Komulainen among them.

The Instagram account of the Queenslander shows he collects trophies for fun, while he spent time at the home of The Open winner Cam Smith earlier this year. Playing and practicing with the World No.2 surely a boost in his run to the end of the year.

Also of note is Jeneath Wong. The World No.76 has missed the top-10 of WAGR counting events only twice this year, both occasions in professional tournaments where she still impressively showed her wares.

A five-time WAGR event winner this year, Wong plays her golf in Victoria and has experience tournament golf at Kingston Heath during her start at the Sandbelt Invitational in 2021.

Set to head to America and play college golf at Pepperdine, Wong is without doubt one of the favourites next week.