Australian PGA Championship

At the annual meeting of the Australian Golf Union, held during the 1928 championship meeting, it was decided to hold a professional championship, starting at Royal Adelaide in 1929, to add to the Australian Open Championship and the Australian Amateur Championship, which were already held during the meeting. Professional competitions had been held at the championship meeting since 1904 but had never been given the title of "championship". Winners of the Sun-Herald Tournament, held from 1924 to 1926, and which had a similar format to the new championship, had been reported as being the "professional championship of Australia" and the winners called the "professional champion of Australia", although these were not necessarily official titles. Joe Kirkwood, Sr., during a visit to Australia in late 1928, donated a trophy for the new championship. The Australian Professional Championship followed the format of the amateur event, with the leading 16 professionals in the Open championship qualifying for the match play event. All matches were over 36 holes, the first three rounds played from Monday to Wednesday with the final was played on the Saturday, three days after the semifinals. There was tie for 16th place which was resolved by the first round scores in a professional "purse" at Kooyonga, played on the Saturday between the end of the open on Friday and the start of the professional championship on Monday. Rufus Stewart beat Ernie Bissett 8&7 in the final. The same format was used throughout the 1930s, the only variation being the day of the final. From 1930 to 1932 and in 1938 and 1939 the four rounds were played from Monday to Thursday, while from 1933 to 1937 the final was delayed until Friday to avoid clashing with the amateur final which was played on the Thursday. Rufus Stewart reached the final again 1930 but lost a close match to Jock Robertson. The championship was played at Manly from 11 to 14 December. The New South Wales qualifying event was a 36-hole stroke-play event played immediately before the championship, at Manly on 9 December. The final was between two of the New South Wales players, with Norman Von Nida beating Eric Cremin by one hole. Norman Von Nida won the championship, his fourth in six years. Bill Holder beat Eric Cremin in the final. Ossie Pickworth won his second championship, beating Peter Thomson in a close final. In 1962, a 36-hole qualifying event was introduced, replacing qualification via the Open. As in 1961, there were two rounds on the first day of match-play, with 36-hole semi-finals and final on the following two days. The final was one-sided, with Bill Dunk beating Eric Cremin 8&7. Cremin was playing in his seventh final since World War II, but lost them all. Col Johnston beat the American Ron Howell in the final, which was played on a Sunday for the first time. Col Johnston won for the second year in succession, a stroke ahead of Bruce Devlin. Cameron Smith won by three strokes, his third win in the event. Min Woo Lee won the event in 2023. ==Venues==

The following venues have been used since the founding of the Australian Professional Championship in 1929. ==Winners==

Earlier competitions Between the foundation of the Australian Open in 1904 and the creation of the Australian Professional Championship in 1929, the leading professionals attended the annual Australian Golf Union championship meeting and a number of professional competitions were organised at this time. Each year there was a professional competition organised by the club hosting the championship meeting and, in addition, other nearby clubs organised professional events. From 1904 to 1907 a two-day professional event was organised by the host club. The first Australian Open finished on Saturday 3 September 1904, and the leading eight professionals in it played a knock-out competition on the following Monday and Tuesday. The first two rounds were played on the Monday, followed by a 36-hole final. Carnegie Clark beat Alex McLaren 5&4 in the final. Dan Soutar beat Gilbert Martin in the final. Carnegie Clark repeated his success of 1904. From 1920 to 1928, a two-day competition was arranged for the professionals after the Open. A 36-hole stroke-play qualifying stage was held on the Monday with the leading four playing match-play on the Tuesday. In 1928 the event was held a day later, on the Tuesday and Wednesday. The 1920 and 1921 events were handicapped. In 1920, Joe Kirkwood Sr., the open champion, was handicapped at plus-6 and failed to qualify. Walter Clark, receiving 3 strokes, beat Dan Soutar 2&1 in the final. ==Notes==