“WE WILL SHOWCASE THE MELBOURNE SANDBELT, SOMETHING WE HAVEN’T REALLY DONE FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS.”

First things first. When my fellow Golf Australia columnist, Mike Clayton, mentioned to me that we should try to set up what has since become the “Sandbelt Invitational,” we were both aware that this was not a new idea. Many times over the years people have talked hypothetically about how great it would be to have a 72-hole event played on four of Melbourne’s world-famous courses.

Which is not to say that Mike was not the catalyst this time round. He was the one who made the initial calls to Royal Melbourne, Yarra Yarra, Kingston Heath and Peninsula Kingswood. He was the instigator. So, he deserves a lot of any credit going for that, as do the clubs for