The 2023 Sandbelt Invitational hosted by Geoff Ogilvy will once again feature a mix of professional and amateur players allowing younger players to learn from the more experienced, with this year’s amateurs headlined by Jasper Stubbs and Phoenix Campbell.
In keeping with the Geoff Ogilvy Foundation’s mantra, the tournament was created to offer playing and learning opportunities, with Stubbs and Campbell also joined by defending men’s and women’s amateurs Connor McDade and Amelia Harris.
The Sandbelt Invitational, which begins December 11 at Victoria Golf Club, will see Stubbs revisit the site of his recent Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship triumph that secured him a spot at the 2024 Masters Tournament and Open Championship, with the fourth round to be contested at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club’s East Course.
Victorious in a play-off over Wenyi Ding and Sampson Zheng of China, Stubbs will be looking to wrestle the men’s amateur title from AAC teammate McDade, while Campbell will no doubt be keen for more success after his own victory at the QLD PGA on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
“The quality of amateur golfers around Australia at the moment is outstanding, with Jasper, Phoenix and Connor just some of the immensely talented players I have seen,” Ogilvy said.
“Watching Jasper win at Royal Melbourne was very impressive and I am thrilled to see the next wave of Aussie players at the Sandbelt Invitational this year like we have during our The Game events.”
Also visiting Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club and Yarra Yarra Golf Club this year, the Sandbelt Invitational once again possesses an impressive women’s amateur field looking to join Harris and Jeneath Wong on the honour roll. This year Harris, who provided a perfect example of one of the key benefits of the tournament in its inaugural year when sitting with Peter Fowler post round and discussing the game, will be joined by the current South Australian Women’s Amateur champion and 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur contestant Justice Bosio.
Bosio’s fellow Australian representatives Caitlin Peirce and Jazy Roberts also teeing it up alongside the current Australian Junior Girls title holder Ann Jang of Sydney. “The Sandbelt Tournament is about so much more than the competitive element of trying to shoot the lowest score. Every player will be hoping to claim their respective category, but they will hopefully walk away with so much more after the week,” Tournament Director Mike Clayton said.
“To see some of the amateurs return after the first year as better players and having taken what they learnt in 2021 to other events was extremely rewarding for everyone involved in the Sandbelt Invitational.”
Among those returning from previous years are former U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Lukas Michel, 2021 men’s amateur champion Jye Pickin and Connor Fewkes, while Quinn Croker, who already has a number of top-10s on Tour to his name, is among the first timers who will tee it up with defending overall champion Cam Davis.
Free tickets for the 2023 Sandbelt Invitational are available now via www.sandbeltinvitational.com with the tournament made possible again this year through the support of Visit Victoria.