Women's Australian Open

Tournament information
Location	Australia, varies Melbourne, Victoria in 2024
Established	1974, 50 years ago
Course(s)	Kingston Heath Golf Club Victoria Golf Club
Tour(s)	WPGA Tour of Australasia
Format	Stroke play - 72 holes
Prize fund	A$1,700,000
Month played	November/December
Tournament record score
Aggregate	270 Karrie Webb (2000)
To par	−22 Karrie Webb (2000)
Current champion
Jiyai Shin
Location map
Victoria GC Location in Australia Show map of Australia Victoria GC Location in Victoria Show map of Victoria

The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it is also co-sanctioned by the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. In 2008, it was the second-richest women's golf tournament on the ALPG Tour, with a prize fund of A$500,000, and was raised to A$600,000 in 2010. With the co-sanctioning by the LPGA, the total purse was nearly doubled, and was also fixed in U.S. dollars. The purse was US$1.1 million in 2012, and increased again to its current level of US$1.2 million for 2013. Since 2011, the tournament's name has been the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open.

The Australian Ladies Open was founded in 1974 as a 54-hole event, but folded after 1978. It was resurrected in 1994 as the Women's Australian Open, this time as a 72-hole event. Annika Sörenstam won that year, which was her first professional win. It was also Karrie Webb's professional debut, and she would later win the event five times. Starting in 2000, the Ladies European Tour began co-sanctioning the tournament.^[1] Following the 2004 event, sponsorship difficulties caused the tournament to stop once again, but after a two-year hiatus the tournament returned in 2007.^[2] The Women's Australian Open usually moves between various courses around Australia, except from 1995 through 2002 when it was held at the Yarra Yarra Golf Club in Melbourne. The 2008 event was held at Kingston Heath Golf Club.^[3]

For several years after its return in 1994, the Women's Australian Open was played early in the ALPG schedule, usually in November. Starting in 2000, it was changed to be played at the end of the schedule in February near the ANZ Ladies Masters, to allow both tournaments to be part of the Ladies European Tour. Since the Women's Australian Open was played from 12 to 15 November 1998 during the 1998/1999 ALPG season, it was therefore not played during the 1999 calendar year.^[1][4]

The 2012 tournament was played at the Composite Course at Royal Melbourne, the championship course comprising 12 holes from the West course and six from the East course. The Composite Course is considered one of the top courses in the world, and was used for the Presidents Cup competitions in 1998 and 2011. Through 2011, a women's professional competition had never been held on it; the 2012 Women's Australian Open was the first.^[5] The event was won by Jessica Korda after an historic six-player playoff, only the second in ALPG history.^[6] Korda holed a 25-foot (8 m) birdie putt on the second playoff hole to claim her first LPGA Tour victory.^[7][8]

In 2013, the tournament moved to Royal Canberra Golf Club, and in 2014 to the Victoria Golf Club near Melbourne. In 2016 the event moved to Adelaide and was played there until 2020.^[9] In 2021, it was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the tournament was played at Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath Golf Club. In a world-first for golf, the ISPS Handa Australian Open brought together the national men's and women's Open events, along with the All Abilities Championship. The men's Open and the women's Open had equal prize money of A$1,700,000 as the Open returned to Melbourne for the first time in several years.^[10] In 2022, the event fell during the LPGA's off-season and during the tour's final stage of qualifying school and therefore co-sanctioning the event with the LPGA was not possible.^[11]

• 1974: Wills Australian Ladies Open
• 1975–1978: Wills Qantas Australian Ladies Open
• 1994–1996: Holden Women's Australian Open
• 1997: Toyota Women's Australian Open
• 1998–2004: AAMI Women's Australian Open
• 2007–20: MFS Women's Australian Open
• 2009: Women's Australian Open
• 2010: Handa Women's Australian Open
• 2011–present: ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open

Year	Tour(s)[a]	Champion	Country	Score[b]	Venue(s)	Purse	Winner's share
2024	WPGA	Jiyai Shin (2)	South Korea	274 (−17)	Kingston Heath & Victoria	A$1,700,000	A$270,000
2023	WPGA	Ashleigh Buhai (2)	South Africa	280 (−9)	The Australian & The Lakes	A$1,700,000	A$270,000
2022	WPGA	Ashleigh Buhai	South Africa	277 (−12)	Kingston Heath & Victoria	A$1,700,000	A$270,000
2021	ALPG	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020	ALPG LPGA	Inbee Park	South Korea	278 (−14)	Royal Adelaide	US$1,300,000	US$195,000
2019	ALPG LPGA	Nelly Korda	United States	271 (−17)	The Grange	1,300,000	195,000
2018	ALPG LPGA	Ko Jin-young	South Korea	274 (−14)	Kooyonga	1,300,000	195,000
2017	ALPG LPGA	Jang Ha-na	South Korea	282 (−10)	Royal Adelaide	1,300,000	195,000
2016	ALPG LET LPGA	Haru Nomura	Japan	272 (−16)	The Grange	1,300,000	195,000
2015	ALPG LET LPGA	Lydia Ko	New Zealand	283 (−9)	Royal Melbourne	1,200,000	180,000
2014	ALPG LET LPGA	Karrie Webb (5)	Australia	276 (−12)	Victoria	1,200,000	180,000
2013	ALPG LET LPGA	Jiyai Shin	South Korea	274 (−18)	Royal Canberra	1,200,000	180,000
2012	ALPG LET LPGA	Jessica Korda	United States	289 (−3)PO	Royal Melbourne	1,100,000	165,000
2011	ALPG LET	Yani Tseng (2)	Taiwan	276 (−16)	Commonwealth	A$600,000	A$90,000
2010	ALPG LET	Yani Tseng (1)	Taiwan	283 (−9)	Commonwealth	600,000	90,000
2009	ALPG LET	Laura Davies (2)	England	285 (−7)	Metropolitan	500,000	75,000
2008	ALPG LET	Karrie Webb (4)	Australia	284 (−8)PO	Kingston Heath	500,000	75,000
2007	ALPG LET	Karrie Webb (3)	Australia	278 (−10)	Royal Sydney	500,000	75,000
2005–06: Not played
2004	ALPG LET	Laura Davies (1)	England	283 (−5)	Concord	550,000	82,500
2003	ALPG LET	Mhairi McKay	Scotland	277 (−11)	Terrey Hills	500,000	75,000
2002	ALPG LET	Karrie Webb (2)	Australia	278 (−10)PO	Yarra Yarra	500,000	75,000
2001	ALPG LET	Sophie Gustafson	Sweden	276 (−12)	Yarra Yarra	400,000	60,000
2000	ALPG LET	Karrie Webb (1)	Australia	270 (−22)	Yarra Yarra	350,000	52,500
1999	ALPG	Tournament moved from November (1998) to February (2000)
1998	ALPG	Marnie McGuire	New Zealand	280 (−12)	Yarra Yarra	350,000	52,500
1997	ALPG	Jane Crafter	Australia	279 (−13)	Yarra Yarra	350,000	52,500
1996	ALPG	Catriona Matthew	Scotland	283 (−9)	Yarra Yarra	300,000	45,000
1995	ALPG	Liselotte Neumann	Sweden	283 (−9)PO	Yarra Yarra	250,000	37,500
1994	ALPG	Annika Sörenstam	Sweden	286 (−10)	Royal Adelaide[12]	200,000	30,000
1979–93: Not played
1978	ALPG	Debbie Austin	United States	213	Manly	15,000
1977	ALPG	Jan Stephenson	Australia	145[c]	Manly	15,000
1976	ALPG	Donna Caponi Young	United States	206	Victoria	15,000
1975	ALPG	JoAnne Carner	United States	228	The Australian	15,000
1974	ALPG	Chako Higuchi	Japan	219	Victoria	10,000

Notes

• Australian Women's Amateur
• Australian Girls' Amateur
• Australian Open

• Official website
• Coverage on the LPGA Tour's official site
• Coverage on the Ladies European Tour's official site
• Coverage on the Ladies ALPG Tour's official site

37°57′14″S 145°04′52″E / 37.954°S 145.081°E / -37.954; 145.081