PGA professional Grace Lennon has come from behind to claim victory in the final of the innovative The Athena tournament in Melbourne to also highlight the start of Australian golf’s Women and Girls Month celebrations.
Golf Australia, the PGA of Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia officially launched Women and Girls Month celebrations on March 1.
The 2023 Athena was the third edition of the event, where 12 up-and-coming young women golfers took to the Sandy Golf Links in Melbourne to battle it out in a golf tournament like no other.
WPGA Tour CEO Karen Lunn said, “The Athena is a truly unique event. Played over two days and comprised of a day of short-form challenges and a day of four-hole match play, it’s golf but in an easy to consume and follow format.
“The Athena prioritises our next wave of genuine talent and due to the small field gives them huge opportunity to showcase not just the incredible athletes that they are but their unique and watchable personalities too.
Lunn said The Athena had acted as a springboard for its two previous winners careers, Kristalle Blum and Kirsten Rudgeley.
Golf Australia’s Head of Women and Girls Engagement, Tiffany Cherry highlighted the jam-packed schedule for the rest of March, “Women and Girls Month is only just getting started”, said Cherry.
“The first Women’s Golf Network event of 2023 and The Athena kickstarted the month, then we’re straight into our schedule of events that are open to the public, including an International Women’s Day event with a childcare offering, as well as an Active Allies Day and Family Day. These events are intended to act as a template for clubs and facilities around the country to be inspired to apply initiatives like this in their own backyards, as they like.
“These events, including a host of others across almost every State, alongside a number of key fixtures on the WPGA Tour schedule including the NSW Women’s Open and the Australian Women’s Classic round out the month and the month concludes with the inaugural meeting of the Golf Leaders Network.
“There is so much happening in the golf industry to bring more women and girls into the game, not just from a playing perspective but from a career perspective too. The Australian Golf Landscape Research showed us that there’s millions of women and girls in Australia who are open to playing the game, they just haven’t gotten started yet.
“We hope by celebrating for an entire month that we can show more women and girls out there that golf is for them and break down some of the barriers to women and girls getting into golf.”
Women and Girls Month runs from 1-31 March with a full schedule of events and registration links available here.
Grace Lennon’s inspiring Athena win
Grace Lennon certainly kicked things off in style in the final on Sunday against Sarah Yamaki Branch.
Lennon pocketed $30,000 after she stormed home in the four-hole match play final with a pin-seeking tee shot to make birdie at the par 3 third before a solid par sealed the deal.
The tournament this year involved three rounds of four-hole match play following Saturday’s nine skills challenges known as The Combine where the top eight out of 12 players advanced.
At age 31 Lennon was the oldest player in the field, and her vast experience of sandbelt golf as a member of Kingston Heath proved to be crucial in the event named for the Greek goddess of battle strategy and wisdom.
She put on a putting masterclass and her long-range efforts with the flat stick were a highlight throughout the final as well as her quarter-final win against amateur Keeley Marx and her semi-final defeat of amateur and The Combine winner Caitlin Peirce.
“Before I re-joined Kingston Heath, I would come out here to practise and play nine holes here and there. I definitely think having played some of the shots around here before today helped me,” Lennon said.
Her composure was also vital as she rallied against Yamaki Branch – who danced to the music playing at the tees all day showcasing the event’s fun-nature – after making consecutive bogeys at the opening two holes.
Lennon is coached by Karrie Webb’s former mentor Ian Triggs and Brendan Green, and she instructs the game herself as a teaching professional at Albert Park Driving Range.
Early in her professional career Lennon learned that touring life was not for her after she compiled an impressive amateur career that included winning a Queen Sirikit Cup for Australia alongside Minjee Lee and Su Oh in 2013 and reaching the top 20 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
There is no doubting her talent and she has featured during the Webex Players Series this summer, but she has enjoyed the stability of working as a teaching professional.
Although, her win has opened the door to pursuing further playing opportunities.
“It definitely gives me some more options. I’ll have the option to go and play, and even entertain the idea of going away and playing because before I was probably a little more selective with what I could and couldn’t do,” Lennon said.
Australian Golf Foundation Junior Girls Scholarship recipients caddying for the players was a feature of the day with the players forging relationships with the junior golfers and providing words of encouragement to further pursue the game.
Lennon revealed that she will be donating ten percent of her winnings to her caddie Emily to help her follow her golfing dreams.