James Sutherland

But it's a nice thing to do to watch how players plot their way around.

Look, the game is in rude health at the moment, Tom.

I think in some quarters, almost bursting at the seams, which creates challenges in itself.

I think

Our research suggests that around the year 2021, so five years ago, there were about 2.7 million adult Australians hitting golf balls in Australia.

Last year it topped 4 million.

So they're not all members of golf clubs.

They're not all playing rounds of golf.

But the amazing thing about the game and one of the things that's really changed about golf is there's all these alternative formats that effectively creates a huge funnel in which people are coming into the game, experiencing the game.

And I think the image of the game's changing.

It feels like it's a lot more accessible, affordable.

It's not as stuffy as some might have perceived it to be.

And that in itself is creating, I guess, huge opportunities, but also challenges in some areas as golf clubs.

You know, tee times get booked up and there are waiting lists on various golf clubs.

membership lists, all those things, I guess, are better than the alternative, but they create challenges as well.

I think so.

There's no doubt that his legend status has gone up a level.

We're already in planning mode, obviously, knowing that we have him secured and that we're playing at Kingston Heath this year allows us to plan ahead.

We did our best to match the significant demand last year at Royal Melbourne.

We had record crowds, I think 113,000.