Seasoned superintendent Steven Hewitt is well versed in the weather extremes that come with managing a golf course on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, but even he was taken aback by the conditions which prevailed during the final round during the recent 2025 Vic Open. Just a few hundred meters as the crow flies from Bass Strait, 13th Beach Golf Links’ two championship courses (Beach and Creek) are often at the mercy of the weather and no more was that on show on Sunday 9 February.

As the accompanying image graphically shows (photo courtesy of Australian Golf Media), winds gusting up to 70kph buffeted the Beach Course for the majority of the final round, causing flagsticks to bend sideways and balls to move around on the most exposed greens and even fairways. The final round ended up being a brutal slog for the combined men’s and women’s fields, a war of attrition which saw eventual men’s winner Josh Geary hold on grimly to claim the title by four strokes despite carding a six-over final round 78. Three players who had concluded their rounds earlier in the day found themselves catapulted into positions 2-4 as all the leaders capitulated in some of the most challenging conditions seen on a PGA Tour of Australasia event in years. Indeed, the winds blew the scoring average for Sunday to 76.5 shots!

It was the same in the women’s field, with Su Oh carding a 2-over 74 to eventually win by a single shot after having started the day seven shots adrift of the lead. By the time she had finished her round she was in a tie for second three off the lead and had to wait a further two hours as the leading groups ground their way around the wind-affected layout. Indeed, Oh was watching on from the practice green as the last group missed their chance to take it to a playoff in what was a win she won’t forget in a hurry.

For Hewitt and his tournament crew it was a nervous end to the tournament after having presented two courses in fantastic condition throughout the week. The tension started to creep in about 24 hours earlier when Hewitt had a meeting with tournament director Trevor Herden about course set up for the final round. While it had been windy much of the week, the updated forecast for Sunday was grim and necessitated a number of changes.

“I was mindful of the wind prediction for Sunday a few days out knowing we would have to potentially change our plans,” explains Hewitt. “We were going to cut the exposed greens on 2 and 7 Saturday evening and cut the rest Sunday morning, which while not ideal in terms of consistency was one of the options we were considering. In the end, we decided not to cut greens at all – not Saturday night or Sunday morning – and to water them with hand held hoses to get some moisture into them. We watered the green surrounds/aprons as required on the Saturday evening and watered greens only Sunday morning. The greens stimped at 10 foot that morning and all we could then do was to see if we’d get through the day.” 

Golf Australia and PGA of Australia officials set up the final round pin placements to factor in the wind but also to retain the challenge. As Hewitt attests, they did a great job and the thought was that once the golfers got through tournament hole 7 (the 100m par three Beach Course 16th which boasts a small green atop an exposed sand dune) that the rest of the course would stand up well to the wind. That wasn’t to be the case. With the final group playing the 8th, balls started moving on the green which led them to query officials whether it was playable. After more than 20 minutes of waiting (and gesticulating) they were instructed to play on. As commentator Nick O’Hern commented succinctly – “I’ve seen a lot worse.”  

For the rest of the round balls were shifting on greens from the strong gusts. Balls were even moving on fairways in exposed areas. However, balls never rolled off greens, just shifted, which did make the golfers understandably tentative standing over their putts. As a testimony to how tough the conditions were, the last men’s group played close to a six hour round.

“The wind was brutal and I have never seen anything like it from an easterly,” reflects Hewitt. “It certainly blew sand in different areas than what we're used to from the normal southwesterlies that can blow hard. At the start of the week we had 27mm of rain – we always seem to get a good dump the weekend before the tournament each year. As it turned out, that put us in good stead for the week to have a wet profile on all playing surfaces which assisted us keeping the course playable on the Sunday.”

The ASTMA congratulates Steve and his team on their efforts in trying conditions last week. A full wrap of the Vic Open will appear in the next edition of Australian Turfgrass Management Journal.

Photos (from top down): Strong winds buffeted the Beach Course during the final round of the 2025 Vic Open at 13th Beach. Cooper Stephens triplex cuts the 13th Beach greens. Due to the strong winds on Sunday, greens weren't cut on either Saturday night or Sunday morning (photos courtesy of Australian Golf Media and Steve Hewitt)