By Nick Creely

For the first time in nearly 15 years, the storied NSW Open will return to The Vintage in the Hunter Valley from November 13 to November 16, 2025. The Greg Norman-designed golf course, nestled in the state’s famous wine region, will host the tournament – first founded in 1931 – for the fifth time after previously hosting it from 2007 to 2010 and will carry a minimum purse of $800,000.

The Vintage superintendent Martin Crowe said the team was excited by the prospect of preparing for a major tournament and anticipated smooth sailing from a turf management perspective in the months leading in.

“There’s lots of people at the club who are excited by it and doing some tournament prep and stuff like that,” he said. “We’re not looking at doing anything too major in the near future, no construction, or things like that, it’ll be more so throughout the spring focusing on surface preparation. There’s not a whole lot outside of the norm but just working on some of the finer details through the playing corridors.”

Crowe said he was looking forward to showcasing its proud and pristine course and believed in the months leading in the team would maintain the high standards.

“It gives us that chance to really focus on the golf course itself. It’s quite a large property and we often find ourselves in other parts doing other things turf related,” he said. “We’ll put a focus on the greens and getting them to the ideal firmness, speed and just tracking that data and working backwards on that date with applications to make it sing for a specific date rather than just going cycling through your normal cultural practices.

“Working towards a specific date and action plans around the course prep side of things, it’s sort of different to what we normally do so there’s plenty of questions from the guys on how it will all work.”

Lucas Herbert is the current champion after winning by three strokes in 2024 from the Hunter Valley’s very own Corey Lamb, Alex Simpson and 2022 British Open and three-time Australian PGA Championship winner Cam Smith.

Photo: Scott Campbell, courtesy Golf NSW