The ground-breaking Vic Open will celebrate a quirky milestone by being hosted for the 13th time at the 13th Beach Golf Links in January 2026.

Golf Australia announced earlier this week that the unique dual gender tournament will be returning to the Bellarine Peninsula, but will shift from its usual early February timeslot to mid-January due to a busy tournament schedule in the opening few months of the new year. With LIV Golf Adelaide now being held mid-February and the return of the Australian Women’s Open to a standalone event next March as part of the WPGA Tour of Australasia which also confirmed its schedule this week, the 2026 Vic Open will be played from 15-18 January, a full three weeks earlier than last year’s tournament.

It will be the first time that the Vic Open will be held in January since becoming a welcome addition on both the Australasian men’s and women’s tour schedules in 2013. All previous iterations of the tournament have been held in February – it’s opening two years were held in late February and since 2015 has either been held in the first or second week.

Thirteenth Beach is a popular tourist destination for Victorians across the summer holiday period, with the club’s two courses – Beach and Creek (pictured above) – generally at their busiest for the year. That has always meant long-serving course superintendent Steve Hewitt has had to carefully navigate them through that period knowing the tournament lies on the other side. The tournament is contested across both courses for the first two rounds, before the final two rounds are played across the Beach course only. This year will see the tournament land right in the middle of peak holiday season, but Hewitt is confident it will be all systems normal even if timelines will be a little more awkward than usual.

“It would’ve been nice for the Vic Open to be the week prior to the Women’s Australian Open in Adelaide as it was in the past, but the schedule doesn’t allow for that,” says Hewitt. “Every year we work hard prior to Christmas prepping for the holiday rush come late December and into early January, so we should be in good condition for the Vic Open. To accommodate the new timing, one of the changes we will have is that members will be able to play the Creek Course on the Saturday and Sunday of the tournament weekend which they have not had access to in the past.”

The 2026 tournament date confirmation comes a week shy of Hewitt notching up his own major milestone with the club. Next Thursday, 13 November, will see Hewitt (pictured) tick over 25 years at the club, having expertly guided his crew through a quarter century of the club’s operation, including all past 12 Vic Opens.

Hewitt arrived at the club in November 2000 from neighbouring Barwon Heads Golf Club where he had been the assistant superintendent under Peter Frewin for six years. 13th Beach was still in the throes of construction at the time, with the Beach Course, designed by Tony Cashmore, opening for play in 2001, followed by the Sir Nick Faldo-designed Creek course in 2004. To recognise his tenure at 13th Beach, along with many years of service on the state association committee, including three years as president, Hewitt was bestowed life membership of the VGCSA in 2022.

“Twenty-five years is a good stint,” reflects Hewitt on his time at 13th Beach. “When I arrived the holes in the sand dunes had been cleared, the dam was built and there was some irrigation in on a few holes. Mark Gahan was construction supervisor and they had been on the go for about 12 months. Four greens had just germinated and the tees were about to be built. Living quarters were in an old house that is now the car park and we would have lunch sitting down on bags of fertiliser! They were good times.

“The courses have certainly come a long way from those days, but there is still plenty of unfinished business in terms of progressing them in the coming years. Over the past six years we have undertaken works as part of our Course Improvement Plan which has seen changes to bunkering on most of the 36 holes. Looking ahead we’ll be focussing on improving cart paths and vegetation management.”

As it has done since its first event in 2013, the Vic Open will feature separate tournaments for both women and men competing for equal shares of a total $400,000 in prizemoney across both fields. Its dual gender format, the first of its kind, has won plaudits worldwide with the format now being replicated throughout the global golf industry.

Among the Vic Open’s list of winners features a trio of major champions in Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Jiyai Shin and PGA TOUR titleholder Min Woo Lee. Melbourne’s Su Oh and New Zealand’s Josh Geary claimed victory earlier this year after a challenging final round that saw the Beach course buffeted by rare easterly winds which gusted up to 70kph. CLICK HERE to read the review of this year's tournament that appeared in ATM Volume 27.1 (Jan-Feb 2025).

In a letter to members this week, 13th Beach general manager Rob Hurley said the club was looking forward to the tournament returning at the earlier timeslot in 2026: “Hosting the Vic Open for the 13th time is an outstanding achievement that reflects the dedication of our team, the support of our members, volunteers and our residential community. This is a special milestone for our club and reflects the outstanding reputation our courses, facilities and community have earned. We look forward to another unforgettable week of tournament golf at Thirteenth Beach in January 2026.”

Story: Brett Robinson. Photos: Creek Course - Gary Lisbon; Steve Hewitt - VGCSA