W E Alexander Open History

The W E Alexander Open at Waratah Golf Club started as a 2 day 36 hole event in 1952 as a Pro Am contest for local club professionals and leading NSW amateurs.

It is named in honour of W E (Bill) Alexander, who served as WGC President from 1927 to 1951.

The first 3 winners were Bill Shepherd in 1952, Sid Cowling in 1953 and Col Johnston in 1954. Col, former WGC junior and Pro Shop trainee, has been the champion on no less than 8 times.

From the early 1960’s until 1998 the Alexander Open was expanded to also include professionals from outside the local area. Many leading players were victorious over this period. Some noted winners were Ken Johnston, Ray Carlin, Len Woodward, Peter O’Malley, Lucas Parsons, Kurt Linde and Paul Sheehan. Former WGC juniors Leigh McKechnie (won 3 times) and Nathan Green (won 4 times) dominated the event from 1989 to 1998. Since 1999 the event has been a 54 hole contest, over 3 days, with the field being restricted to amateurs only. In 2009 the event is going to revert to a 36 hole format.

Winners of the 54 hole version have been:-

Nathan Goodchild (99), Aron Price (00), Chris Campbell (01), Lucas Bates (02), Andrew McKenzie (03), Mitchell Brown (04) and Rohan Blizard (05 and 06). The current champion is Brendan Smith, who took out the 2008 event with a 15 under par total of 198, followed by Luke Henwood (202), Tim Hart (203) and Kyle Grant (208).

The 2009 Patioworld W E Alexander Open is to be played from Saturday, October 17 to Sunday, October 18. The W E Alexander Charity Day is scheduled for Friday October 16.