GOLF
TRARALGON PRO-AM
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
TRARALGON Golf Club was once again a hive for pro golfers and amateurs alike, with the 2025 Traralgon Pro-Am Classic providing a wonderful week of nonstop hits.
Despite ever-changing weather throughout the event, the golf club managed to see through another spectacular showcase, which ended the best way possible with American Kameron Williams claiming the silverware following a sudden death play-off last Friday.
Williams, heralding from Georgia, ended the second day tied nine-under par with Australian Andre Lautee, forcing both pros to walk up and to tee off from Hole 18, with a winner decided right in front of the club house.
The final day of competition presented all seasons in one, beginning cool and breezy on Friday morning, before a simmering and hot afternoon ended with both Williams and Lautee on the green with significant rain beginning to pelt down.
As Williams made it to the hole in a slightly quicker time, Lautee had a chance to send the pro-am to a second sudden death play-off, but putted too hard from a short ways home.
The result handed Williams his first win on Australian soil, having arrived for the summer tour after time spent at the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School held in his home state.
Williams began his time in Traralgon on Wednesday (November 5) for the Traralgon Junior Pro-Am, mingling and tutoring the young golfers of the area, before turning his focus to the main event.
“Really enjoyed myself Wednesday, got to do the pro-am with the juniors and had a lot of fun with them,” he said.
“Got a little inspiration from the little guys. They kept telling me they thought I was going to win this week and I’m starting to think they’re like fortune tellers.”
Despite the weather and a few slumps during play, Williams thoroughly enjoyed his time in Latrobe Valley at such a great golf course.
“The experience throughout the week was really cool. (We) got some awesome weather in the morning, the golf course is in great shape, had it really going there for a while,” he said.
“I think I got to eight-under through my first 12, stumbled a little bit with a few bogeys and just kept my head in it.”
Williams joked in the club house post-victory that he still hasn’t taken to the Australian summer since arriving, which is quite ironic considering it’s been greatly indifferent since officially beginning earlier this month.
The winners of the junior pro-am for non-handicap were pro Alex Edge alongside Penny Alexander and Sarah Franklin, while pro Michael Brodie with Harry Kurrle claimed the handicap trophy.
Pro Lachie Aylen also took home $1500 for nailing a hole-in-one on the Hole 10 Par 3 during the main pro-am.
The Traralgon Pro-Am Classic makes up part of the PGA’s Pro-Am Series Gippsland swing, which this tim around has been split up into two stints.
Yarram and Sale followed Traralgon’s pro-am, before the pros then return to the region early next year to tour Warragul, Drouin and Trafalgar.
These pro-am events give local golfers the unrivalled chance to compete and converse with the game’s best, something rarely, if not ever, seen in other sports.
The added attraction is the pros also get the chance to secure points ahead of the Australian Open, which takes place next month at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
With his win in Traralgon, Williams was also handed the final invite for the New South Wales Open (beginning this week), with the chance to claim an $800,000 prize pool.
The Traralgon Pro-Am Classic was once again delivered through an exceptional and driven committee and wide array of volunteers.
