Australia’s Kingston Heath to host 2016 World Cup of Golf

(Reuters) – Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne will stage this year’s World Cup of Golf from Nov. 24-27 when the prestigious two-man event returns to Australia for a fifth time, but for the first occasion away from Royal Melbourne.

In a significant change, organisers have also returned the format to its traditional focus on team play after the 2013 edition at Royal Melbourne controversially put the emphasis on individual competition.

“We are thrilled that a course with the reputation and standing such as Kingston Heath will serve as the tournament’s host venue in 2016,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement.

“The fans in the Sandbelt region of Australia are some of the best in the world and our players consider themselves extremely fortunate every time they are able to play in an event of this stature in the Melbourne area.”

When the World Cup was last held in 2013 at Royal Melbourne, Australia’s Jason Day won the individual tournament which hogged the lion’s share of the prize money and left the team component, won by Day and Adam Scott, as an afterthought.

This year’s tournament will have no individual event, only two-man teams from each of the 28 nations playing four rounds of ‘best ball’ and ‘alternate shot’.

The World Cup, which boasts a list of winners that includes golfing greats Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Peter Thomson and Tiger Woods, will celebrate its 58th edition this year.

Australia previously staged the event in 1959, 1972, 1988 and 2013.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)