As the ladies at Riverlakes Golf Course in Brisbane have shown, success at the Volkswagen Scramble feeds through the entire club.

Mark Poelstra barely had enough ladies to run a Women’s event for the 2018/2019 Volkswagen Scramble.

It had been five years since Riverlakes Golf Course south of Brisbane had held a ladies Scramble event and they barely scraped together the 36 players required to put the day on.

Heading into the 2019/2020 Volkswagen Scramble season, Poelstra is confident that numbers won’t be an issue again.

The team of Ruth McConnell, Dianne Schleeman, Heidi McCulkin and Lorraine Freeth along with Riverlakes Head Professional Poelstra won the Women’s Volkswagen Scramble Championship Final by 3.6 shots at Twin Waters in May and were treated to a heroes welcome upon their return to the club.

It was a similar story at Bargara Golf Club in central Queensland after Phil Curd and his team of Tim Russell, Matthew Zillman, Shaun Allen and Jeremy Zahl fought back to be crowned Mixed Scramble champions at Curd’s 26th attempt and first appearance at a Championship Final.

Of the 1.1 million participants over the 27 years of the Scramble only 3,000 have ever made it to the Championship Final and amateurs around Australia are eyeing off their next chance to vie for Volkswagen Scramble glory and bring back to their club that which has energised Riverlakes.

“The ladies got a lot of congratulations from their fellow members and the owners even put on a special congratulations gettogether for everyone at the club,” Poelstra tells The Professional.

“Once we reached the State Final and then onto the Championship Final we had a lot of support from the members and the owners which was terrific.

“We only had the minimum number of teams this year to qualify a team through but because of the interest that was created, I’m sure we’ll see a lot more teams when we hold our Women’s Scramble day later in the year.

“It’s always been a struggle to get those nine teams but I’m sure next year we won’t have any trouble at all.

“I encourage any member to try and get there because it’s a great four days that the PGA and Volkswagen put on.

“Reaching the final is the prize and I know a lot of our members are even more motivated to try and get there again next year.”

Entering its 28th season, the Volkswagen Scramble’s popularity goes from strength to strength. As teams from throughout Australia win their way to the Championship Final and spread the word upon their return of what goes on, motivation amongst others grows and grows.

“There’s no doubt that the Championship Final is a very special week and you can see it on the faces of the players who qualify as they arrive,” says PGA of Australia National Events Manager, Heath McLeod.

“That’s the beauty of the Scramble. Those who have made it to the final in the past are blown away by how well they are treated. That not only makes them want to come back year after year but encourages others within their club to want to get to Twin Waters themselves.

“It was a great first year of our new partnership with Volkswagen and I’ve got no doubt there will be plenty of golfers plotting how they can qualify for next year’s Scramble Final already.”

The 2019/2020 Scramble season launched on August 1 but there is still plenty of time to host a local qualifier at your club.

For information on how to run a Volkswagen Scramble event contact the PGA Events Division on (03) 8320 1999 or at vwscramble@pga.org.au.