The 2026 Australian Women’s Classic tees off Thursday at Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club, and with defending champion Manon De Roey absent, anyone could be lifting the trophy come Sunday.
In it’s eighth year, the Australian Women’s Classic brings together the best of the Ladies European Tour and WPGA Tour of Australasia for four days of elite women’s golf. This year’s edition is a fresh chapter: a new venue, a wide-open leaderboard, and a $600,000 AUD prize purse on the line.
A Course Worth the Drive
Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club is hosting the championship for the first time, and it’s a setting that will not disappoint. Tucked between the Pacific Ocean, Tuggerah Lake and the Wyrrabalong National Park — just 90 minutes north of Sydney — this Ross Watson-designed links course is ranked among Australia’s very best by Golf Australia and Golf Digest. At 6,269 yards, par 72, it will reward precision and punish mistakes. Spectator entry is free all four days, so there’s no excuse not to be there.
Hot Off the Blocks
If you want to know who to watch from the first tee, look no further than the two players who set Wollongong alight last week.
Agathe Laisne arrives at Magenta Shores on the back of her maiden LET victory at the Ford Women’s NSW Open and sitting joint-top of the 2026 Order of Merit. The Frenchwoman is in the form of her life, confident, sharp, and hungry for back-to-back titles.
Hot on her heels is Thailand’s April Angurasaranee, who finished runner-up at Wollongong and fired the round of the 2026 LET season. A stunning 62 (-9) in Round 3 that included a hole-in-one.
The Home Crowd’s Pick
Australian fans will have plenty to cheer for. Kelsey Bennett (NSW) heads into the week as the highest-ranked Australian on the 2026 Order of Merit and is leading the tour’s eagles statistics, always a good sign on a course that rewards bold play. Sarah Kemp (NSW), making a remarkable comeback from a compound leg fracture suffered in August 2024, finished T5 at Wollongong and is building genuine momentum. Hannah Reeves (QLD) and Kirsten Rudgeley (WA) round out an Aussie contingent that will be desperate to deliver on home soil.
Experience, Rookies and One Past Champion
Meghan MacLaren is the only former Australian Women’s Classic champion in the field, having won at Bonville back in 2022. The Englishwoman knows how to close out a week like this.
Among the 13 Olympians in the field, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux and her sister Kim make for a compelling story, competing alongside each other on the LET circuit. Klara Davidson Spilkova (CZE), a three-time Olympian, and Slovenia’s Pia Babnik, a two-time LET winner, add further class to an international field representing 35 countries.
Don’t sleep on the rookies either. Charlotte Heath (ENG) and Caley McGinty (ENG) both finished T4 on their LET debuts at Wollongong, and Heath currently leads the Rookie of the Year standings. Fresh faces, zero fear.
Don’t Miss It
With 132 players, 25 LET winners, 12 rookies, and no clear favourite heading in, the 2026 Australian Women’s Classic has all the ingredients for a brilliant week of golf.
Rounds 3 and 4 will be broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo (Saturday & Sunday, 12:00–17:00 AEDT). Live scoring is available throughout all four rounds at the tournament website.
Follow the action on social media at #AusWomensClassic and via @GolfNSW across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X.
Play begins Thursday, 5 March. Gates open to the public — free entry, all four days.