Defending champion and former world No.1 Jiyai Shin has confirmed she will be back at 13th Beach Golf Links for the 2024 Women’s Vic Open next month.

A crowd favourite and long-time supporter of Australian women’s golf, Shin is coming off an outstanding 2023 campaign where she again showed she is one of the major forces in women’s golf.

Now ranked 15th in the world, Shin had a remarkable 20 top-10 finishes on tours across the world in 2023, highlighted by contending in two majors – the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach where she was tied for second and the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath where she placed third.

Her dominant five-shot win at last year’s Women’s Vic Open was the first of three victories for the year, taking her career win tally to 64 since turning professional in 2005.

She also finished equal third at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.

“I love Australia, and playing golf in Australia, and I’m looking forward to coming back to the Vic Open again,” the 35-year-old said.

“When I come over here, I always really enjoy it.”

The Vic Open will be played at 13th Beach on the Bellarine Peninsula for an 11th year in 2024 on February 1-4.

The Beach course and the Creek course at the superb seaside facility, near the town of Barwon Heads, will host men and women competing for equal prizemoney on the same courses at the same time, with $420,000 on offer for each event.

Among the early entries for the men’s championship are six of the winners on the 2023/24 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia – Ben Eccles, Kerry Mountcastle, Austin Bautista, Daniel Gale, Lachlan Barker and the 2018 Vic Open winner Simon Hawkes, as well as new Champions Tour member Michael Wright.

The 2024 Vic Open will also coincide with the Victorian Inclusive Championship for golfers with a disability and the Australian Wheelchair Golf Championship will return for its third year.

The Vic Open is part of an exciting second half of the summer of golf in Australia that includes the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sports on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and two $500,000 tournaments on the WPGA Tour of Australasia – the NSW Women’s Open and Australian Women’s Classic.

The Vic Open is supported by the Victorian Government through Visit Victoria

RECENT VIC OPEN CHAMPIONS

WOMEN

2023: Jiyai Shin (Korea)

2022: Hannah Green (Australia)

2020: Hee Young Park (Korea)

2019: Celine Boutier (France)

2018: Minjee Lee (Australia)

MEN

2023: Michael Hendry (NZ)

2022: Dimi Papadatos (Australia)

2020: Min Woo Lee (Australia)

2019: David Law (Scotland)

2018: Simon Hawkes (Australia)