By Tony Webeck, Golf Australia
A first tournament for the year in her home city and four co-sanctioned Ladies European Tour (LET) events on Australian soil will fuel Maddison Hinson-Tolchard’s quest to play more majors in 2026.
Paired with fellow West Australians Ryan Peake and Hayden Hopewell in Thursday’s opening round of Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee, Hinson-Tolchard starts the year settled and with a schedule that is hers to set.
Three weeks shy of her 24th birthday, Hinson-Tolchard finished 32nd on the Order of Merit in her rookie season on the LET in 2025, the only gap in her schedule in 2026 the weeks allocated for five LPGA major championships.
Those gaps can be filled by a strong showing to start the year, a run of four events in Australia including the Women’s Australian Open from late February an opportunity she is eager to take advantage of.
“Having them earlier on in the year is great because obviously being at home, you want to do well in the home events and kind of kick-start your season off to a good start,” said Hinson-Tolchard, who plays out of Royal Fremantle Golf Club, this week’s tournament venue.
“The goal is definitely going to be to have a couple of good finishes at those events, which will set me up for the rest of the year. I’m not going to try and put too much pressure on myself to have good finishes at those but just really enjoy them.”
A graduate of Oklahoma State University (OSU) and Big 12 Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023, Hinson-Tolchard’s rise has been rapid.
She turned professional after graduating in June 2024 and has seen her world ranking climb 933 spots since missing the cut in this event 12 months ago.
Her best result in her rookie campaign was third at the La Sella Open in September, giving Hinson-Tolchard the freedom of entering year two with the ability to set her own schedule… outside the major championships.
Having been given a taste at the 2023 US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, she is eager to add more majors to her resume in 2026.
“Obviously LPGA is the end goal but majors is definitely going to be a goal for this year,” she added.
“I’m going to try and qualify for the AIG Women’s Open and we’ve got opportunities to try and get into the Amundi Evian Championship later in the year. Playing a major, obviously a couple of years ago, the US Women’s Open at Pebble was an unreal experience.
“I got to play behind some of the feature groups that week, which was really cool because there were big crowds and everything and Pebble Beach was just an iconic venue as well. And the setup was brutal. It’s a different test of golf and I’d love to be back out there competing in the majors again.”
Hinson-Tolchard, Kirsten Rudgeley and Queensland rookie Hannah Reeves are expected to lead the charge from the WPGA Tour of Australasia contingent, the men’s field highlighted by defending champion Jordan Doull, 2025 runner-up Haydn Barron, NZ Open champ Ryan Peake and three-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner Austin Bautista.
Round 1 tees off at 7am AWST on Thursday morning at Royal Fremantle Golf Club with the final two rounds to be broadcast live on Kayo Sports and Fox Sports 503 via Foxtel. Follow all the action via the WPGA Tour of Australasia website.
