Defending champion Laura Davies

The draw has been made the for Handa Women’s Australian Open, which starts on Thursday at Commonwealth Golf Club in Melbourne.

The championship is taking place on the famous sandbelt for the third year running, following successful events at Kingston Heath Golf Club in 2008 and at Metropolitan in 2009.

The course is in magnificent condition despite the heavy storms in the area on Saturday, when hail stones the size of lemons were reported to have fallen in Melbourne.

Defending champion Laura Davies of England, who won the Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open a fortnight ago, tees off at 8.45am from the 10th hole on Thursday with the LPGA Championship winner Anna Nordqvist of Sweden and Australian number two Lindsey Wright.

The seven-time ANZ Ladies Masters champion, Karrie Webb, who moved up five positions to eighth in the world after her win on Sunday, is looking to do “the double” by winning both the ANZ and the Handa Women’s Australian Open in the same year for the third time. She previously achieved the feat in 2000 and 2007.

Webb starts at the 10th tee at 8.25am with world no.6 Yani Tseng and the world’s number one amateur, Alexis Thompson, who celebrated her 15th birthday in February.

World No.1 amateur Alexis Thompson

The Florida resident is the youngest female ever to qualify to play in the US Women’s Open when she qualified as a12-year-old to play in the 2007 championship at Pine Needles Golf Club in North Carolina.

Last year, Thompson tied for 21st at the Kraft Nabisco Championship to be the leading amateur and finished tied for 34th at the US Women’s Open.

In 2008, Thompson won the US Girls’ Junior Championship and again made the field for the US Women’s Open but missed the cut by just two strokes. She is making her first appearance in the Handa Women’s Australian Open, held from 11-14 March.

Please see the LET’s Information Centre for the full draw for the first two rounds. After 36 holes, there will be a cut to 65 professionals, plus any tying for 65th place, plus any amateur with an equivalent or better 36-hole total to the 65th placed professional. Live coverage of the tournament will be broadcast on Network Ten, from 1pm-5pm Australian time, from Friday to Sunday.

Commonwealth GC hosts the finest field in the championship's history.