The Australian Goldfields Open began life, funnily enough, in Hong Kong as the Hong Kong Open in 1989 after sponsorship for the event in Australia fell through.
The HK tournament was discontinued after just a year however, and the event made its way back to Australia in 1994 as the Australian Open.
The competition was renamed the Australian Masters for the following season, but was dropped from the calendar after that.
In 2011 the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association resurrected the event under the Australian Goldfields Open name and so it returned for the 2011/12 calendar.
Basildon's Stuart Bingham won his first ever ranking tournament in a dramatic 9-8 triumph over World No. 1 Mark Williams in the 2011 final.
