The practice putting green at the time-honoured Australian Golf Club during Australian Open week is a great place to get a close-up glimpse of this year's field.

Key points: Daphne van Houten is the first woman to compete during the Australian Open

Daphne van Houten is the first woman to compete during the Australian Open The 21-year-old is among the world's top players with a disability and will compete in the Australian All Abilities Championship

The 21-year-old is among the world's top players with a disability and will compete in the Australian All Abilities Championship The Championship is fully integrated with the Open, which means she will share the course with top pros

A mix of focused youth, more laid-back tour veterans and the odd global superstar, the green is perched on a plateau alongside the clubhouse that overlooks the first tee.

Usually a place of respectful quiet, some players huddle in softly spoken conversation, while others stroke putt after putt with robot-like consistency across the finely cut couch grass.

In the centre of the green, seemingly unaware of their uniqueness, Dutch golfer Daphne van Houten quietly goes over her putting stroke, alongside caddy Marcella Neggers.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 24 seconds 24 s Daphne van Houten practices for the Australian All Abilities Championship

"I am a bit shy, so I don't say hello too easy," said the soft-spoken Dutchwoman.

Van Houten is creating history this week by becoming the first woman to compete during the tournament, which dates back to 1904 and has been won by some of the sport's greats.

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The 21-year-old will play in the Australian All Abilities Championship, which brings together the world's top golfers with a disability. Van Houten was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was about 12.

The Championship has been fully integrated with the Australian Open tournament for the second year.

And that means van Houten will be playing alongside and off the same tees as the top pros and amateurs for the Open, where the entire playing field, apart from her, is male.

"I think it's really good that I am a woman. I also think it's really good that disabled people can play here," she said.

Van Houten says the scale of it all hasn't really sunk in yet, but she is looking forward to learning on the course.

"I enjoy it, because you only see them on TV and stuff and now you can talk to them in person, you can learn a lot from them."

Need to be more inclusive

The All Abilities Championship has a selection policy different from most traditional golfing events; because it is not gender exclusive.

"Daphne makes the field on merit, she was ranked 15 at the time when the close off date for the tournament [took place] for the players," said Golf Australia's Christian Hamilton.

The unique selection approach has thrown up a history-making circumstance in 2019 that has also served as a powerful reminder of golf's pressing need to be more inclusive.

"We are [currently] under-represented with women and girls in the game," Mr Hamilton said.

Marc Leishman believes golf still has a fair way to go when it comes to getting more women into the sport. ( Reuters: Michael Madrid )

Leading Australian golfer Marc Leishman, who travels the world playing on the lucrative PGA Tour, says the game needs to keep working harder on the imbalance.

"I think it has a fair way to go. They are doing a lot of things to go in the right direction," he said.

Golf Australia, which is battling declines in golf club memberships around Australia, recently unveiled its Vision 2025 strategy, which is aimed to getting more women to take up the sport.

Mr Hamilton said van Houten had a very important role to play this week.

"If she can compete at the highest level, we hope that there are women and girls out there that can see that the game is accessible for them," he said.

Never giving up

Van Houten has endured her own difficult journey to get to the top of her sport.

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After taking it up as a youngster, her scoliosis diagnosis, which is a sideways curvature of the spine, meant she had to undergo surgery.

For most people, anything less than a 10-degree position from vertical generally works fine. Van Houten's spine was at 52 degrees.

After her surgery, she quickly set her sights on a return.

"I had a good golf instinct," she said.

"It got me out of bed and just doing something."

Leishman said he continued to be impressed by the playing talent of golfers with a disability.

"It is amazing, being able to interact with those guys and girls and how good their golf games are, it is really impressive," he said.

"I like to take any opportunity I can to learn, and it's great that they are going to be out here playing amongst us, so I am excited to see some of them play again," he said.

Eleven other competitors will participate in the 2019 All Abilities Championship, which boasts a healthy mix of international talent.

"They are brutally competitive," said Mr Hamilton.

"They haven't travelled from the US and Canada and Ireland and Europe just to play. They are here to take home a trophy."