New Zealand Open

History

The New Zealand Amateur Championship had been played since 1893 and at the 1906 championship meeting in Christchurch it was decided to hold a 36-hole Open Championship at the championship meeting in 1907, "open to any professional or amateur in any part of the world" with prizes of £25 and £10 for the leading professionals. The 1907 championship meeting was held at Napier Golf Club. The first round of the Open was played on the morning of 10 September, the amateurs also competing in a club team event. The professional David Hood and amateur J. Carne Bidwell led with rounds of 80. A handicap event was held on the following day and the second round of the Open was played on the morning of 12 September. The amateur Arthur Duncan had a second round of 76 to win with a score of 159, seven ahead of J. Carne Bidwell. The Scottish professional, Jack McLaren, finished third on 167 with David Hood fourth on 168. McLaren and Hood took the cash prizes of £25 and £10.

In 1908 the tournament was extended to 72 holes, and was won by Joe Clements, the first notable New Zealand-born professional golfer. There were no Opens from 1915 to 1918 due to World War I and the championship was again cancelled from 1940 to 1945 due to World War II. The Jellicoe Cup was presented by Viscount Jellicoe, the second Governor-General of New Zealand, in 1924 and is awarded for the lowest round in the championship. The Bledisloe Cup was presented by Lord Bledisloe, the fourth Governor-General, in 1934 and is awarded to the leading amateur.

In 1954 Bob Charles, who was later to become the only New Zealander to win a major championship in the 20th century, won as an 18-year-old amateur. He won again in 1966, 1971 and 1973, as a professional, and he and the two Australian major champions Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle dominated the event from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s. Other well known winners have included the American Corey Pavin in 1984 and 1985, and Michael Campbell in 2000. Campbell joined Charles as a major champion when he won the 2005 U.S. Open.

In 2002 Tiger Woods took part as a thank you to his New Zealand caddie Steve Williams, but he did not win. His participation caused some controversy when ticket prices were raised sharply that year.

The New Zealand Open is a PGA Tour of Australasia tournament, and in 2005 was co-sanctioned for the first time by the European Tour, which led to a doubling of the prize fund to 1.5 million New Zealand Dollars. The European Tour had co-sanctioned PGA Tour of Australasia events before, but they had all been in Australia, making this the tour's first ever visit to New Zealand. In 2006 the event was moved to November, taking its place on the European Tour schedule for the following calendar year. The 2007 event was the last to be co-sanctioned by the European Tour, and with the tournament being rescheduled to March, there was also no New Zealand Open on the 2008 Australasian Tour. The 2009 and 2010 tournaments were also co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour, the official development tour of the PGA Tour. Since 2011 it has been solely sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Since 2014 the Championship has been a pro-am event. A professional field of about 140 play with an amateur partner for the first two rounds, alternately at The Hills and Millbrook Resort before the second round cut of 60 and ties. From 2014 and 2016 the final two rounds of the championship were played at The Hills but in 2017 they will be played at Millbrook Resort. The New Zealand Pro-Am Championship runs alongside to the main tournament in a best-ball format. After a second round cut the top 40 pro-am pairs progress to round three at The Hills, with a further cut to the top 10 pairs who play in the final round.

Venues

Since 2014 the first two rounds have been played on two different courses, everyone playing one round on each course. After the cut, one of the courses is then used for the final two rounds. The number in brackets refers to the occasions where the course was just used for the first two rounds.

In 2017 Hendry won with a par at the first extra hole. In 2011 Kennedy won with a birdie on the first extra hole. In 2005 Fasth won with a birdie on the second extra hole. In 2000 Campbell won with an eagle on the second extra hole. In 1987 Rafferty won with a par on the seventh extra hole. In 1974 Gilder won with a birdie on the third extra hole. Newton had been eliminated by at the second extra hole when he failed to make par. In 1959 Thomson beat Nagle 67 to 73 in an 18-hole playoff. In 1937 Hornabrook scored 73 in the 18-hole playoff, beating Moss (75) and Shaw (76). In 1933 Moss beat Douglas 146 to 155 in a 36-hole playoff. In 1926 Shaw beat Moss 76 to 80 in an 18-hole playoff. In 1919 Douglas beat Morpeth 82 to 85 in an 18-hole playoff.