New Zealand Open

The New Zealand Open, which is currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Holden New Zealand Open, is the leading men's golf tournament in New Zealand.

Related Topics:
Golf - New Zealand

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The documented history of golf in New Zealand dates back to 1871. The first national championship was played in 1893 and the New Zealand Open was founded in 1907. The first Open was a 36 hole event played at Napier Golf Club and was won by four times New Zealand amateur champion Arthur Duncan. In 1908 the tournament was extended to 72 holes. The 1908 event was won by J.A. Clements, the first notable New Zealand born professional golfer. There were no Opens in 1915-1918 due to World War I. For the first twenty years amateurs often won, but professionals began to dominate from around 1930, so the Bledisloe Cup for Leading Amateur was introduced in 1934.

Related Topics:
Napier - World War I

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The event was again cancelled from 1940 to 1945 due to war. In 1953 Bob Charles, who was later to become the only New Zealander to win a major championship in the 20th century, won as an eighteen year old amateur. He won again in 1966, 1971 and 1973 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. In 2002 Tiger Woods took part as a thank you to his New Zealand caddie Steve Williams, but he did not win. His participation was controversial as ticket prices were raised sharply that year.

Related Topics:
War - Bob Charles - Major championship - Peter Thomson - Kel Nagle - Corey Pavin - Michael Campbell - Tiger Woods - Caddie

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The New Zealand Open is a PGA Tour of Australasia tournament and in 2005 it was co-sanctioned by the more prestigious European Tour, which led to a doubling of the prize fund to 1.5 million New Zealand Dollars. This marked the European Tour's first ever visit to New Zealand, it had co-sanctioned PGA Tour of Australasia events before, but they had all been in Australia.

Related Topics:
PGA Tour of Australasia - European Tour - New Zealand Dollar - Australia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~