The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has been held as a pro-am in February or March. Prize money for the 2020 event was NZ$1.4 million, with an additional NZ$50,000 for the pro-am; the tournament winner received NZ$252,000. The reigning champion is Brad Kennedy who finished two ahead of Lucas Herbert in the 2020 event; the 2021 and 2022 editions were cancelled due to risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

The

New Zealand Amateur Championship The New Zealand Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of New Zealand. It has been played annually since 1893, except for the war years, and is organised by New Zealand Golf. Currently the event is played over five days and consist ...

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 Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

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 Arthur Duncan (born September 25, 1933) is an American tap dancer, also called an "Entertainer's Entertainer,"“About the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame: Biographies,” American Tap Dance Foundation, accessed April 27, 2022. known for h ...

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. In early 1923, G. Brodie Breeze, a golf club maker in Glasgow offered a trophy for the event, an offer that was accepted by the New Zealand Golf Association. The trophy was first presented to the 1923 winner, Arthur Brooks, and is held "from year to year" by the winner of the Open. The Jellicoe Cup was presented by

Viscount Jellicoe Earl Jellicoe is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Brocas, of Southampton in the County of Southampton, on 29 June 1925 for Admiral of the Fleet John Jellicoe, 1st Viscoun ...

, the second

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...

, 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. The 1937 event was thought to be won by Alex Murray. However, shortly after the tournament ended it was discovered that Murray hit a putt while his playing partner was also putting. Though unintentional, this was a rule violation. Murray was therefore disqualified.

John Hornabrook John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, the reigning New Zealand Amateur champion, Andrew Shaw, the defending New Zealand Open champion, and Ernie Moss played off for title the following day. Hornabrook won the 18-hole playoff. 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 Kelvin David George Nagle AM (21 December 1920 – 29 January 2015) was an Australian professional golfer best known for winning The Open Championship in 1960. He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975. Biography Nagle was bor ...

dominated the event from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s. Thomson won the event nine times while Nagle won it seven times. In 1966 Australian professionals were banned from playing in the tournament by the Australian PGA. The intention of the Australian PGA was to protect the North Coast Open tournament at Coffs Harbour, Australia and ensure that all of the best Australian players entered that event. Despite the ban,

and Len Thomas played in the event. 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 In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives the player advice and moral support. Description A good caddie is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the ...

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 Dollar The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

s. The European Tour had co-sanctioned PGA Tour of Australasia events before, but they had all been in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, 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 Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental golf tour, tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at tha ...

, the official development tour of the PGA Tour. From 2011 to 2017 it was solely sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia while since 2018 it has been co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Since 2014 it has also been run in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour, an arrangement whereby a number of golfers from that tour compete in the event, although it is not an official event on the Japanese tour. Since 2014 the Championship has been a pro-am event. A professional field of 156 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 to 2016 and in 2019 the final two rounds of the championship were played at The Hills. In 2017, 2018 and 2020 they were played at Millbrook Resort. The New Zealand Pro-Am Championship runs alongside the main tournament in a best-ball format. After a second round cut, the top 40 pro-am pairs progress to the third round, with a further cut to the top 10 pairs who play in the final round. The New Zealand Open was cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Winners

Sources:

Bledisloe Cup winners

The Bledisloe Cup was presented by Lord Bledisloe, the fourth Governor-General, in 1934 and is awarded to the leading amateur. * 1934 Bryan Silk * 1935

* 1936 Bryan Silk * 1937

* 1938

Tony Gibbs Antony Gibbs (sometimes credited as Tony Gibbs; 17 October 1925 – 26 February 2016) was an English film and television editor with more than 40 feature film credits. He was a member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE). Career Gibbs' editing ...

* 1939

* 1946

Bob Glading Robert Henry Glading (10 March 1920 – 19 August 2014) was a New Zealand golfer. He won consecutive New Zealand Open championships in 1946 and 1947. Biography Growing up in Lower Hutt, Glading earned pocket money as a golf caddy, and he caddi ...

* 1947

* 1948 Bryan Silk * 1949 L.B. Johnston * 1950 Tim Woon * 1951 Tim Woon * 1952

Harry Berwick Harry Williamson Berwick (23 April 1923 – 3 April 1988) was an Australian golfer. He won the Australian Amateur twice, in 1950 and 1956, and won the 1952 New Zealand Amateur. He won two open titles in 1956, the Lakes Open and the New Zealand ...

* 1953 Tim Woon * 1954 Bob Charles * 1955 Stuart Jones * 1956

* 1957 Bob Charles * 1958 Ross Murray * 1959 Stuart Jones * 1960 Stuart Jones * 1961

John Durry John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

* 1962 Walter Godfrey * 1963 Bryan Silk * 1964

Peter Rankin Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a ...

* 1965 Ross Murray * 1966

* 1967 Ted McDougall * 1968 R.M. Farrant * 1969 J.M. Lacy * 1970 Ted McDougall * 1971

Geoff Clarke Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the m ...

* 1972

Chris Alldred Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

* 1973 Stuart Jones * 1974 D.L. Beggs,

Stuart Reese Stuart Reese (born 16 August 1954) is a professional golfer from New Zealand. Reese was one of New Zealand's top amateur golfers in the 1970s, winning the 1975 New Zealand Amateur. Reese turned professional shortly thereafter, winning a number o ...

* 1975

Rick Barker Richard John Barker (born 27 October 1951) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party, and was a middle-ranking Cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand. Biography Early life and career Barker was bor ...

* 1976 Geoff Saunders * 1977 David Meredith * 1978

Phil Mosley Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root term ...

* 1979 Michael Atkinson,

Phil Aickin Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root term ...

* 1980

* 1981

* 1982 John Williamson * 1983

Peter Creighton Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a ...

* 1984

Paul Devenport Paul Dale Devenport (born 19 March 1966) is a semi-retired professional golfer from New Zealand. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Devenport grew up in Paraparaumu Beach where his house backed onto the 13th hole of the Paraparaumu Beach Club. ...

* 1985

Owen Kendall Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

* 1986

Michael Barltrop Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

Glen Goldfinch A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrowe ...

* 1987 P. Fox * 1988

Phil Tataurangi Phillip Mikaera Tataurangi (born 31 October 1971) is a New Zealand golfer. Tataurangi was born in Auckland. In 1992 he was a member of the New Zealand's winning Eisenhower Trophy team and was the leading individual player in the tournament. He ...

* 1989

Steven Alker Steven Craig Alker (born 28 July 1971) is a professional golfer from New Zealand who plays on the PGA Tour Champions, where he has won five events. He won the season-long 2022 Charles Schwab Cup on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life and profess ...

* 1991 Tony Christie * 1992

Grant Moorhead Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States *Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, Ca ...

* 1993 Richard Lee,

* 1994

* 1995 (Jan) Mark Brown * 1995 (Dec) Mark Brown * 1996

Brad Heaven Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romani ...

* 1997

David Somervaille David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

* 1998

Reon Sayer Reon is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Reon Cuffy Reon Cuffy (born 17 June 1999) is a Dominican footballer who currently plays for East Central FC of the Dominica Premier League, and the Dominica national team. Club c ...

* 2000 Aaron Baddeley * 2001 Eddie Lee * 2002

Adam Groom Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

* 2003 Chris Johns * 2004

* 2005

Josh Geary Josh Geary (born 11 December 1984) is a New Zealand professional golfer who plays on the Challenge Tour. Professional career Geary turned professional in 2007 and played primarily on the Canadian Tour until 2010. He won the Saskatchewan Open in ...

* 2006 James Gill,

Troy Ropina Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

* 2007 Danny Lee * 2009 Thomas Spearman-Burn * 2010 Matt Jager * 2011 Jake Higginbottom * 2012 Jake Higginbottom * 2014

Jordan Bakermans Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Riv ...

* 2015

Joshua Munn Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

* 2016 Daniel Hillier * 2017

Ryan Chisnall Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an electo ...

* 2018 Daniel Hillier * 2019

Lee Jang-hyun Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

* 2020

Jimmy Zheng Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Coverage on the PGA Tour of Australasia's official siteCoverage on the Asian Tour's official site
{{Former European Tour Events PGA Tour of Australasia events Former Asian Tour events Former Korn Ferry Tour events Former European Tour events Golf tournaments in New Zealand Recurring sporting events established in 1907 1907 establishments in New Zealand International Sports Promotion Society