The New Zealand Open is the premier men's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

tournament in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It has been a regular fixture on the

PGA Tour of Australasia The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ra ...

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

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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

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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

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and the championship was again cancelled from 1940 to 1945 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In early 1923, G. Brodie Breeze, a golf club maker in

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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, 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, 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 Peter Thomson may refer to: * Peter Thomson (golfer) (1929–2018), Australian golfer * Peter Thomson (diplomat) (born 1948), Fiji's Permanent Representative to the United Nations * Peter Thomson (footballer) (born 1977), English footballer * Peter ...

and Kel Nagle 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, Kel Nagle and Len Thomas played in the event. Other well known winners have included the American Corey Pavin in 1984 and 1985, and

Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the ...

in 2000. Campbell joined Charles as a major champion when he won the 2005 U.S. Open. In 2002

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

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 The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

, which led to a doubling of the prize fund to 1.5 million

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s. 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 The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

. 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 The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wo ...

. Since 2014 it has also been run in partnership with the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after th ...

, 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

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 Bryan may refer to: Places United States * Bryan, Arkansas * Bryan, Kentucky * Bryan, Ohio * Bryan, Texas * Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming * Bryan Township (disambiguation) Facilities and structur ...

* 1935 Arthur Duncan * 1936

* 1937 John Hornabrook * 1938 Tony Gibbs * 1939 John Hornabrook * 1946 Bob Glading * 1947 Bob Glading * 1948

* 1949 L.B. Johnston * 1950 Tim Woon * 1951 Tim Woon * 1952 Harry Berwick * 1953 Tim Woon * 1954 Bob Charles * 1955 Stuart Jones * 1956 Harry Berwick * 1957 Bob Charles * 1958 Ross Murray * 1959 Stuart Jones * 1960 Stuart Jones * 1961 John Durry * 1962 Walter Godfrey * 1963

* 1964 Peter Rankin * 1965 Ross Murray * 1966 John Durry * 1967

Ted McDougall Edward John MacDougall (born 8 January 1947 in Inverness) is a Scottish former footballer. MacDougall was a prolific goalscorer who played for eight teams, scoring 256 goals in 535 League appearances and winning seven full international caps fo ...

* 1968 R.M. Farrant * 1969 J.M. Lacy * 1970

* 1971 Geoff Clarke * 1972 Chris Alldred * 1973 Stuart Jones * 1974 D.L. Beggs, Stuart Reese * 1975 Rick Barker * 1976 Geoff Saunders * 1977 David Meredith * 1978 Phil Mosley * 1979 Michael Atkinson, Phil Aickin * 1980 Phil Aickin * 1981 Phil Aickin * 1982 John Williamson * 1983 Peter Creighton * 1984 Paul Devenport * 1985 Owen Kendall * 1986 Michael Barltrop, Glen Goldfinch * 1987 P. Fox * 1988 Phil Tataurangi * 1989 Steven Alker * 1991

Tony Christie Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo", a double UK chart success. Career 1960s to 1970 ...

* 1992 Grant Moorhead * 1993 Richard Lee, Phil Tataurangi * 1994 Glen Goldfinch * 1995 (Jan) Mark Brown * 1995 (Dec) Mark Brown * 1996 Brad Heaven * 1997 David Somervaille * 1998 Reon Sayer * 2000

Aaron Baddeley Aaron John Baddeley (born 17 March 1981) is an Australian professional golfer. He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA and now plays on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, he has joint U.S. and Australian citizenship and was raised in Australia from the ...

* 2001

Eddie Lee Eddie Lee (July 28, 1899 – August 20, 1979) was a character actor from the 1930s through the 1950s. Of Asian descent, he played mainly bit parts such as cooks and soldiers. While most of his over 80 roles were uncredited, he did have a ...

* 2002 Adam Groom * 2003 Chris Johns * 2004 Brad Heaven * 2005 Josh Geary * 2006 James Gill, Troy Ropina * 2007 Danny Lee * 2009 Thomas Spearman-Burn * 2010

Matt Jager Matt Jager (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian golfer who won the Australian Amateur in 2010. He also won the New Zealand Amateur in 2009 and 2010. Jager turned professional and played on the Canadian Tour in 2012. Team appearances Amateur ...

* 2011

Jake Higginbottom Jake Higginbottom (born 15 October 1993) is an Australian professional golfer. In 2012, Higginbottom won Australia's second-oldest amateur golf tournament, the Riversdale Cup. On 25 November 2012, Higginbottom became the first amateur in more ...

* 2012

* 2014 Jordan Bakermans * 2015 Joshua Munn * 2016

Daniel Hillier Daniel Hillier (born 26 July 1998) is a New Zealand professional golfer. He won the 2021 Challenge Costa Brava on the Challenge Tour. Amateur career Hillier had a successful amateur career, winning the New Zealand Amateur twice, in 2015 and 2017 ...

* 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 elector ...

* 2018

* 2019 Lee Jang-hyun * 2020 Jimmy Zheng

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