The New Zealand Open is the premier men's

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

tournament in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It has been a regular fixture on the

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

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$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, 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 Zeal ...

1.4 million, with an additional NZ$50,000 for the pro-am; the tournament winner received NZ$252,000. The reigning champion is

Ryan Peake Ryan Anthony Peake (born March 1, 1973) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter who is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the Canadian rock band Nickelback. He has been with the band since their incepti ...

, who won the 2025 event.

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 Arthur Chester Duncan (September 25, 1925 – January 4, 2023) was an American tap dancer, also called an "Entertainer's Entertainer,"“About the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame: Biographies,” American Tap Dance Foundation, accessed Apr ...

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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

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, the second

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

, 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 Ep ...

, the reigning New Zealand Amateur champion, Andrew Shaw, the defending New Zealand Open champion, and

Ernie Moss Ernest Moss (19 October 1949 – 11 July 2021) was an English footballer, most associated with his home town club, Chesterfield, where in three separate spells he made 539 appearances, scoring a club record 192 goals. He was later voted PFA F ...

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. Early life Nagle was ...

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 The North Coast Open was a professional golf tournament in Australia from 1951 to 1975. History It was always held at Coffs Harbour Golf Club in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. It was a PGA Tour of Australia event from 1973 to 1975. The name ...

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 Corey Allen Pavin (born November 16, 1959) is an American professional golfer. In 1982, Pavin turned professional but failed at PGA Tour Qualifying School. The following year, he turned to overseas where he had much success, winning South Africa' ...

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 List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

took part as a thank you to his New Zealand

caddie In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is a companion to the player, providing both practical support and strategic guidance on the course. Caddies are responsible for carrying the player’s bag, managing clubs, and assisting with basic course maintena ...

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 titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

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

New Zealand Dollar The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, 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 Zeal ...

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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 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 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 that level. ...

, the official development tour of the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

. 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 professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

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

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

, 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 editing, film and television editor with more than 40 feature film credits. He was a member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE). Career ...

* 1939

* 1946 Bob Glading * 1947 Bob Glading * 1948 Bryan Silk * 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 Walter Hindes Godfrey, CBE, FSA, FRIBA (1881–1961), was an English architect, antiquary, and architectural and topographical historian. He was also a landscape architect and designer, and an accomplished draftsman and illustrator. He w ...

* 1963 Bryan Silk * 1964 Peter Rankin * 1965 Ross Murray * 1966 John Durry * 1967

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

* 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 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 * 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 Steven Craig Alker (born 28 July 1971) is a New Zealand professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions, where he has won nine times. He won the season-long 2022 Charles Schwab Cup on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life Alker was born i ...

* 1991

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

* 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. Early life Baddeley was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in the United States. However, his family moved to Australia when he was two years old. As a teen, Baddeley ...

* 2001 Eddie Lee * 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 * 2011 Jake Higginbottom * 2012 Jake Higginbottom * 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 201 ...

* 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

* 2019 Lee Jang-hyun * 2020 Jimmy Zheng * 2023

Kazuma Kobori Kazuma Kobori (born 25 October 2001) is a New Zealand professional golfer. He won the 2019 New Zealand PGA Championship as an amateur, as well as the individual title at the 2023 Eisenhower Trophy. Amateur career In 2019, Kobori was runner-up at ...

* 2024 Zack Swanwick

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