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New Zealand Open
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| New Zealand Open | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location |  Queenstown, New Zealand |
| Established | 1907 |
| Course(s) | The Hills Golf Club |
| Par | |
| Yardage | |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour of Australasia |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Purse | $1,500,000 |
| Month Played | November |
| Tournament record score | |
| Current champion | |
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The New Zealand Open, which is currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Michael Hill New Zealand Open, is the leading men's golf tournament in 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.
The event was again cancelled from 1940 to 1945 due to war. 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 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.
The New Zealand Open is a PGA Tour of Australasia tournament and in 2005 it was co-sanctioned for the first time 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. In 2006 the tournament will be pushed back to November. It will continue to be co-sanctioned by the Australasian and European tours and the 2006 edition will fall into the "2007" European Tour season, which as usual will begin in November of the preceding year.
- 2007 Richard Finch
- 2006 Nathan Green
- 2005 Niclas Fasth
- 2004 Terry Price
- 2003 Mahal Pearce
- 2002 Craig Parry
- 2001 David Smail
- 2000 Michael Campbell
- 1999 No tournament
- 1998 Matthew Lane
- 1997 Greg Turner
- 1996 Michael Long
- 1995 (Dec) Peter O'Malley
- 1995 (Jan) Lucas Parsons
- 1994 Craig Jones
- 1993 Peter Fowler
- 1992 Grant Waite
- 1991 Rodger Davis
- 1990 No tournament
- 1989 Greg Turner
- 1988 Ian Stanley
- 1987 Ronan Rafferty
- 1986 Rodger Davis
- 1985 Corey Pavin
- 1984 Corey Pavin
- 1983 Ian Baker-Finch
- 1982 Terry Gale
- 1981 Bob Shearer
- 1980 Buddy Allin
- 1979 Stewart Ginn
- 1978 Bob Shearer
- 1977 Bob Byman
- 1976 Simon Owen
- 1975 Bill Dunk
- 1974 Bob Gilder
- 1973 Bob Charles
- 1972 Bill Dunk
- 1971 Peter Thomson
- 1970 Bob Charles
- 1969 Kel Nagle
- 1968 Kel Nagle
- 1967 Kel Nagle
- 1966 Bob Charles
- 1965 Peter Thomson
- 1964 Kel Nagle
- 1963 Bruce Devlin
- 1962 Kel Nagle
- 1961 Peter Thomson
- 1960 Peter Thomson
- 1959 Peter Thomson
- 1958 Kel Nagle
- 1957 Kel Nagle
- 1956 Harry Berwick (amateur)
- 1955 Peter Thomson
- 1954 Bob Charles (amateur)
- 1953 Peter Thomson
- 1952 Alex Murray
- 1951 Peter Thomson
- 1950 Peter Thomson
- 1949 James Galloway
- 1948 Alex Murray
- 1947 Bob Glading (amateur)
- 1946 Bob Glading (amateur)
- 1940-45 No tournament due to World War II
- 1939 John Hornabrook (amateur)
- 1938 Bobby Locke
- 1937 John Hornabrook (amateur)
- 1936 Andrew Shaw
- 1935 Alex Murray
- 1934 Andrew Shaw
- 1933 E.S. Douglas
- 1932 Andrew Shaw
- 1931 Andrew Shaw
- 1930 Andrew Shaw
- 1929 Andrew Shaw
- 1928 Sloan Morpeth (amateur)
- 1927 Ernie Moss
- 1926 E.J. Moss
- 1925 E.M. MacFarlane (amateur)
- 1924 Ernie Moss
- 1923 A. Brooks
- 1922 A. Brooks
- 1921 E.S. Douglas
- 1920 Joe Kirkwood, Sr.
- 1919 E.S. Douglas
- 1915-18 No tournament due to World War I
- 1914 E.S. Douglas
- 1913 E.S. Douglas
- 1912 J.A. Clements
- 1911 Arthur Duncan (amateur)
- 1910 Arthur Duncan (amateur)
- 1909 J.A. Clements
- 1908 J.A. Clements
- 1907 Arthur Duncan (amateur)