Gulf Harbour Country Club
The news today that the time-honoured New Zealand PGA Championship will return to the PGA Tour of Australasia schedule in 2022 is welcome given the impact Covid 19 has had on tournament golf in Australasia.
With both the New Zealand Open and the NZPGA Championship now confirmed for the 2022 PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, New Zealand golf provides a shining beacon, especially given the pressure Australian events have come under because of the Covid pandemic.
The NZPGA will be played from April 7th – 10th at the Gulf Harbour Country Club on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula just north of Auckland, a venue which last held a PGA Tour of Australasia event in 2006 when Australian Nathan Green won the second and last of two New Zealand Opens held at the venue.
The event follows immediately after the New Zealand Open in Queenstown in the south of the country providing a two-week window of tournament golf in New Zealand.
All this is of course subject to, hopefully, easing Covid restrictions but with still nearly five months to play out before the events there is reason to believe the tournaments will go ahead as planned.
The New Zealand PGA Championship was last played as a PGA Tour of Australasia event in 2019 when amateur Kazuma Kobori took the title although earlier this year the event was staged at the Te Puke Golf Club in the Bay of Plenty when former Australian Amateur champion Tae Koh was successful.
The event carries a long and storied history with some of the game’s finest players including Kel Nagle (4 times), Peter Thomson, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Jumbo Ozaki, Bruce Crampton, Graham Marsh and three-time winner, John Lister amongst the winners.
“We are delighted to partner with Auckland Unlimited, Gulf Harbour Country Club and The ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia in staging this important event on the New Zealand golf calendar,” says PGANZ President Dennis M Clark.
“The event is a key vehicle to deliver on the vision of PGA Professionals, inspiring more people to play this great game. We have so many talented players and it’s exciting that Kiwis will get to experience and witness this up close.
“Over the years we have taken the tournament around New Zealand and seen first-hand the excitement it creates – at the host club, the golfing community and in the local region, with this Championship testament to this with Tae Koh putting on a showcase of golfing excellence with great crowds of supporters enjoying the event which was held at the Te Puke golf course.
“We plan to bring a top-class field of players to Auckland, one week after the New Zealand Open Championship in Queenstown.”
“The ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia is excited to again have the NZ PGA Championship part of the tour schedule and to have back to back events in New Zealand for the first time since 2019 is something I know all of our members will be looking forward to,” says Nick Dastey, Tournaments Director Australasia at the PGA Tour of Australsia.”
The Robert Trent Jones Jr designed layout at Gulf Harbour was also used as the venue for the 1998 World Cup of Golf.
