Six male professional golfers will play in a 72-hole strokeplay event in Hastings at the weekend.
"However, this is separate to the Hastings Open which is exclusively an amateur tournament," Hastings Golf Club manager Ken Dungey said yesterday.
The professionals are Hawke's Bay's Doug Holloway, Andrew Henare, Leighton James, Aaron Leech ofWaikato and former Bay interprovincial representatives on Q School missions, Pieter Zwart and Nick Gillespie.
Outgoing Bay captain Zwart, of Waipukurau, graduated as runner-up from the NZ Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour Q School at Taupo Golf Club earlier this month.
New Zealand Academy player Gillespie missed the cut by a stroke in the Australasian PGA Tour Q School tournament last month but hopes to pursue a career in Europe, according to his father, Stuart Gillespie of Wanganui.
Interprovincial reps Carl Lomas and Ben Swinburne are also in the line-up.
Interprovincials veteran host member Stuart Duff is also in the Open with ex-interprovincial title-winning veteran Bruce Middlemiss of Napier Golf Club.
Kate Chadwick, Jamie McIvor, Jill Morgan and Angela Jones are among the six low-handicappers in the women's amateur field.
The women will be competing in their own event for gross and nett prizes.
