The Taniwha Darts Association is readying itself for its biggest tournament to date.

The Northland Open, which will be held on March 24 and 25 at Whangarei Golf Club, has $5000 in prize money up for grabs and it is attracting some big names in New Zealand darts.

New Zealand's top two ranked players, Cody Harris and Craig Caldwell, have indicated a lot of interest in the tournament, as well as No 6 John Kelly.

TDA president Paul Baker said they aren't sure how many will be coming along in the hopes of winning, but they're expecting a good turnout.

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"With darts, nobody really books in until really close to the actual tournament," he said.

"Hopefully we get more than 80, that would be fantastic. If it's under 50 players we'd be devastated but we're pretty sure we'll get around the 70-80 mark."

The inaugural running of the Northland Open will see men's singles, men's pairs and women's singles divisions.

The top 16 men in the Open Singles will take home at least $50, with the winner collecting $1000, while the top eight women in their Open Singles will grab $50 and the winner will walk away with $500.

The top eight duos in the Open Pairs will receive prize money as well.

Play will run over the weekend of March 24-25, with singles on the Saturday and the pairs on the Sunday.

Registration for the Northland Open close at 9.30am on March 24.

This tournament is a big step for the TDA, which was formed in 2016 by a consortium of local dart players who aimed to play competitive darts in a good environment.

Baker said membership has continued to grow over the past year.

"By February 2017 our membership had gone from eight at the start to 30 which enabled us to take the next step and become a fully affiliated Darts Association recognised by the New Zealand Darts Council in April," he said.

"Since then our membership has grown to around 60 and counting.

"We have all the facilities we need including a 16 dart board set up. This allows us to hold tournaments that will comfortably accommodate 96 players.

"We hold club nights every Thursday evening from 7pm to around 9.30pm. All ages and abilities are welcome, we handicap the players like golf so everyone has a fair chance to compete.

"We are a friendly bunch who share a passion and desire to be the best we possibly can be, we help each other to achieve and we can only see growth in an ever growing sport."

- Taniwha Darts Association are always looking for new members to join their ranks, no matter their ability. For more information, get in touch with Paul Baker at taniwhadarts@gmail.com.