Peter Williams: Queenstown tournament reaches new Heights

Last weekend's inaugural Queenstown Open will rank as one of the most extraordinary tournaments anywhere in the country this year. The event, over 36 holes in one day at the breathtaking Kelvin Heights course, was played in near gale-force winds.

The field included the 2001 New Zealand amateur champion who's now a touring professional, Ben Gallie; club professionals from the Southern Lakes district; the Otago provincial team's number three player Thomas Campbell; and the majority of the Otago under-23 team wanting competitive play before this week's national championships in Taupo and Hastings. There was also an assortment of local club players and holidaymakers with low handicaps to make up the field of 48.

The day's information sheet advised us it would be "play-the-lie" because the club was hopeful of a new course record. Since Kelvin Heights' 18 new greens have all been brought into play in the last two years, nobody's ever done better than two-under par 70. The man who once returned that score is the veteran former New Zealand team player Jim Lapsley who didn't play on his home course because he was celebrating his mother's 80th birthday in Invercargill.

But Jim's record was safe. A combination of wind, beastly pin placements and a very difficult golf course off the back tees meant that only two players scored under 80 in both rounds.

The winner was Gallie, the last New Zealander to win the national amateur championship, who now plays the Canadian PGA Tour. He won't want his score circulated but the rest of us felt better after we'd signed for embarrassingly high numbers. He was 12-over par after rounds of 80 and 76.

Gallie won in a playoff with a 16-year-old from Dunedin named Cameron MacDonald.

The Queenstown Open was a genuine open event. Amateurs and professionals competed alongside each other for the same prize pool - $2500 worth of petrol vouchers paid out to 10th place. It's the next best thing to money but the amateurs can't be penalised for accepting cash.

This tournament is possibly the first time a club in this country has run an event where amateurs and professionals compete for the same title and prize pool. It's an extension of Greg Turner's concept with the GTNZ events.

Queenstown Golf Club must be commended for their innovation. I'd play again next year - but only if the wind drops.