Golf: $3m event for Christchurch

Christchurch's new Clearwater course will stage the first United States PGA Tour event in New Zealand, with backers predicting significant spin-offs for the country.

The US PGA, along with its co-sanction partner, the PGA Tour of Australasia, will hold two Buy.Com Tour events in Adelaide and Christchurch next year.

Adelaide will host the Jacob Creek Open from March 7-10 and Christchurch the Clearwater Classic from March 14-17.

The Christchurch tournament will boast a purse of $US1.2 million ($2.96 million) - the biggest for any event in the country.

International promoters Sporting Frontiers, headed in this country by former New Zealand Cricket chief executive Christopher Doig, said television coverage would be instrumental in boosting New Zealand's tourism profile.

The Classic will have 12 hours of live coverage in the United States, Canada and Japan, and it will be shown either live or delayed in Europe, Australia and other countries in Asia.

It would be screened live in New Zealand.

Doig said Sporting Frontiers had secured the rights for five years and he hoped it would become a regular event on the golfing calendar.

The Buy.Com Tour is the secondary Tour in the United States, but rates only behind the full US PGA Tour, and the European and Japanese circuits.

It runs in conjunction with the mainstream US PGA Tour and the top 15 players on the money list earn exemptions for the full Tour the next season.

Some of the world's top-ranked professionals, such as No 2 Phil Mickelson and No 3 David Duval, have honed their skills on the Tour, and New Zealanders Michael Long (at present 13th on the money list), Frank Nobilo, Craig Perks and Philip Tataurangi have played it when unable to play the main Tour.

While the big names in world golf will not be competing, the world ranking points available and the exemptions earned for the top placegetters will guarantee an influx of top-flight American golfers, along with the leading professionals in Australasia.

The first three finishers will receive starts in the British Open, and the top two will qualify for the United States Open and World Golf Championship events, as well as getting exemptions into the final US PGA qualifying school for 2002.



US PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said the Tour was committed to developing golf globally and to supporting its international tour partners.

Although ticket prices have not been set, Doig said a charge of $25 was in mind, and he hoped children would have free entry.

"We want this to piggyback on the explosion of interest in golf in New Zealand."

News of the tournaments was also welcomed across the Tasman.

The announcement followed a month of turmoil for the local tour in which its richest tournament - the Greg Norman International - was cancelled, its chief executive Andy Laidlaw resigned over differences with the board, and it was roundly criticised by leading promoters.

Australasian Tour chairman Wayne Grady took the opportunity to declare the Tour stronger than ever, as would be evident when the long-awaited full tournament schedule was announced this week.

"It has been really frustrating over the past few months for everyone involved because people have been wanting to know where's our schedule, what's going on, what's happening with Australasian golf," Grady said.

The newly co-sanctioned tournaments would foster the development of younger golfers.

"The whole idea behind that is to get players from overseas to come to Australia ... but to also give our guys an opportunity to qualify for foreign tours by playing in their own backyard."

- NZPA