New Zealand's richest professional golf tournament, the $1.2 million Clearwater Classic, is in danger of being lost by Christchurch.
A move to Auckland and with it the hope of attracting bigger galleries has been suggested.
Tournament general manager Mike Godinet yesterday said the city's community and corporate sector needed to financially support
the 72-hole event if the tournament were to stay at the international resort course.
Co-sanctioned by the Australasian and the United States PGA tours, the second Nationwide Tour event has been held twice at Clearwater in the past 15 months.
However, it has run at a loss for the event's owner, Frontiers Group Australasia, and the underwriting company cannot continue to sustain a loss.
While Godinet would not disclose the amount of the loss, he said an approach had been made to the Christchurch City Council for backing. The Jacobs Creek Open in Adelaide, the Nationwide tour opener which precedes the Clearwater Classic, received A$500,000 ($578,570) from the South Australian government.
"We're making a submission to the Christchurch City Council and we're hopeful they'll be supportive. They've been very encouraging, but it has to go before committees and follow procedures.
"I might be looking through slightly rose-tinted glasses, but I believe this event belongs to the city of Christchurch.
"'We have an association with the United States PGA which is almost impossible to get and if Clearwater and Christchurch can prove they can run major tournaments then it could have a flow-on when venues are decided for such events as the President's Cup and World Cup."
The worldwide television audience was 336 million. There were 10 hours of primetime coverage on the Golf Channel in the US, Japan and Canada, with four hours on CNBC in Britain and Europe, and three hours on CNBC in Asia. There were also 13 hours of live and delayed coverage into Australia on Fox Sports and 14 hours of live coverage on Television One.
- NZPA
