KEY POINTS:
Now here's an idea. How about setting up a circuit of tournaments round the country in the weeks leading up to the New Zealand Open?
Get the best young professionals, the best amateurs, men and women, and throw them into a competitive environment with some decent prize money
on offer. Might also appeal to Open sponsors, as offering greater mileage for their dollar.
Sounds pretty good to Greg Turner. Actually, it's his idea, as part of his plan to improve the state of New Zealand golf.
At the moment there are three tournaments - Tauranga, Taranaki and Wairakei - on the Turner-initiated GTNZ circuit, with $40,000 prize money at each. Turner's ideal is 10 events, although he's realistic. It's not going to happen without solid backing from clubs and national administrators.
And getting them on board takes time, and Turner feels the frustration of those who have a vision and dealing with others who can't, or won't, see it.
"We're not renowned for our long-term vision in this country, especially our sporting organisations and it's frustrating," he said this week.
"New Zealand Golf has gone as far as rhetoric. 'Yes, it's a good idea and we'll support what you're trying to do.' But there comes a point where we could get there more quickly if we could get something more meaningful," said the winner of 12 pro titles, including two New Zealand Opens.
Turner has bankrolled the GTNZ circuit so far and is happy to continue, up to a point. He's also formed Winning Edge, or Wedge, a scheme aimed at nurturing high class golf talent into successful international players.
His Wedge advisory board, comprising All Blacks Anton Oliver and Grant Fox, leading sailors Tom Schnackenberg and Russell Coutts, former New Zealand No 1 tennis player Brett Steven, and Michael Campbell, backs his belief that "the types of attributes and experience you need to achieve at the top level cross sporting boundaries pretty readily".
Wedge has four basic planks:
* Logistics, the basic support network for players in their formative professional years;
* Finance - "there are a lot of people and corporates around who would gladly invest in a young player if you gave them the right mechanism to do it";
* Mentoring, which is where the advisory board comes in;
* Domestic series, as Turner insists "for all the good advice and logistical help there's no substitute for being at the coalface competing in the most competitive environment you can".
Turner has a neat analogy.
"If school only went to the fourth form, what do you do at the end of it?
"We're trying to put in the fifth and sixth forms, and the way to do that is put young touring pros, the best men and women together in an environment as close as you can get to when they go off overseas."
Turner sees a key part as getting players to a stage where management companies will figure it worth their time and money to step in. "They tend to only provide it to guys once they reach a certain level."
He disagrees with the NZG policy of apportioning funds to send players off in twos and threes to relatively minor amateur events overseas.
Turner reckons it would produce a better dividend if it was put into a stronger domestic series where over 100 golfers could benefit rather than two or three sent overseas.
And don't mention the P word to him either.
"We've been patiently watching them fail for 20 years.
"We've got to do something.
"There's two conclusions: either the last generation of players haven't been good enough, or there's been a failure to provide the requisite environment for them to develop in."
Turner takes the second viewpoint. He insists that technically, New Zealand's young players are "better than they've ever been, the equals of anywhere. At 19 or 20 they are every bit as good as anybody else. Then they're hitting the wall."
There was a time when they could get by with what Turner has called the No 8 wire approach.
"A can-do attitude and good hard work was enough to bridge the gap between the top amateurs and making it onto the world stage. Time has moved on."