New Zealand golfers Tim Wilkinson, Brad Heaven and Steven Alker are the first players to receive special invitations to February's New Zealand Open, tournament organisers said in a statement today.
For Manawatu's Wilkinson it was a timely boost ahead of the final PGA Tour qualifying tournament, in which he is
the only New Zealander in the 171-strong field.
"This is a big week ahead for Tim Wilkinson and we thought it an appropriate time to issue him with our first tournament invitation," tournament director Phil Aickin said.
Aickin said United States-based Heaven, despite missing his European and US PGA cards this year, was an automatic choice after finishing runner-up in this year's tournament at The Grange.
Alker, who will play on the secondary Nationwide Tour in the United States next season, has an excellent record at the event, being runner-up in 2001 and 2002.
"There's considerable added prestige to be invited to the New Zealand Open as a co-sanctioned event for those players who are not members of either the Australasian or European PGA Tours," Aickin said.
"It's still our aim to see our best New Zealand golfers play at home and our feedback from them is that they are excited by the added significance of the co-sanction opportunity."
New Zealand Open organisers have a restricted number of special tournament invitations available under the upgraded co-sanction status for the event.
Six spots are available for amateurs and eight to 10 for tournament invitations.
Aickin said discussions are continuing with other leading New Zealand players who will require special invitations to compete.
New Zealand Open player liaison Greg Turner has begun consultation with a number of overseas players and he expects an announcement before Christmas on the first of the Europeans to confirm their involvement.
The $1.5 million Open at Auckland's Gulf Harbour runs from February 10-13.
- NZPA
