New Zealand Women's Open targeting 2020 LPGA schedule

The New Zealand Womens Open, set for February 2019, will not go ahead and organisers are now in discussions with the LPGA Tour about the next event being part of their tour schedule in early 2020.

New Zealand Golf and tournament promoters, The Clubhouse, who staged the successful inaugural LPGA-sanctioned event in Auckland, had been planning a second LPGA event for February 2019.

However the tournaments title sponsor MCKAYSON will not be sponsoring the 2019 event and accordingly the New Zealand Womens Open will not be staged next year.

Tournament organisers, New Zealand Golf and the LPGA continue to share a bold vision for New Zealand to be a host nation for an LPGA Tour event from 2020 and beyond.

"The 2017 New Zealand Womens Open was a historic occasion for golf in New Zealand," said New Zealand Golf CEO, Dean Murphy.

"Bringing the LPGA Tour to New Zealand is a huge undertaking which requires significant commercial support from tournament sponsors. While the 2017 event was an unqualified success, we need to make prudent and financially sensible decisions for future events. We look forward to continuing to work with The Clubhouse and having the LPGA Tour return in the future."

The LPGA said that New Zealand proved a popular country for LPGA Tour players to visit for the inaugural event in Auckland in 2017.

"Having an event back in New Zealand would also provide a perfect opportunity for the LPGA to showcase the depth of talent on the tour as well as the beauty of New Zealand via the global television coverage," said Ricki Lasky, LPGA Senior Vice President of Tournament Business Affairs and LPGA Properties.

New Zealand Golf indicated ongoing support for tournament promoter, The Clubhouse, to bring the vision to life again in 2020.

The Clubhouse Managing Director, Michael Goldstein remains positive about the future.

"We were thrilled with how the 2017 Tournament went. Despite difficult weather, the event achieved all goals and we were happy with the outcomes. The 30,000+ fans that came out to support the event were incredible and they showed the huge local support for our kiwi golfing hero Lydia Ko," said Goldstein.

"The event attracted over 20,000 bed nights to Auckland and delivered a direct economic impact of more than $2.5m. It also showcased New Zealand to more than 150 countries around the world and has supported the $450m inbound golf tourism industry.

"The situation with MCKAYSON is unfortunate and the bottom line is that without a global naming sponsor the event is not commercially viable. We are heartened by the strong ongoing support for the event amongst our local partners and are looking forward to working with New Zealand Golf and the LPGA Tour for the 2020 event."

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ