The first Golden Shears World Championships were held in England in 1977, and, staged every two to four years, have been held in nine countries, including in conjunction with the Masterton Golden Shears in 1980, 1988, 1986 and 2012.
Stevens said entries quickly filled for many of the Golden Shears events during the four days, creating waiting lists, and tickets for major sessions had also sold out, six months before the championships.
The season will bring international competition to several small towns and communities with three transtasman test matches across shearing and woolhandling at three different venues in the South Island and three shearing tests at three different venues in the North Island.
The transtasman series opens with a bladeshearing test at the Waimate Spring Shears on October 10-11.
Meanwhile, because of the congested programme at the World Championships, tests usually held in Masterton each year will be held at other venues, with a woolhandling test match at the Otago Shears at Carterhope Estate, Te Houka, near Balclutha, on February 13-14, and a machine shearing test at the 60th anniversary Southern Shears in Gore on February 20-21.
The Australian leg of the annual home and away transtasman series will be held at the Australian national championships in Jamestown, South Australia, on October 24-26
Three shearing tests between New Zealand and World Champion nation Wales will be held at the Aria Waitangi Day Sports, in King Country, on February 6, the Counties Shears at the Franklin A and P Show in Pukekohe on February 22, and the Taumarunui Shears on February 27.
Other features of the season will include the World Championships New Zealand team selection series events, finishing at the Rangitīkei Shearing Sports in Marton on February 7, the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit events at Alexandra, Waimate, Christchurch (November 14-15), Marton and Pahiatua (March 1).
Merino Shears chairman Lane McSkimming said 1100-1200 merino wethers are being mustered for this week’s championships in Alexandra, for open and senior shearing, and open, senior and junior woolhandling.
The winners of the open shearing and woolhandling titles gain selection for New Zealand in the transtasman matches in South Australia later in October.
McSkimming said it has been a good pre-lamb shearing season in the woolsheds in the region, and the sheep for this week will be carrying about 4kg of fine wool each.
