By Neville Idour

The Hills pro-am is a significant addition to the New Zealand PGA calendar.

This is a bold step forward for a very popular event. 

Tournament organiser Craig Palmer said: “Because we have run the event independently until now, avoiding clashes with other events to secure a suitable date has always been a challenge.” 

The 2019 event had to be held in January of this year and was won by seasoned professional and perennial entrant Mark Brown.

Sir Michael Hill was the driving force in having New Zealand’s premier men’s PGA and then New Zealand Open events re-born when they moved to his internationally renowned golf course in Arrowtown, central Otago, some years ago, despite some brief initial misgivings from tournament organiser at the time, Bob Tuohy.

“This year we have worked closely with the NZPGA and have reached an agreement that will see the event PGA sanctioned,” Palmer added.

While this is the case, The Hills will retain freedom to have significant input about which professionals play. The tournament has been scheduled for the weekend of December 19 and 20.

“Collectively The Hills and the PGA have produced a qualification/invitation process that will help ensure the strongest possible professional field,” Palmer said. 

The top 10 players on the PGA order of merit, at a date to be decided, will be joined by the PGA club professional champion and the PGA trainee champion. The remaining eight players in the 20 man field will be invited by The Hills.

Apart from the revised process for qualifying, very little else will change. It will remain a fun relaxed weekend and end of year celebration. However, with that to look forward to and a prize pool of $50,000 and a field of 20 it has become a must for New Zealand professionals. It is now a major event on the New Zealand calendar. The current titleholder Mark Brown is sure to be there again if possible even though he has retired from playing PGA tours.