Sir Michael Hill looks forward to NZPGA Pro-Am Championship

26 March 2012

Sir Michael Hill looks forward to NZPGA Pro-Am Championship at “the most beautiful place on the planet”

The countdown is on to this week’s NZPGA Pro-Am Championship at The Hills in Queenstown, and course owner Sir Michael Hill is looking forward to it more than most.

He will welcome with open arms the thousands of competitors, caddies, volunteers and spectators expected to descend on the stunning course from this Thursday (March 29) to Sunday (April 1).

“Our vision is to make the NZPGA Pro-Am Championship one of the most significant golf events in the world, and we can do it because we live on the most beautiful place on the planet so that’s a huge start,” he said.

When he and wife Christine bought the property on the outskirts of Arrowtown in 1992 he said converting it into a golf course “was not a consideration”.

“It was a deer farm then and we actually made money from it, whereas since it’s been a golf course the snorkel hasn’t made it out of the water yet, and I don’t think it ever will!” he said.

Joking aside, Sir Michael said he believed the event would help promote New Zealand, not just Queenstown, as a beautiful golf and holiday destination.

“This could help bring billions to the place (New Zealand), it really could,” he said.

“We are only limited by our imagination, and if we think we can do it, we will do it. I’m very excited and very happy to be able to help in any way I can.”

Sir Michael said the format of the event was based on classic and hugely successful AT & T pro-ams at Pebble Beach in the USA and the Dunhill Classic Links Championship at St Andrews in Scotland, events known to golfers and non-golfers around the world.

“When we hosted the NZ Golf Open here from 2007 to 2010 it brought some significant dollar figures into the community,” he said.

“The golf could be bigger than skiing and brings Queenstown high yield visitors who spend the money.”

Tournament Director Michael Glading said the NZPGA Pro-Am in Queenstown would have a “legacy element” as it became better known.

“People go to play on a golf course because it has been part of a tournament and they’ve seen it on TV or heard about it from other golfers,” he said.

“The planning levels on this tournament are the highest I’ve had, similar only to when Pavarotti toured. I’m calm leading into it because I think we’ve thought of everything we can think of.”

Background information:

The NZPGA Pro-Am Championship has attracted entries from some of the world’s top professional players.

Australian Brendan Jones is the top ranked player confirmed for the tournament, while ten-time US PGA TOUR winner David Frost from South Africa will mount a challenge. Other names to watch include tour veterans Craig Parry, Peter O'Malley, Peter Fowler, David Smail, Mark Brown and Phil Tataurangi.

Big-name amateurs include Hollywood star Don Cheadle, and other sporting, media and business notables such as British Open winner Sir Bob Charles, world women's amateur No 1 Lydia Ko, former All Blacks Justin Marshall, Andy Hayden and Jeff Wilson, former Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones, former Black Cap cricketer Mark Richardson, and former All Black coach and chairman of the organising committee John Hart.

Gates open daily at 7.30am and there is extensive parking available at The Hills for $10 per day, and regular bus services will operate between Queenstown and The Hills and Arrowtown and The Hills. The Queenstown service (operating from The Station building) will cost $6 each way and the Arrowtown service, operating to and from Ramshaw Lane, is just $3.

The bus service will operate over the four days of the tournament from March 29 to April 1 and will be a ‘cash only‘ service. Pre-booking is not required.

The PGA Pro-Am Championship will be held at The Hills in Queenstown from March 29 to April 1 2012 and further information is available at www.pgachampionship.co.nz

The Tournament Format: NZ PGA Pro-Am Championship
Up to 144 Professionals will tee up on Thursday [March 29] with the top 60 plus ties making the cut on the Friday [March 30] and progressing through to the weekend to play for the NZ PGA Championship.

A field of 62 Amateurs (friends, sponsors, celebrities) will play a seeding tournament on Friday 30th March at Jacks Point.

On the Friday night each Amateur will be placed with a Professional and that pair will play as a two-ball, best-ball team on the Saturday and Sunday for the inaugural NZ PGA Pro-Am Championship. Amateur handicaps will be actual to a maximum of 18.

The Course: The Hills
In its stunning amphitheatre encircled by the Remarkables Mountains, with 180 degree views taking in Coronet Peak and the Crown Range, The Hills has the x-factor as a tournament golf course.

Initially Michael Hill’s own private golf course, it was redesigned by Darby Partners to host the New Zealand Open in 2007. Set over 500 acres of former deer farm land close to Arrowtown, Central Otago, it is home to an incredible array of flora including native brown top grasses and wild native mountain tussocks. The Hills is proud to have hosted three consecutive New Zealand Open Championships since opening in 2007 and is looking forward to being the new home of the NZ PGA Pro-Am Championship and the NZ PGA Championship.

ENDS

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