The Hills finds recipe for tourney success

What a difference a year makes.

Yesterday, Michael Hendry was crowned winner of the second annual NZ PGA Pro-Am at The Hills, Arrowtown. The four-day tournament featured 142 professional golfers, 66 amateurs, Prime Minister John Key, and 68 celebrities and international business people who teed off at Jacks Point on Saturday morning in the PGA Challenge.

Add to that a concert at The 19th on Saturday night and an aerobatic display from the Royal New Zealand Air Force Red Checkers, and tournament organisers firmly believe they have found the recipe for success. Plans are already under way for the 2014 event.

By Saturday morning, crowd numbers surpassed the total crowd over four days in 2012. By yesterday afternoon, it was estimated 13,000 people had come through the gates at The Hills over the four days, compared with only 4000 over four days the previous year.

NZ PGA Pro-Am organising committee chairman John Hart told the Otago Daily Times on Saturday ''the world is our oyster''.

''We've got a dream to become a junior Dunhill or AT&T - our size has its limitations ... but this event could become something very, very big.

''There's a real buzz about this tournament. It has the ability to be something very special for New Zealand as an event.

''We're trying to build something which is unique. There are not many Pro-Ams where the amateurs play in the tournament with the professionals.''

In contrast with the 2012 tournament, where golf was the star attraction and, aside from the amateur seeding tournament at Jacks Point, Sir Michael Hill's private golf course was the only course in use, this year's tournament had spread the love.

A final qualifying tournament was held in Cromwell on Tuesday before the professionals played their first round at The Hills on Thursday.

A night's rest and the amateurs and celebrities teed off in the seeding tournament on Friday, with the PGA Challenge on Saturday at Jacks Point and Sunday at Millbrook featuring Sir Richard Hadlee, Joe Stanley, Julie Coney and Ivan Cleary, along with about 20 business people from Australia, Japan and Korea, representing ''some of the biggest companies in the world''.

''The PGA Challenge is a tournament we're running adjacent to the main tournament, which is part of what we're trying to do to leverage for the Government in terms of their involvement in the tournament.

''We're trying to build business-to-business relationships with this tournament in Asia.

''Golf is probably the only sport that opens business doors and the businessmen can compete ... with a professional because of the handicaps.''

Players included senior business people representing Mitsubishi, Canon and Daikin, Mr Hart said.

To capitalise on the opportunity, Mr Hart said a Japan-New Zealand business forum on Saturday at Millbrook aimed to talk about business relationships between the two countries and included four professional golfers who played the Japanese circuit.

''The Japanese Tour is a very stable and well-organised tour. We're looking, as part of this tournament, to build long-term relationships,'' Mr Hart said.

Plans were afoot to grow the tournament further, doubling the number of amateurs to reach about 130 and play over two courses - The Hills and Millbrook. However, that was subject to funding.

''We need to raise probably another $1 million on top of where we are, or more.''

-tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz