Golf: Sponsorship key to Legends Pro-Am event

Otago Golf Club officials have declared the first City of Dunedin Legends Pro-Am golf tournament a success but have yet to make a final decision on whether to run the event again next year.

Chairman Pat White said the club had the rights from the PGA of New Zealand for the next two years and would be thrilled to do it again, but it all came down to the amount of sponsorship the club could attract.

"We need to sit down and have a debriefing meeting; look at what we've done right and what we've done wrong, and then decide," he said.

Tournament co-organiser Bill Medder echoed those sentiments, saying the club hoped to talk to the sponsors of the $30,000 event - the first professional tournament in Dunedin since the 2004 Scenic Hotels Dunedin Classic at Chisholm Park - in about a fortnight and get their responses .

Getting sponsorship was crucial to making up the prizemoney as the professional golfers on the Legends Tour would not come to Dunedin "to play for nothing".

He had talked to some professionals about the level of prizemoney during the two-day tournament and the feedback he had got was there needed to be a minimal increase.

"That's OK. We can look at that," he said.

Several of the professionals were going to write to the club with their thoughts on the event, which would also be invaluable.

Medder said it was essential the Otago event continued to be part of the new "southern swing" for seniors, which had seen tournaments played earlier last month at Pegasus, Millbrook and Kelvin Heights.

"Absolutely. We were the first cab off the rank in the South Island this time and the agreement is we would always be the last event [on the circuit]."

There had been good support, too, from the amateur teams which played both days and although there were only three prizes for them, they were worth $11,000.

The only disappointment at the weekend was the lack of support from the public in terms of spectators, who were charged $5 entry, which was then given to the Otago Community Hospice.

"I don't know what else we could have done in terms of advertising the event, so that's something we've got to look at as well," he said.