The waiting game will soon be over for golf fans and the smart money is still on Clearwater to host the next New Zealand Open.
The Otago Daily Times understands New Zealand Golf will make a long-overdue announcement about its flagship tournament by the end of this week.
It is believed the 2011 New Zealand Open will be played at the Clearwater club, near Christchurch, from January 27 to 31.
It will be sanctioned only by the Australian PGA, so the prize purse will be reduced and the quality of the field will be well down on recent years.
There is speculation Clearwater will get a three-year deal, and that the 2012 and 2013 Opens will be part of the OneAsia Tour, which has tournaments offering prize purses of US$1 million ($NZ1.4 million).
The last three tournaments have been held at The Hills, near Arrowtown, and the last two have been part of the United States-based Nationwide Tour.
Since the Open finished in late January, the process of confirming a venue and a sanctioning partner for future tournaments has been slow, verging on glacial.
The Hills, which breathed life back into the Open three years ago, is desperate to retain the tournament, and to have more input to - in the club's words - take the event to a new level.
New Zealand Golf has also been trying to negotiate co-sanctioning arrangements, and retains close ties with promoter Bob Tuohy, who has taken the financial risk for recent Opens but has fallen out of favour at The Hills.
Behind the scenes, Clearwater has been angling for its share of the action, but a complication could be the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquake.
It is understood Clearwater, if it wins the right to host the Open, will need funding from the Christchurch City Council, which obviously has more pressing priorities.
The feeling at The Hills is that the exclusive Arrowtown club can still offer the most spectator-friendly course and the most innovative plan to help the Open grow.
"We're still talking to New Zealand Golf and we're still hopeful of holding on to the Open," Hills general manager Sam Gent said yesterday.
"We still think we're in the running.
"We think the Open is worth doing properly, and we're trying to look at a whole new way of doing things to build on the event.
"Hopefully that doesn't count against us."
Parallel to the Open's future is a question mark over the position of the New Zealand PGA Championship.
The PGA has been held at Clearwater since 2004 but dropped under the radar this year when its major sponsor pulled out.
If the New Zealand Open moves to Clearwater, the PGA will likely be played the following week but at a different venue.
"We've obviously given that some thought," New Zealand PGA chief executive Duncan Simpson said.
"There are a couple of alternatives. But we need to see which way the Open jumps before we talk about those."
