Lack of support ends SBS tournament

John Griffin.
John Griffin.
A lack of support from three major North Island provinces has forced the organisers to bring the curtain down on the SBS Bank Invitational tournament which was rescheduled to March next year.

The event was originally planned for November this year but the date was changed to encourage more teams to enter.

In the meantime, organisers increased the travel grant by $10,000, increased the  prize money and made the preceding Am-Am event more friendly for the visiting teams.

Despite these efforts, Bay of Plenty, North Harbour and Waikato all stated the event did not fit with their high-performance schedule, saying that any money would be better spent elsewhere.

This led to some other associations stating that they would not attend if the field was depleted and not a fully attended national championship.

The inaugural event was held in 1977 and has been the leading interprovincial stroke play event with all 15 provinces, as well as a NZPGA trainee professionals’ team.

John Griffin, a member of Southland Golf’s Board, was scathing in his condemnation of the district associations which failed to support the SBS Bank event.

"It is a real shame for golf in New Zealand that district associations can no longer operate under the system of supporting decisions of the majority," he said.

"Golf in New Zealand is now run by a board and the associations simply meet at forums twice yearly, with no ability to vote or create binding decisions for the benefit of the majority."

This has resulted in districts which don’t support the majority simply going their own way.

"There are no consequences for this other than the continued erosion of national unity in the game."

The canning of the event has ramifications for Otago, as the Otago and Dunedin stroke play championships in January and February will no longer be trials for a senior team.

Otago won the title last year by an impressive 28-shot margin, and with little top golf down south, was keen to continue to compete in what was the country’s premier teams stroke play event.

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