But at the same time, both prominent members of the Otago golfing fraternity had no doubt Clearwater could do a reasonable job of hosting the tournament.
The next three New Zealand Opens will be held at Clearwater, the exclusive course on the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand Golf finally announced yesterday.
The decision was hardly a shock, but it will still be greeted with dismay by supporters of The Hills, the spectacular course near Arrowtown which has done such a good job of hosting the tournament since 2007.
NZG has found a new major sponsor (BMW) and a new date (early December) for the Australasian PGA-sanctioned tournament, and has decided to resume financial control, after giving that responsibility to promoter Bob Tuohy in recent years.
Former leading professional Turner said Clearwater was "fine" as a tournament venue.
"They've hosted the New Zealand PGA, so it's perfectly adequate in terms of a venue," Turner told the Otago Daily Times.
"It's not in the same category as The Hills as a hosting site.
"The Hills is fantastic. Players have really enjoyed playing there, and it's exceptional for the fans."
Turner said it was hard to comment on the wisdom of the decision of NZG to turn its back on the Arrowtown course when there had obviously been plenty of negotiations held behind closed doors.
"Certainly, The Hills should be incredibly proud of what they did to resurrect the event.
"They had a huge input into that, and they've got a right to be disappointed that it hasn't amounted to a longer-term arrangement.
"But without knowing what was on the table, or what the relative offers were, it's hard to be judgemental about it.
"It's a complicated business and there are variables in there that we will probably never hear about."
Turner believed The Hills had hoped to boost the Open into "an event of international standing" but NZG had taken the more modest approach by hosting the event at Clearwater.
The next Open would battle to attract top players if its prize purse remained as low as $500,000.
Pearce, the 2003 Open champion, said Clearwater wasnot his favourite course butit was a "decent" place tohost the tournament.
He has been an advocate of the Open being held at multiple venues but said it was unfortunate The Hills was losing the Open after three successful years.
"Yeah, I think it's sad for the lower South Island.
Queenstown's such a beautiful spot and the golf course was just fantastic for spectators," Pearce said.
"It certainly had some real momentum at The Hills. It was great to have Michael Hill's name linked to the tournament.
"It's a shame to lose that aspect of it.
"But it is the Open, and it probably should move around the country."
Pearce, who plans to play in the first Open at Clearwater, had hoped the issue could have been settled before now.
"I guess they had a lot of things to sort out, sponsorship and co-sanctioning and scheduling.
"But it would have been nice to have known before now."
