Following the cancellation of the NZ Open, the organisers of the New Zealand PGA Championship have announced that this year’s event will also be postponed until 2023.

“As with the Open, border restrictions for overseas players and ongoing uncertainties around Covid settings make it impossible for us to stage an Australasian Tour event at this point in time,” said Andrew Clements, Chairman of the PGA of New Zealand. “We looked at the possibility at running a purely local tournament along the lines of the highly successful 2021 PGA Championship at Te Puke, but replicating this is not feasible under a red light setting.”

“We are of course extremely disappointed we are not able to bring the PGA Championship and its 102 year heritage, to Auckland and Gulf Harbour Country Club, especially given the support pledged by Auckland Unlimited and Gulf Harbour” Clements said.

Clements also endorsed the comments of Golf New Zealand chief executive Dean Murphy on playing opportunities for local professionals and elite amateurs.

“The last two years have been incredibly challenging for organisers and players alike” he said, “and we will continue to work closely with host clubs and Golf New Zealand to maintain as many PGA Pro-Ams and Charles Tour events as possible”.

The tournament has been re-scheduled for February next year, with preliminary dates set at February 24th to 27th, 2023.

 

About the NZ PGA Championship

Played since 1920, the NZ PGA Championship has been an important event on the Australasian PGA Tour, and has featured Andy Shaw, Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, John Lister, Jumbo Ozaki, Frank Nobilo, Greg Turner, Steven Alker, Michael Hendry, Ben Campbell and Tae Koh as champions over the years.

For many years it was played at Mount Maunganui, coinciding with the New Year holiday, but it later moved to the South Island, firstly to the Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch, and then The Hills in Queenstown in 2012 & 2013 where the event was played in a unique pro-am format, since adopted by the NZ Open. Recently the event has travelled around New Zealand to showcase professional golf in the regions, using top tour players to inspire more people to enjoy and play golf, with highly successful tournaments being staged in Palmerston North, Christchurch and Te Puke.

The New Zealand PGA Championship is traditionally played either just before or just after the NZ Open, as part of the PGA Tour of Australasia.

The New Zealand PGA is supported by Auckland Unlimited, on behalf of Auckland Council with the event scheduled for Tamaki Makaurau until 2024.