February 26, 2026 • 10 mins
The 105th New Zealand Golf Open has teed off at Millbrook.
It’s a unique Pro-Am event, where 156 professionals compete alongside amateur partners, and is the only Open tournament in the world to be played in this format.
Australian Ryan Peake won the title in 2025, and has returned to defend it in 2026.
Chairman John Hart told Kerre Woodham the Pro-Am format is the reason the tournament is so successful, and that if it were solely professionals, they’d struggle to hold the funding.
He says it’s established itself as one of the leading Pro-Am tournaments in the world, and has gotten fantastic recognition from tours they work with and professional players.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerrywood and Mornings podcast from News
Talks hed B.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The New Zealand Open Golf Tournament is under way at
Millbrook Resort in Araton. It's the one hundred and fifth
edition of the event and is a unique pro am
event where one hundred and fifty six professionals compete alongside
amateur partners. Defending champion Australian Ryan Peak, who we spoke
to last year, is returning to defend the title one
(00:32):
in twenty twenty five. New Zealand Open Chairman John Hart
joins me. Now a very good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Good morning Carrie.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How do you run a successful event? What does it
take to get everything together? The funding, the competitors, the spectators,
the television coverage. It sounds like a huge job.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, it's a big event and it's all dependent on people.
So you know, I have a fantastic team of people
who run the event across all elements of the tournament
and you know they bring it together. This event is
a big event in context of New Zealand and it's
got a lot of dentacles to it.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
What's the Tech Open Day that you have as well?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Okay, well, we've partnered with Queenstown Technology. Queenstown Technology looking
to create a very special technology hub in Queenstown which
will attract people to come and live here. And over
the course of the forty eight hours, we are partnering
(01:36):
with them in creating an event called tech Masters, and
there has been a cocktail party and Friday morning we
have one hundred tech leaders from around New Zealand coming
to the New Zealand Open and our champion Clowns and
there is a conference there in terms of talking and
(01:57):
discussing technology issues and particularly how that can benefit from Queenstown.
And we have our standing speakers like Sir Rod Drury,
Jazar and Taylor who will be leading the way, and
some of my amateur players international amateur players, Gary Whippler
as an example, he was the chief operating officer for
(02:18):
Apple in America for twenty years. He's playing in the tournament,
but he is also attending this technology forum. So I
think it's a great example of showing how our tournament
adds value far beyond the golf course.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, on the face of it, you'd think there wasn't
a lot of connection there, but is that the value
of the amateurs because I mean, from the outside looking in,
you'd to think amateurs are just stuff up a perfectly
good golf tournament.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
No, I think the amateur players in the pro am format.
The reason this tournament successful is that it is a
pro am for a tournament. That's how we are able
to bring the funding and bring the money together. If
this was just a professional tournament these days, I would
say we would be struggling to hold it. The pro
am format has become the basis of the New Zealand Open.
(03:08):
It is the only open tournament in the world played
in the pro am format. It's now established itself as
one of the top leading pro am tournaments in the
world and has got fantastic recognition from our tours that
we work with and our professional players who see the
(03:30):
pro am format as very very special.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So the amateur players pay to play, whereas you pay
the professionals.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
No, the amateur players, yes, they definitely play to play,
and we have a variety of them. And then we
also have sponsors guests who obviously the sponsors effectively paying
for which is to play because they've got spots in
the field. But the professionals they pay to come here.
They enter the tournament. We don't pay anything to professional
(04:04):
players other than we provide a prize pool of two
million dollars. And a unique part of that price pool
now is that those players that miss the cut, because
after the cut's made, there will be half the field
more than half to field miss thee the weekend, we
actually pay those players one thousand dollars, which is unique
in professional golf because we believe that helps them in
(04:27):
some small way with the cost that they have to
expend and they come here and cost them money to play,
and then they don't make the cut, they make no
they don't get no prize money. So that's a unique
thing that we've introduced which is a small help but
very much appreciated by our pros.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So what brings them back? Because I imagine it's a
bit like the ASB tennis tournament. There's successes in the
caliber of the people you get to the tournament. Why
does Ryan Pete come back? Why do other players come
back to Holli for example?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
They love Queenstown, they love nor Brook Resort, and they
love the format of the tournament. And particularly I get
so much feedback career. It's been the last three or
four days has been staggering. The feedback from pros saying
it's their favorite tournament of the year because it's so
well organized, it's so well presented, and they feel so valued.
(05:23):
I think that's the key thing. There's another trigger happening.
Our tournament winner gets a guaranteed spot in the British Open,
and that is very special for professional players because the Open,
which of course is one of the majors of international golf,
(05:44):
is very difficult to get in and we're one of
only twelve tournaments around the world that the tournament winner
gets access to the British Open towards the Open Championship,
and that's very big for players. I heard Lucas Herbert,
who's one of our leading players from Australia. He plays
live and he says one of the real catches for him,
(06:07):
he's got two catches, one as Queenstown and two is
the opportunity if he won this tournament to get into
the Open Championship.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So if anyone's listening to this thinking oh yeah, next year,
I'd love to play in that, that sounds like a
bit of me. Is it invitation only or can people
apply or how.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
What happens amateur players can apply and on the website,
and the website will be open after this tournament, after
this week, and we will get We normally have an
extensive weight list of players wanting to get it in
the tournament. I think we had a weightlist that we
filled the tournament. I think within a month of last
year's tournament finishing, and we had a weight list of
(06:48):
forty or fifty. It's pretty you know most of the
players that they returned, I mean last night, well, during
this week, we had a function of welcome function and
acknowledged about I think six players who'd played ten years
in the event and another ten late five years. So
the players keep coming back, and why do we come back?
(07:11):
It is a very unique experience. We go out of
our way to make the players the forefront, but we
also have a special relationship with our volunteers. On Wednesday
night at the tournament, we had a barbecue for them
in the champions Lounge, hosted by all our ambassadors, people
like Jeff Wilson and Kelly Slater, Ash Barty, Ricky Ponting.
(07:35):
We're there mixing with the volunteers and we have quite
a unique thing. During that function, we draw a name
out of a hat and that player that volunteer gets
to actually play in the event the following year. Volunteers
are obviously a crucial part of our tournament. We have
(07:56):
five hundred and fifty volunteers.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It must be the population of Arrowtown. That must be
the entire population coming out to support you.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Well, they come from all over New Zealand and they
come internationally. We've got players who come from Australia and
from the Islands just to be volunteers. So it's a
very you know, we we think the volunteers are very important,
but you don't. You can't run tournaments like this without volunteers.
And so we and I think we record this year
something like a seventy seventy five percent return rate of
(08:26):
our volunteers.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Wow, that is enormously successful, getting the volunteers back, getting
the players back, getting the sponsors back. There must be
something magic in it.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, well I think that's you know, that's the key.
Sponsors are obviously crucial and and you know, we're very
lucky to have a very you know, we've got a
group of sponsors being with us for some time now.
So but it's a hard environment, you know, commercially it's
not easy. So that's that's a challenge. It's always a challenge.
(08:59):
We have to work really hard at that. It's probably
my biggest worry each morning is you know, how do
we fund this event?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So yeah, from the time it finishes, do you wake
up on Monday morning and think, right, we begin again
and it's basically starting from scratch again in terms of
the funding.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Well, I mean much of a funding of course is
run over because you've got two and three year deals
with some of the sponsors. But no, overall we do.
We have to we start again on Monday, and it's
a year round event. It's a lot of planning. All
of the everything that comes together that people see is
this so much detail and it takes a lot of planning.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And if you get government funding, why does your event
get government funding over another?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Well, I think the only reason you get government funding
is if you can show the government that you're bringing
value to the government and to a local region. And
that's the crucial thing that this tournament brings. The tournament
brings real economic value and economic benefit to Queenstown. I
think there was something like last year with the economic
benefit to Queenstown alone was twenty four million y Now
(10:06):
that's you know, that's a lot of money in terms
of what it's bringing into Queenstown. And I think, you know,
we're broadcasting to over one hundred countries around the world,
and you're showcasing the greatest scenery that you could imagine
around Milbrook Resort with the you know, with Queenstown, and
those pictures are going around the world. So golf tourism
(10:26):
benefits and the country benefits in terms of being presented
in such a positive light. So you know, we have
to justify and work hard at securing our funding from government.
But government now understand and work with us because they
understand just what this what this tournament brings to the country.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news talks that be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Kerrywood and Mornings podcast from News
Talks hed B.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The New Zealand Open Golf Tournament is under way at
Millbrook Resort in Araton. It's the one hundred and fifth
edition of the event and is a unique pro am
event where one hundred and fifty six professionals compete alongside
amateur partners. Defending champion Australian Ryan Peak, who we spoke
to last year, is returning to defend the title one
(00:32):
in twenty twenty five. New Zealand Open Chairman John Hart
joins me. Now a very good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Good morning Carrie.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
How do you run a successful event? What does it
take to get everything together? The funding, the competitors, the spectators,
the television coverage. It sounds like a huge job.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, it's a big event and it's all dependent on people.
So you know, I have a fantastic team of people
who run the event across all elements of the tournament
and you know they bring it together. This event is
a big event in context of New Zealand and it's
got a lot of dentacles to it.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
What's the Tech Open Day that you have as well?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Okay, well, we've partnered with Queenstown Technology. Queenstown Technology looking
to create a very special technology hub in Queenstown which
will attract people to come and live here. And over
the course of the forty eight hours, we are partnering
(01:36):
with them in creating an event called tech Masters, and
there has been a cocktail party and Friday morning we
have one hundred tech leaders from around New Zealand coming
to the New Zealand Open and our champion Clowns and
there is a conference there in terms of talking and
(01:57):
discussing technology issues and particularly how that can benefit from Queenstown.
And we have our standing speakers like Sir Rod Drury,
Jazar and Taylor who will be leading the way, and
some of my amateur players international amateur players, Gary Whippler
as an example, he was the chief operating officer for
(02:18):
Apple in America for twenty years. He's playing in the tournament,
but he is also attending this technology forum. So I
think it's a great example of showing how our tournament
adds value far beyond the golf course.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah, on the face of it, you'd think there wasn't
a lot of connection there, but is that the value
of the amateurs because I mean, from the outside looking in,
you'd to think amateurs are just stuff up a perfectly
good golf tournament.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
No, I think the amateur players in the pro am format.
The reason this tournament successful is that it is a
pro am for a tournament. That's how we are able
to bring the funding and bring the money together. If
this was just a professional tournament these days, I would
say we would be struggling to hold it. The pro
am format has become the basis of the New Zealand Open.
(03:08):
It is the only open tournament in the world played
in the pro am format. It's now established itself as
one of the top leading pro am tournaments in the
world and has got fantastic recognition from our tours that
we work with and our professional players who see the
(03:30):
pro am format as very very special.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So the amateur players pay to play, whereas you pay
the professionals.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
No, the amateur players, yes, they definitely play to play,
and we have a variety of them. And then we
also have sponsors guests who obviously the sponsors effectively paying
for which is to play because they've got spots in
the field. But the professionals they pay to come here.
They enter the tournament. We don't pay anything to professional
(04:04):
players other than we provide a prize pool of two
million dollars. And a unique part of that price pool
now is that those players that miss the cut, because
after the cut's made, there will be half the field
more than half to field miss thee the weekend, we
actually pay those players one thousand dollars, which is unique
in professional golf because we believe that helps them in
(04:27):
some small way with the cost that they have to
expend and they come here and cost them money to play,
and then they don't make the cut, they make no
they don't get no prize money. So that's a unique
thing that we've introduced which is a small help but
very much appreciated by our pros.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So what brings them back? Because I imagine it's a
bit like the ASB tennis tournament. There's successes in the
caliber of the people you get to the tournament. Why
does Ryan Pete come back? Why do other players come
back to Holli for example?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
They love Queenstown, they love nor Brook Resort, and they
love the format of the tournament. And particularly I get
so much feedback career. It's been the last three or
four days has been staggering. The feedback from pros saying
it's their favorite tournament of the year because it's so
well organized, it's so well presented, and they feel so valued.
(05:23):
I think that's the key thing. There's another trigger happening.
Our tournament winner gets a guaranteed spot in the British Open,
and that is very special for professional players because the Open,
which of course is one of the majors of international golf,
(05:44):
is very difficult to get in and we're one of
only twelve tournaments around the world that the tournament winner
gets access to the British Open towards the Open Championship,
and that's very big for players. I heard Lucas Herbert,
who's one of our leading players from Australia. He plays
live and he says one of the real catches for him,
(06:07):
he's got two catches, one as Queenstown and two is
the opportunity if he won this tournament to get into
the Open Championship.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
So if anyone's listening to this thinking oh yeah, next year,
I'd love to play in that, that sounds like a
bit of me. Is it invitation only or can people
apply or how.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
What happens amateur players can apply and on the website,
and the website will be open after this tournament, after
this week, and we will get We normally have an
extensive weight list of players wanting to get it in
the tournament. I think we had a weightlist that we
filled the tournament. I think within a month of last
year's tournament finishing, and we had a weight list of
(06:48):
forty or fifty. It's pretty you know most of the
players that they returned, I mean last night, well, during
this week, we had a function of welcome function and
acknowledged about I think six players who'd played ten years
in the event and another ten late five years. So
the players keep coming back, and why do we come back?
(07:11):
It is a very unique experience. We go out of
our way to make the players the forefront, but we
also have a special relationship with our volunteers. On Wednesday
night at the tournament, we had a barbecue for them
in the champions Lounge, hosted by all our ambassadors, people
like Jeff Wilson and Kelly Slater, Ash Barty, Ricky Ponting.
(07:35):
We're there mixing with the volunteers and we have quite
a unique thing. During that function, we draw a name
out of a hat and that player that volunteer gets
to actually play in the event the following year. Volunteers
are obviously a crucial part of our tournament. We have
(07:56):
five hundred and fifty volunteers.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
It must be the population of Arrowtown. That must be
the entire population coming out to support you.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Well, they come from all over New Zealand and they
come internationally. We've got players who come from Australia and
from the Islands just to be volunteers. So it's a
very you know, we we think the volunteers are very important,
but you don't. You can't run tournaments like this without volunteers.
And so we and I think we record this year
something like a seventy seventy five percent return rate of
(08:26):
our volunteers.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Wow, that is enormously successful, getting the volunteers back, getting
the players back, getting the sponsors back. There must be
something magic in it.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, well I think that's you know, that's the key.
Sponsors are obviously crucial and and you know, we're very
lucky to have a very you know, we've got a
group of sponsors being with us for some time now.
So but it's a hard environment, you know, commercially it's
not easy. So that's that's a challenge. It's always a challenge.
(08:59):
We have to work really hard at that. It's probably
my biggest worry each morning is you know, how do
we fund this event?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So yeah, from the time it finishes, do you wake
up on Monday morning and think, right, we begin again
and it's basically starting from scratch again in terms of
the funding.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Well, I mean much of a funding of course is
run over because you've got two and three year deals
with some of the sponsors. But no, overall we do.
We have to we start again on Monday, and it's
a year round event. It's a lot of planning. All
of the everything that comes together that people see is
this so much detail and it takes a lot of planning.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And if you get government funding, why does your event
get government funding over another?
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Well, I think the only reason you get government funding
is if you can show the government that you're bringing
value to the government and to a local region. And
that's the crucial thing that this tournament brings. The tournament
brings real economic value and economic benefit to Queenstown. I
think there was something like last year with the economic
benefit to Queenstown alone was twenty four million y Now
(10:06):
that's you know, that's a lot of money in terms
of what it's bringing into Queenstown. And I think, you know,
we're broadcasting to over one hundred countries around the world,
and you're showcasing the greatest scenery that you could imagine
around Milbrook Resort with the you know, with Queenstown, and
those pictures are going around the world. So golf tourism
(10:26):
benefits and the country benefits in terms of being presented
in such a positive light. So you know, we have
to justify and work hard at securing our funding from government.
But government now understand and work with us because they
understand just what this what this tournament brings to the country.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
For more from Kerry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news talks that be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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