Lack of entries for classic

Organisers of the the most prestigious tournament on the Northland golf calendar have extended the entry period to try and entice more Northlanders to enter the tournament.
The Waipu club captain John Pennington said the Bream Bay Classic had attracted a high number of golfers from Auckland, but as of yesterday morning, there were only 10 Northland players confirmed as starters.
"The majority of entries have been from Auckland so far, so we are wondering where the Northland boys have got to - I mean we don't want the cup to leave the area without a fight," he said.
Pennington said that a major shift in the timing of the tournament was possibly behind the relatively low number of entries.
The tournament has traditionally been played in July - with Northland, Auckland and North Harbour associations using it as a selection tournament for their interprovincial teams - but this year the tournament has been moved back to November 6 and 7.
Northland's weather was behind the timing change.
"We had several years of extremely bad luck with the weather so we decided to raise the idea of moving the tournament because it was getting rained off too much, so last year the players took a vote and so we moved it to November - but the people that voted don't seem to have entered," Pennington said.
The high number of scratch golfers also meant that only top golfers normally entered.
"In the past, if you got some low handicappers entering then some of the higher handicappers could be balloted out of the field, but that doesn't happen anymore so we thought that would appeal to people but the message might not have got through," he said.
The Waipu club has sent out flyers and invitations to the region's clubs informing them of the changes to the tournament.
The tournament doesn't lack for prizes. The first prize package is worth $1300 and the rest of the prize pool is a generous one.
At least three members of the Northland men's interprovincial team have entered the tournament, with Michael McDonald, Kadin Neho and Brad Bonnington leading the Northland challenge for the title.
McDonald was surprised to hear that the area's most prestigious tournament was struggling to attract entries.
He said the tournament is no longer a Northland trial which may account for some of the "usual players" not entering but he is sure it will be a challenging tournament.
"I was down there a few weeks ago and the greens were in tip-top condition. The rough is cut a little bit longer this year so it will play tough but the greens should make up for that," he said.
The 54-hole tournament starts with two rounds on Saturday and another on Sunday.