KEY POINTS:
Auckland is emerging as favourite to stage New Zealand's first major professional women's tournament for more than 30 years in January next year.
New Zealand Golf has secured the last week of January on the Australian women's tour schedule and, while contracts have yet to be signed, chief executive Bill MacGowan expects to have a decision in the next few weeks.
He was cagey yesterday about a venue, conceding only that it would be in the North Island. Initially Mt Maunganui was the leading contender but it now seems more likely to be in Auckland.
The last women's tournament was the Benson & Hedges Ladies Classic won by Aussie Jane Lock at The Grange Club in 1975. The Grange has successfully staged major men's tournaments but so has Titirangi and the West Auckland club would be ideal for a women's event.
The venue of the men's New Zealand Open seems fixed at The Hills near Queenstown but the date and status of the event are far from clear.
New Zealand has been squeezed out of the late November date on the European tour that it enjoyed last year. On offer, but for one year only, is a March date following the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth.
But the purse of $1.5 million is small change on a tour now seduced by millions of dollars from the Gulf States and Asia and the price may be too high for the entry of a few no-name Europeans. One option is to join forces with the second-level US Nationwide tour that has co-sanctioned the NZPGA tournament in Christchurch for the past few years.
The NZPGA had a purse of US$650,000 this year and that rated well but the Americans quibbled at the cost of flying down for the Moonah tournament in Australia and then at Clearwater. A three-tournament swing would be more economic.
Complicating factors are sponsorship and television rights and the viability of back-to-back events both in a comparatively small market.
No dates have yet been set for the two New Zealand tournaments. MacGowan has negotiated with the Australian tour division of the PGA of Australia and he hopes some resolution can be achieved by next month.
