Golf: More than 300 chasing NZ open spots from qualifying events

More than 300 golfers will be chasing a place in the 88th New Zealand Open when qualifying begins next week.

There are likely to be 10 places available in the $1.5 million tournament at Gulf Harbour Country Club on February 10-13, which for the first time has been co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian Tours.

A field of 156 will contest the Holden-sponsored tournament, with 65 spots allocated to each of the European and Australasian Tours.

Six places are held for amateurs and up to 10 for tournament invites. That leaves about 10 places for those qualifying from upcoming events, which begin with regional qualifying tournaments in Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and North Shore on January 28. About 230 players will be competing at these tournaments.

The 30 best players from each of the regional events move to the final qualifying at Auckland Golf Club on February 7, where they will be joined by 30-35 players exempt to the final stage. They will chase six places in the final field.

The level of interest is such that a separate final qualifying event will also be held in Australia with 40-50 professionals and elite amateurs expected to chase four spots on February 2 at the Peninsula Country Golf Club in Melbourne.

"There's an opportunity for any golfer playing off an official handicap of 2.4 or better to qualify for the Holden New Zealand Open, which is one of the charms of our national open championship," joint tournament director Phil Aickin said.

"We had record fields enter the qualifying process last year and we've exceeded that again this year, which is very encouraging. Obviously with the move to a co-sanctioned arrangement with Europe, there's considerably more at stake this year.

Aickin said the entrants for the regional qualifying are a mix of NZPGA professionals, other professionals from Fiji and Korea and a large number of New Zealand amateurs.

- NZPA