Golf officials have been advised to employ specialist help to prevent a financial meltdown of the New Zealand Open.
New Zealand Golf chief executive Larry Graham has admitted his organisation remains up to $1 million short of its budget to stage the championship at Gulf Harbour in November.
The tournament purse was more than doubled to $1.5 million last year after NZG agreed to a five-year deal for the championship to enjoy co-sanctioning status on the European and Australasian circuits.
That has seen overall costs of staging the championship escalate to an estimated $4 million to $4.5 million, which has to be found through sponsorship.
NZG is still seeking to secure a principle naming rights sponsor, and some of the game's stakeholders are growing restless as time is short.
US Open champion Michael Campbell was moved to voice concern this week that the financial details of the championship remain unsettled.
And former NZG president and board chairman Neil Woodbury weighed in yesterday, suggesting NZG must seek professional help, instead of attempting to undertake sensitive negotiations in which it has little specialist knowledge.
"That's been tried in years gone by and you can't do that sort of thing by yourself because it takes some expertise to get together a bunch of sponsors," said Woodbury.
"Unfortunately they've tried to do it without employing a specialist company to do it. That's possibly the reason they're having difficulty at the moment."
The commercial side of the game required specialists because it was a specialist role - "It is not the job for a beginner at all".
- NZPA
Golf: NZ Open 'needs specialist'
Michael Campbell
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