Golf: PGA to team up pros with amatuers

The Hills Golf Club. Photo / Supplied

Fancy a weekend of golf next year with the professionals at the Hills course in Queenstown?

Then sharpen your game and hold your breath for an invitation to play alongside 64 professionals who will partner an equal number of invited amateurs and celebrities for the new format next March.

The inaugural NZ PGA Pro-Am concept was unveiled yesterday with plans for a five year partnership with the Hills and total prizemoney of $500,000 for the initial tournament.

Organising committee chairman John Hart said he was inspired by the same format when he played in the Alfred Dunhill Links event a few years ago on the European Tour.

"The combination of getting to play alongside some of the world's best golfers and well-known celebrities in the heat of a professional tournament was an amazing opportunity," he said.

The tournament will be played from March 29 to April 1 next year on Sir Michael Hill's private course close to Arrowtown in Central Otago.

Amateurs hoping to play in the event will tee up at a seeding tournament to be held on March 30 at the nearby Jacks Point course.

Those who make it into the event will then be placed with a professional to play as a two-ball, best ball team at the weekend.

"We have been delighted with the support we have received from both the private and public sector and look forward to working with our partners to develop an iconic event that New Zealanders can be proud of in one of the world's finest tourist destinations, Queenstown," Hill said.

The Hills was used to host the New Zealand Open for three years from 2007 before the tournament shifted to the Clearwater course last week in Christchurch.