BIG GOLF TOURNEYS
NEW ZEALAND PLANS THE CENTENARY YEAR PRIZE MONEY WILL TOTAL £2OOO The New Zealand Golf Council has decided to hold three big Centenary golf tournaments toward the end of ihe year. It is proposed to hold the main event, the Centenary open championship, at Miramar, Wellington, in November, and this wili be preceded by preliminary tournaments at Auckland and Christchurch. The northern tournament will be held on October 23 and 24, and probably it will be played at either Titirangi or Middlemore. The Christchurch event will be played on November 2 and 3, just prior to the New Zealand Cup racing carnival. Prize money, which will total at least £2OOO, will be allotted to the three centres, and this should provide sufficient inducement to overseas players. It is almost certain that some Australian and American professionals will take part, and it is hoped that arrangements can be made for two or three British professionals to make the trip.
Regarding the prize money the council reports that it was agreed that the prize for the first professional at the three championships should be 70 per cent, of the total allotted. Based on £3OO for both Auckland and Christchurch, the first professional would get £2OO at each; at Wellington, in November, where the championship will be played as the annual Mew Zealand championships, the winning professional in the open will get £SOO, and the winner of the professional championship £350. The prize for the professional foursomes will be £75 each. There are possibilities of this sum being increased as the Auckland Advisory Committee is endeavouring to have the prize money augmented to £SOO, says “Rover,” in the New Zealand Herald.
It is interesting to note that the record gate for any tournament was when Bobby Jones won his fourth national championship in a row. On that occasion, the United States amateur championship, a total of £11,134 was collected. The record in England was when Great Britain met the United States in the Ryder Cup matches in 1933. In two days the surplus, after deducting tax and expenses. was £IBOO.
Prior to the war, the open championship of Germany carried prize money totalling £SOO. and this was the largest golf fund at that time. The British open championship fund Is now £SOO, and the largest sum offered in Europe for golf is the Daily Mail tournament, for which £2OOO is provided.
One of the biggest tournaments yet held was in Melbourne in November. 1934. during the Melbourne Centenary celebrations. For the open championship the chief prizes were:—First, £1000; second. £400; third. £200; and fourth, £IOO. The winner/ was James Thompson, the Scottish-American. In the match-play championship, which was won by Leo Diegel, the first prize was £SOO, the second £2OO, and the third and fourth £IOO each.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 55, 7 March 1939, Page 5
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467BIG GOLF TOURNEYS Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 55, 7 March 1939, Page 5
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