Does anyone else have a commemorative watch celebrating the 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open?
Not only is your watch one of only 500 specially crafted for the Open but you likely had the opportunity, as I did, to meet one of the many attractive and charming salespersons at the Michael Hill Jeweller stores located around the world – Miss Prerna Shukla of Takapuna.
Now about the New Zealand Open golf tournament…
The 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open was held 12-15 March on New Zealand’s South Island in Arrowtown near the alpine resort town, Queenstown at The Hills – a great name that well describes the course’s hilly terrain in the shadow of The Remarkables mountain range and relates to that of the Title Sponsor: Michael Hill Watches.
The Hills
The fun began with special community activities and tours of interest for all including non-golfing folks visiting the region. The appropriately-named “Guilty Bar” was at one time the original court house in Queenstown. It was the official Michael Hill New Zealand Open bar where players, caddies, sponsors, media and visitors could mix and mingle, especially on Friday the 13th at the “Cut Party” for those players who did not make the cut. On Saturday night, the little town of Arrowtown held a Mardi Gras-style street party with the Arrowtown Festival Miners, Middle Earth and the Master Blasters bands raising the roof until, in the wee hours, Flame Fire Productions put on a spectacular fire show.
The games began, in many minds, with the announcement that Kiwi golfing legend Sir Bob Charles, the first left-hander to win a major golf tournament – the 1963 British Open, and four times the New Zealand Open champion, decided, although “retired,” to enter the game he loves rather than be a bystander.
Sir Bob Charles
Earlier in the week on the day of the Pro-Am round, the weather took a turn for the worse and although familiar with severe weather changes in New Zealand, Sir Bob said, “My hands are white and I have absolutely no feeling in them in these conditions so my expectations are rather low.”
But imagine the high on being selected as one of the amateurs to play along  with Charles and other professionals in the Pro-Am. Christchurch businessman, David Reid tells us his experience that day.
“After several weeks of anticipation, the big day arrived – the Pro-Am at The Hills! The day dawned very cloudy and very cold. Our tee time was originally 7:45 a.m. but one member of our four had flown down from Auckland on the same day so he had the tee time changed to the afternoon. A very wise move as it turned out for the morning players had far worse weather conditions than the afternoon players.
“All assembled for a team talk to be advised of the competition, to meet our Professional and find out the hole we would start the competition on. Our Pro was a wonderful guy from Florida by the name of Kevin Johnson.
Our starting hole was the 18th so we all loaded into our golf carts and off we went. I was lucky enough to share the cart with our Pro. It had snowed on The Remarkables the night before so it didn’t take very long before we were absolutely freezing.
“The 18th – what a hole! – a 450-metre par 4 split dogleg right from an elevated tee block looking down to the green and the Clubhouse. Unfortunately we didn’t start all that well. We bogied the hole. But fortunately our round improved. We carried on over the next few holes level with the card and were lucky enough to have a couple of birdies thanks to our Pro.
“The most memorable holes for me are the 18th (our first hole); the 4th – a very long par 3 (rewarding a good shot and severely penalizing a bad one); the 10th – a great little 149-metre par 3 (again a hole that is laid out so well it’s all risk and reward); and the 15th. This hole has a great elevated tee block from where you get a wonderful view of a large part of the course. A very short, 301-metre par 4. A number of the Pros drove the green and one Pro holed in one!
“My overall impression of The Hills golf course: It’s magnificent with extremely well laid out hole locations throughout this undulating hill country. I’d love to play it again, knowing what I now know, and I’m sure the more you play this course, the more one would enjoy it. Our Pro, Kevin Johnson made the cut and finished with a creditable score of -9 overall.”
And what a great finishing round Kevin had: a 66!
The sun shone brightly on the final day, the gallery had a fine time (especially on #15, the Party Hole) while the players intently focused on making the most of their last round. We followed a crowd-pleasing Aussie favourite, Craig Parry – knick-named “Popeye” for his exceptionally well-developed forearms!
Craig Parry on the 17th
As the crowds gathered around the 18th green, the Leader Board confirmed the winners: Alex Prugh with a -19; Martin Piller with -16; and Jim Herman with -14. Six players, including Craig Parry, tied for 4th place.
We’d heard it would be quite a finale and so it was. All heads turned as the stirring sounds of a Scottish pipe band filled the air. As they marched up the 18th fairway, the excitement began to build. Then with a tremendous, thundering roar, three black helicopters zoomed down over the 18th flying low over the crowds with one landing to bring the Guest of Honour, Sir Bob Charles. Like a youngster, he hopped down and strode up to the podium joining the group gathered for the award presentations. At the appropriate time he placed upon the shoulders of the Open Winner, Alex Prugh of the United States, the meaningful and intricately-woven Mauri feathered cape in recognition of Prugh’s great achievement.
Alex Prugh - USA
After heart-warming speeches that honoured the community and the many volunteers, the 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open concluded with fireworks and the thunder of canon shot from the roof of the Clubhouse. I guess we all had a good time. Not really… I’m sure we all had a terrific time!
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My thanks to the New Zealand Open Golf for the photographs of Sir Bob Charles and Alex Prugh.
Special thanks to David Reid for sharing his experience playing in the Michael Hill New Zealand Open Pro-Am. Dave is Manager of Copyland Digital Print, Christchurch and with his great production and design team, printed the updated issue of my book:Â “Birdies, Bogeys and Kiwis: Golfing Around New Zealand” – now available locally by emailing either lizclark@rockisland.com or info@wildwestcoastpublishing.com.
