New Zealand’s professional circuit returns first to the historic Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club. Starting tomorrow. The famed layout is 40 minutes north of Wellington - a course consistently ranked within the top 100 worldwide. It has been 24 years since the club last hosted a flagship Kiwi event, when the New Zealand Open drew mass galleries … and Tiger Woods.

Paraparaumu holds plenty of fierce pedigree. In the 1980s and ‘90s, the club hosted most of the nation’s Opens, making it the beating heart of Kiwi golf. Now, the Australasian Tour’s best players will tackle one of the most iconic courses in this corner of the globe.

The field at the NZ PGA Championship is shaping up to be strong, with top local pros and rising talents teeing up alongside quality internationals.

“Our vision for the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia is to continue to grow the tour into Australasia,” Kirkman tells Golf Australia Magazine.

“To get a swing over there, the New Zealand Open in Queenstown that's a very popular event on our tour for our players.

“Then to complement it with the new event, the ISPS Handa Japan Australasia Championship at Royal Auckland and Grange. And then the New Zealand PGA Championship.

“It's fitting right into our vision and where we want to be,” Kirkman adds.

Former Superintendent and General Manager Leo Barber attended his first Open as a spectator in 1988. As a local, he is excited to see the PGA return to the Kapiti Coast.

“It was great; a lot of good players, and the tournaments really hummed around there, which is why I’m so excited for the club, that they’ve got something of significance back,” Barber tells Golf Australia magazine.

17 at Paraparaumu. PHOTO: Supplied - Golf NZ.

The genius of legendary course designer Alex Russell speaks for itself across the famous loop. The design rewards precision and creativity, emphasising angles. There are four par-3s - one-shotters among the best in the country. Holes like the short 16th can play very differently day to day, challenging even top players. Paraparaumu is a stroke-maker’s course, demanding thinking from the tee to access the best angles into greens.

“I think the architecture just speaks for itself. The conditioning is normally there or thereabouts, and Tom, the superintendent, has it in really good condition,” Barber adds.


“This is classic links golf as well. If it blows hard, which it can around this place, scoring becomes more challenging. And if you get a benign day, it can give a few shots up. It will be exciting to see how those four days play out, weather-wise.

“You want to see your better players win, not your lucky players. The design is such that your lucky guys won’t win here. Normally, the people who have won around Paraparaumu are of a reasonable calibre and can play shots and recover well. It’s exciting.”