Think St Andrews, Wimbledon, Madison Square Garden, the Maracana in Brazil and Yankee Stadium.
This week on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia is one such week.
Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club is regarded as the spiritual home of golf in New Zealand.
Host to 12 New Zealand Opens – the most in tournament history – Paraparaumu Beach has hosted the NZ PGA just once, in 1959.
Amidst the influx of spectacular new golf courses to be built in New Zealand across the past two decades, Paraparaumu Beach continues to hold its own, regularly featuring in the top three of respected rankings of New Zealand’s best courses.
Its honour roll of New Zealand Open champions is further testimony to its greatness.
Peter Thomson (1959), Bob Charles (1966), Billy Dunk (1972), Corey Pavin (1984), Greg Turner (1989), Michael Campbell (2000) and Craig Parry (2002) are among those to have left their mark on Paraparaumu.
Perhaps no one left a greater mark, however, than Tiger Woods, who came to Paraparaumu as a six-time major champion and reigning Masters winner in something of a thank you to caddie Steve Williams. Woods would finish tied sixth, six shots back of Parry.
The crinkled links designed by Alex Russell in 1949 has not hosted a major tournament since, the field of 144 now with the opportunity to add their names to its storied history.
There are three players in the field this week who played that event in 2002 – 1993 NZ Open champion at Paraparaumu, Peter Fowler, and Kiwis Tim Wilkinson and Mark Brown.
For those playing here for the first time, it marks the start of the run towards the end of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season.
A two-time winner this season, Victorian Cameron John starts the three-leg NZ swing first on the Order of Merit, James Marchesani is fighting to hold on to third and the likes of Jordan Doull and Matias Sanchez are seeking to push towards the all-important top three.
Adding an international flavour to the week are eight Americans including two-time PGA TOUR winner Kyle Stanley, five players from the Japan Golf Tour and players from Korea, Thailand, England and Ireland.
The final two rounds of the Quinovic NZ PGA Championship will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports with coverage starting at 1:30pm AEDT Saturday and 11:30am AEDT Sunday.
Photo: Ricky Robinson/Courtesy Paraparaumu Golf Club
Details
Quinovic NZ PGA Championship
Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, Paraparaumu Beach, NZ
Recent champion: Tyle Hodge
Prizemoney: $200,000
Quinovic NZ PGA Championship TV Coverage
3rd Round: 1:30pm-4:30pm AEDT Saturday
Final Round: 11:30am-4:30pm AEDT Sunday
Broadcast on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.
Players to watch
Cameron John – No.1 on Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit
Jordan Doull – Two-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner
Travis Smyth – Asian Tour winner
Kyle Stanley – Two-time PGA TOUR winner
Michael Hendry – Two-time NZ PGA champion
Recent champions
2025 Tyler Hodge (Hastings Golf Club)
2024* Pieter Zwart (Hastings Golf Club)
2023 Louis Dobbelaar (Gulf Harbour Country Club)
2022 Not contested
2021* Tae Koh (Te Puke Golf Club)
2020 Not contested
2019 Kazuma Kobori (Pegasus Golf and Sports Club)
2018 Ben Campbell (Manawatu Golf Club)
2017 Jarryd Felton (Manawatu Golf Club)
2016 Brad Kennedy (Remuera Golf Club)
2015 Matthew Millar (Remuera Golf Club)
*Non-Tour event
Statistics (since 2002)
Highest Winning Margin
5, Peter O’Malley, 2002
Low 72 Hole Score
266, Brad Kennedy, 2016; Ben Campbell, 2018
Low Round
62, Antonio Murdaca, Rd 3, 2018
Most Eagles in a Tournament
3 Peter Fowler, 2013; Jack Wilson, 2015; Daniel Chopra, 2016; Shaun Jones, 2017; Blake Proverbs, 2018; Simon Hawkes, 2018; Maverick Antcliff, 2019; Sam Jones, 2022
Most Birdies in a Tournament
27, Sung Jin Yeo, 2022
Most Birdies in a Round
10, Deyen Lawson, R3, 2018; Cameron John, R2, 2019; Sung Jin Yeo, R1, 2022; Justin Warren, R4, 2022
Consecutive Birdies in a Round
7, David Hearn (H2-8), R4, 2007; Sung Jin Yeo (H2-8), R1, 2022
SEE: When Tiger roamed Paraparaumu Beach
STORY; TONY WEBECK | PGA OF AUSTRALIA