The New Zealand Open: A History of Champions, Records and Venues

The New Zealand Open is the country’s national men’s golf championship and one of the oldest tournaments in the Southern Hemisphere, first played in 1907. Over more than a century it has crowned raw amateurs and seasoned major winners, travelled to some of the finest courses in the land, and drawn stars from Tiger Woods to home-grown heroes. This guide traces that story — how the event began, who holds its records, which golfers have won it in recent years, what became of the Women’s Open, and the famous venues that have shaped it.

How did the New Zealand Open begin?

The New Zealand Open was first played in 1907 at Napier Golf Club, on the east coast of the North Island. It grew out of the national amateur meeting: organisers decided to add a 36-hole open event, with prizes set aside for the leading professionals, and opened the field to entrants from anywhere.

The inaugural champion was a Wellington amateur, Arthur Duncan, who finished on a 159 total and won by seven strokes from fellow amateur J. Carne Bidwell. In those early decades the championship was often the preserve of talented amateurs before the professional game grew around it. Duncan himself added further titles, underlining how dominant a single strong player could be in a small golfing nation.

Golf had only recently taken root in New Zealand when the Open began — the national amateur championship dated from 1893, and clubs were still being founded across both islands. Adding an open event, with a share of the prize money reserved for professionals, was a deliberate step toward building a professional game in the country. For much of the first half of the twentieth century the title still tended to be decided between gifted local amateurs and a small number of touring professionals, a balance that only shifted firmly toward the pros after the Second World War.

From that modest two-round meeting, the event steadily expanded into a national institution, eventually stretching to the standard 72-hole, four-round format used by professional tournaments today. If you want the full tournament overview rather than the historical thread, our complete guide to the New Zealand Open covers the modern format, dates and prize money in one place. The Hawke’s Bay region that hosted the first Open remains golf country to this day — nearby Cape Kidnappers is now one of the most celebrated courses in the world.

Who has won the most New Zealand Open titles?

Australia’s Peter Thomson holds the record for the most New Zealand Open titles, with nine. No other player has come close to matching that haul, and it reflects an era when leading Australian professionals crossed the Tasman regularly to compete.

Peter Thomson’s nine titles

Thomson, a five-time winner of The Open Championship, won the New Zealand Open in 1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965 and 1971. His command of the event over two decades made him the defining figure in its mid-century history.

The other multiple winners

Two players sit two behind Thomson on seven titles each: another Australian, Kel Nagle (1957, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1968 and 1969), and New Zealand’s own Andy Shaw. Nagle’s final win in 1969, at 48, made him one of the oldest champions in the tournament’s history. The Thomson and Nagle years underline a defining feature of the event’s past: a strong trans-Tasman rivalry, with leading Australian professionals treating the New Zealand Open as a natural extension of their own summer circuit. Between them, the two Australians accounted for sixteen titles, and during the late 1950s and 1960s they frequently fought out the finish between themselves.

Kiwi heroes and international major winners

New Zealand’s most famous golfer, Sir Bob Charles, first won the Open in 1954 as an 18-year-old amateur before going on to a long professional career that included his own Claret Jug in 1963. American Corey Pavin, a future US Open champion, won back-to-back New Zealand Opens in 1984 and 1985. And in 2000, Michael Campbell — who would lift the US Open trophy in 2005 — claimed the title on home soil, one of the most popular results in the event’s modern era.

Who won the 2023 New Zealand Open, and who has followed?

Australia’s Brendan Jones won the 2023 New Zealand Open, the 102nd playing of the championship, at Millbrook Resort near Queenstown. The result was remarkable for its drama: Jones, then 48, scraped inside the cut on the number before a third-round 62 launched him to the title. He finished at 18 under par and won by three strokes from a four-way tie for second between Ben Campbell, Tomoyo Ikemura, John Lyras and Eom Jae-woong.

Since then the trophy has changed hands every year. Japan’s Takahiro Hataji won in 2024, and Australia’s Ryan Peake completed one of golf’s most unlikely redemption stories in 2025. In 2026, New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier won on home soil, beating Lucas Herbert by two shots with a 22-under total of 262 — the first New Zealander to take the title since Michael Hendry in 2017. For a full breakdown of that latest edition, see our guide to the 2026 New Zealand Open.

The championship was not held in 2021 or 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced back-to-back cancellations. The table below sets out the recent roll of honour. If you are new to following the scoring, our explainer on reading a golf leaderboard is a useful companion.

What famous golfers have played the New Zealand Open?

The biggest name ever to tee it up at the New Zealand Open is Tiger Woods, who played the 2002 edition at Paraparaumu Beach, largely as a thank-you to his then New Zealand caddie, Steve Williams. Woods did not win — he finished tied for sixth, and Australia’s Craig Parry took the title — but his presence drew unprecedented global attention to the event.

Beyond Woods, the championship’s honour board reads like a map of golf history: Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle in the post-war decades, US Open champions Corey Pavin and Michael Campbell, and Sir Bob Charles, whose amateur victory as a teenager remains one of the event’s most cherished moments. More recent fields have featured leading New Zealanders such as Ryan Fox, who in 2026 became the first Kiwi since Charles in 1963 to win The Open Championship.

What happened to the New Zealand Women’s Open?

The New Zealand Women’s Open was last played in 2017 and has not been staged since. That 2017 edition was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour — the circuit’s first-ever event in New Zealand — and was won by Canada’s Brooke Henderson, who closed with a 69 for a five-stroke victory at 17 under par at Windross Farm in Auckland.

The women’s event has a notable earlier chapter, too. In 2013, a 15-year-old Lydia Ko won the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open at Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch — as an amateur — beating American Amelia Lewis by a single stroke and becoming the youngest winner in Ladies European Tour history. Ko successfully defended the title in 2014. Since the 2017 LPGA edition, however, changes to the calendar and the loss of a title sponsor left the tournament without a clear path back, and no women’s championship has been held in the years since.

Where is the New Zealand Open played?

The New Zealand Open has moved around the country throughout its history, but a handful of courses stand out. Napier Golf Club staged the very first Open in 1907. Paraparaumu Beach, on the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington, became the event’s spiritual home — the Alex Russell-designed links (laid out in 1949) has hosted a record twelve New Zealand Opens, including the 2002 edition famous for Tiger Woods’s appearance.

In the modern era the tournament has settled in the Queenstown lakes district. From 2015 to 2019 it was played across two neighbouring courses near Arrowtown — The Hills and Millbrook Resort — in a shared format, before Millbrook became the sole host from 2020 onward. The region’s mountain scenery has made it a signature backdrop for the championship. The Wellington area, home to Paraparaumu Beach, also offers plenty for visitors; our guide to golf in Wellington covers the wider scene.

How is the New Zealand Open structured, and how can you follow it?

The modern New Zealand Open is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour, which is why the leaderboard blends New Zealand and Australian players with a strong contingent from across Asia. It is run partly as a pro-am, pairing professionals with amateur partners over the opening rounds — an unusual feature for an event of its stature.

The prize fund reached NZ$2 million for the 2026 edition, and the championship carries a place in The Open Qualifying Series, meaning its leading finishers can earn a spot in golf’s oldest major. That Open pathway is one of the event’s strongest modern draws: in 2026, runner-up Lucas Herbert secured a berth at The Open through his finish, while champion Daniel Hillier qualified via the DP World Tour rankings. For fans at home, coverage is available through broadcast partners and live scoring; following the Asian Tour and Australasian circuits online is the simplest way to track play. If you also keep an eye on the men’s world tours, our overview of tracking the PGA Tour leaderboard from New Zealand explains how the scoring systems line up.

Why does the New Zealand Open matter to New Zealand golf?

The New Zealand Open matters because it is the single biggest professional golf event the country stages, and one of its few reliable windows onto the international game. For a nation of roughly five million people, it punches well above its weight: it brings a genuine Asian Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia field to Queenstown each summer and gives New Zealand golf a global shop window.

It also functions as a development ladder. Because the field mixes established tour professionals with emerging players and amateurs, the Open gives the country’s best young golfers a rare chance to measure themselves against seasoned competition at home, without the cost of travelling overseas. Several New Zealanders who went on to international careers used the event as an early proving ground, and a strong week can translate directly into ranking points and playing status elsewhere.

Finally, the tournament carries real economic and tourism weight. Staging the event at Millbrook in the height of the Queenstown summer showcases one of the country’s premier resort regions to a television audience across Asia and Australasia, reinforcing New Zealand’s reputation as a world-class golf-travel destination.

Common misconceptions about the New Zealand Open

A few recurring mix-ups are worth clearing up, because they trip up newcomers and casual fans alike.

• It is not the same as The Open. The New Zealand Open is a national open championship, not a major. The Open (or British Open) is a separate event; Ryan Fox’s 2026 Open win was at Royal Birkdale, not in New Zealand.
• There is no current women’s championship. Despite the historic Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson results, the New Zealand Women’s Open has not been held since 2017, so references to an ‘annual’ women’s event are out of date.
• Winning it does not hand over a PGA Tour card. The reward is strong ranking points and, crucially, an Open Qualifying Series pathway — not automatic entry to the US-based PGA Tour.
• The ‘leaderboard’ you may have seen is not a finishing order. Older summaries of the 2023 event circulated an inaccurate top ten; the verified result was a Brendan Jones win with a four-way tie for second.
• It is distinct from the New Zealand PGA Championship. The two are different tournaments with different histories; the Open is the older and more prestigious national title.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

When was the first New Zealand Open held?

The first New Zealand Open was played in 1907 at Napier Golf Club. It was won by the Wellington amateur Arthur Duncan, who finished seven strokes clear of the field with a 159 total over 36 holes.

Who has won the New Zealand Open the most times?

Australia’s Peter Thomson holds the record with nine titles, won between 1950 and 1971. Kel Nagle and New Zealand’s Andy Shaw share second place with seven wins each.

Did Tiger Woods ever win the New Zealand Open?

No. Tiger Woods played the 2002 New Zealand Open at Paraparaumu Beach but finished tied for sixth. Australia’s Craig Parry won that year. Woods entered largely as a favour to his New Zealand caddie at the time, Steve Williams.

Is the New Zealand Women’s Open still played?

No. The last New Zealand Women’s Open was held in 2017, when Canada’s Brooke Henderson won the LPGA-co-sanctioned event at Windross Farm in Auckland. It has not been staged since, and no firm date for a revival has been announced.

Where is the New Zealand Open played now?

In recent years the championship has been hosted at Millbrook Resort near Arrowtown in the Queenstown lakes district. From 2015 to 2019 it shared duties with the neighbouring Hills course, and Millbrook has been the sole venue since 2020.