Air New Zealand Shell Open

Air New Zealand Shell Open
Tournament information
LocationAuckland, New Zealand
Established1975
Course(s)The Grange Golf Club
Par70
Tour(s)PGA Tour of Australasia
New Zealand Golf Circuit
FormatStroke play
Prize fundNZ$300,000
Month playedDecember
Final year1994
Tournament record score
Aggregate264 D. A. Weibring (1985)
To par−21 Bob Shearer (1976)
Final champion
Australia Shane Robinson
Location map
The Grange GC is located in New Zealand
The Grange GC
The Grange GC
Location in New Zealand

The Air New Zealand Shell Open was a golf tournament held in New Zealand between 1975 and 1994. The event was the New Zealand Airlines Classic in 1975 and 1976 and the New Zealand Airlines Open in 1977. The Grange hosted the first and final editions of the event but Titirangi hosted the event the most, 14 times between 1977 and 1991. The only other courses to host the event were Russley (1976) and Wellington (1979).

History

In 1975, the event was formed and hosted by Air New Zealand. In 1977, the event became part of the PGA Tour of Australia's Order of Merit.[1] The following year Shell also became a title sponsor.

The 1979 event coincided with the Mount Erebus disaster. On November 28, the day before the tournament began, Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica. There was much discussion about cancelling the tournament. However, Morrie Davis (CEO of Air New Zealand) decided that the tournament would go on. Australian David Graham won the event.[2]

Winners

Year Tour[a] Winner Score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up Venue Ref.
Air New Zealand Shell Open
1994 ANZ Australia Shane Robinson 274 −6 1 stroke Australia David McKenzie The Grange [3]
1993 ANZ Australia Terry Price 277 −3 1 stroke New Zealand Michael Campbell
United States Brad Faxon
Australia Wayne Riley		 The Grange [4]
1992 ANZ Zimbabwe Nick Price 271 −9 Playoff Australia Lucas Parsons The Grange [5]
1991 ANZ United States John Morse 273 −7 3 strokes Sri Lanka Nandasena Perera Titirangi [6]
1990 ANZ Australia Wayne Riley 268 −12 7 strokes New Zealand Frank Nobilo Titirangi
1989 ANZ United States Don Bies 275 −5 4 strokes Australia Brad Andrews
Australia Glenn Joyner		 Titirangi [7]
1988 ANZ Australia Terry Gale (2) 271 −9 4 strokes United States Hale Irwin
Australia Ossie Moore
Australia Jeff Woodland		 Titirangi [8]
1987 ANZ United States Mike Colandro 270 −10 1 stroke Australia Rodger Davis Titirangi [9]
1986 ANZ Australia Rodger Davis 267 −13 3 strokes Australia Bob Shearer
United States Curtis Strange		 Titirangi [10]
1985 ANZ United States D. A. Weibring 264 −16 1 stroke Australia Rodger Davis Titirangi [11]
1984 ANZ Australia Brian Jones 266 −14 2 strokes Australia Wayne Grady Titirangi [12]
1983 ANZ Australia Bruce Devlin 200[b] −10 1 stroke United States Bobby Clampett Titirangi [13]
1982 ANZ Australia Terry Gale 273 −7 Playoff Australia Wayne Grady Titirangi [14]
1981 ANZ Australia Bob Shearer 265 −15 8 strokes Australia Graham Marsh Titirangi [15]
1980 ANZ Republic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy 268 −12 2 strokes United States Lanny Wadkins Titirangi [16]
1979 NZGC Australia David Graham 279 −5 8 strokes Australia Rodger Davis Royal Wellington [17]
1978 NZGC New Zealand Bob Charles 273 −7 1 stroke Australia Graham Marsh Titirangi [18]
1977 NZGC Australia David Good 278 −2 Playoff Australia Bill Dunk Titirangi [19]
New Zealand Airlines Classic
1976 NZGC Australia Bob Shearer 271 −21 9 strokes United States Bill Brask
New Zealand John Lister		 Russley [20]
1975 NZGC United States Bill Brask 276 −8 1 stroke Australia Peter Thomson The Grange [21]

Notes

  1. ^ ANZ − PGA Tour of Australasia; NZGC − New Zealand Golf Circuit.
  2. ^ Shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

References

  1. ^ "Colour, class and characters bejewelled N.Z. golf open". The Press. 29 October 1977. p. 24. Retrieved 2 March 2023 – via Papers Past.
  2. ^ "White Silence: The 'gloomy' golf tournament overshadowed by the Erebus disaster". Radio New Zealand. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Swede wobbles before taking Open". The Canberra Times. Vol. 70, no. 21, 788. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 12 December 1994. p. 28. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Sizzling finish for Price in NZ Open". The Canberra Times. Vol. 68, no. 21, 426. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 December 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Parsons 'thrilled' with his professional performance despite losing play-off to Pirce". The Canberra Times. Vol. 67, no. 21, 029. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 9 November 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Morse hangs on to capture Open". The Canberra Times. Vol. 66, no. 20, 666. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 11 November 1991. p. 24. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Jones wins rich cup by 4 strokes". The Canberra Times. Vol. 64, no. 19, 745. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 30 October 1989. p. 28. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Four-stroke win to Gale in Air NZ golf". The Age. 12 December 1988. p. 30.
  9. ^ "Colandro's luck changes at last". The Age. 7 December 1987. p. 33.
  10. ^ "Third time lucky for Davis". The Age. 1 December 1986. p. 34.
  11. ^ "Weibring victor in NZ Open". The Canberra Times. Vol. 60, no. 18, 325. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 2 December 1985. p. 20. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Jones steals Open as Grady 'chokes'". The Age. 3 December 1984. p. 27.
  13. ^ "Devlin wins NZ Open". The Canberra Times. Vol. 58, no. 17, 599. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 December 1983. p. 15. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Gale's grit beats late NZ open challenge". The Canberra Times. Vol. 57, no. 17, 236. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 6 December 1982. p. 16. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Shearer wins by 8". The Age. 7 December 1981. p. 27.
  16. ^ "Darcy wins Air NZ Open". The Canberra Times. Vol. 55, no. 16, 503. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 December 1980. p. 16. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Graham by 8 shots". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 140. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 3 December 1979. p. 14. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Charles takes NZ Open". The Canberra Times. Vol. 53, no. 15, 779. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 4 December 1978. p. 20. Retrieved 27 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Good beats Dunk in play off". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 913. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 October 1977. p. 14. Retrieved 28 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "Shearer 21 under card in N. Zealand win". The Canberra Times. Vol. 51, no. 14, 540. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 November 1976. p. 11. Retrieved 28 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ "Easy N.Z. win for Brask". The Canberra Times. Vol. 50, no. 14, 225. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 November 1975. p. 11. Retrieved 28 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.