Air New Zealand Shell Open

Golf tournament

Air New Zealand Shell OpenTournament information

Location| Auckland, New Zealand
Established| 1975
Course(s)| The Grange Golf Club
Par| 70
Tour(s)| PGA Tour of Australasia
New Zealand Golf Circuit
Format| Stroke play
Prize fund| NZ$300,000
Month played| December
Final year| 1994
Tournament record score
Aggregate| 264 D. A. Weibring (1985)
To par| −21 Bob Shearer (1976)
Final champion
Shane Robinson
Location map

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[edit]

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[edit]

Year  | Tour[a] | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of
victory | Runner(s)-up | Venue | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

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

## Notes[edit]

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

## References[edit]

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.