Will the third Open to be held at Michael Hill's exclusive course be the last?"Not necessarily," was Tuohy's rather guarded response when asked yesterday.
"It is the last year, contractually, so we are very keen to look at all the options.
"We're working on a formula to go forward, which will be announced some time in April."
Tuohy Associates has been running the Open since it moved to The Hills in 2007, looking for a fresh start after two shaky years at Gulf Harbour.
The first tournament was linked to the European Tour but TA then inked a two-year deal with the PGA's second-tier Nationwide Tour.
That deal, and TA's deal with millionaire businessman Hill, expire after this week's tournament, leading to inevitable speculation the Open may move again.
Tuohy believes Hill, despite appearing unhappy at times at the lack of bureaucratic assistance, is keen for the event to stay.
"Michael wants it, big time.
He wants it for a long time.
This is the right place, at the moment.
Queenstown is a superb destination and the course is wonderful.
"But going forward, I can't prophesy which way it will go."
Tuohy would not speculate on whether Hill would have to pay more or less for naming rights for future Opens.
He said scheduling and co-sanctioning were issues just as pressing as finance.
The Open has skipped from November to March to January, and also changed co-sanctioning partners.
Tuohy said the Nationwide Tour was in its final year of a deal with the Australasian PGA, and it was uncertain if that would continue.
Asked if a return to European co-sanctioning was possible, Tuohy said: "I don't know.
It could be the Iceland tour.
We'll make the best decision for the tournament."
Both the first two Opens finished in the black, the promoter said.
It was a beautiful day at The Hills yesterday, a welcome change from the cold and wet conditions at the start of Open week last year.
Tuohy hopes a crowd of 35,000 to 40,000 will come through the gates over the four days of the tournament.
There is no obvious star in the field, and no Danny Lee or Sir Bob Charles to boost the galleries, but Tuohy is adamant the Open does not need Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson to succeed.
"When you look at the field, depth-wise, I think it's stronger than anything we've had before.
There are players out there with great credentials from both tours.
Getting a leading light to come here is all driven by the budget, and by availability.
Unless you've got half a million dollars, who cares?"If you look at the top 10 players in the world, there's only one you'd pick, and he's now doing other things.
"From No 11 to No 50, who's going to light the tournament up?" Twenty-four young golfers from around Otago will play nine holes, paired with professionals, at The Hills this afternoon.
The pro-am is tomorrow and the first round of the New Zealand Open starts on Thursday morning.
