Almost exactly 12 months ago, The Hills golf course in Arrowtown was basking in the sun and in the glory of hosting a momentous and successful New Zealand Golf Open.
Next Saturday, a year to the day after that event, The Hills will host another golfing open, this time raising money for the Cure Kids charity.
The Hills general manager Sam Gent said the two-day open had just one space for four players left in the Sunday round of golf, to fill the capacity field of 72 players.
Each day was a discrete event with its own prizegiving and a variety of prizes, Ms Gent explained.
The winner will be whisked off from The Hills Club House in an Over The Top helicopter, with course owner Michael Hill to keep them company, then returned after the flight.
Cure Kids ambassadors would be around the course on the day, with promising Cromwell College golfers taking charge of "drinks carts".
Ms Gent said a champagne marquee and Waiwera Water would be on hand to refresh participants. "We've kept it really, really local - there are so many things that are for celebrities, the New Zealand Golf Open and Pro Am, all of the rich people get to come and do it, but the idea was all about allowing real locals, who don't ever get to come and play on our course to enjoy it."
Money raised will help find preventions and cures for illnesses affecting about 20,000 young New Zealanders.
Ms Gent said the Cure Kids Open, which members of an Otago or Southland golf club paid a $330 fee to enter, started off "really small".
"But we intend that this [event] will be the first of an annual [series].
"We'll be keeping it so that the locals get access [to The Hills] easier."
Ms Gent said The Hills Cure Kids Open would begin at 11am on November 29 and 30 with a "shotgun start", having each team of four starting from a different hole on the course.
Mr Hill would be playing in a team on both days and help would be on hand via Kelvin Heights professional Craig Palmer.
Prizes available included for the longest drive and for closest to the pin.
