More than 260 golfers - primarily from the North Island and upper reaches of the South Island - converged on the Lakes District and Central Otago last week to play the inaugural Mount Michael Autumn Classic.
Arrowtown Golf Club manager John Stephens told the Queenstown Times the tournament - in which 267 golfers played five courses in five days - was a "revamp" of the Five Course Classic, which previously had been run by an Auckland-based company.
Mr Stephens said Cale Golf had run the tournament for the past five years. At its peak, it attracted about 450 golfers, but after the 2011 tournament the company had ceased trading.
The companies office shows Cale Golf Ltd as still active, with a sole director, Ewan Cameron, of Auckland.
In July, the Otago Daily Times reported the company went into liquidation, reportedly owing more than $39,000 to the 65-plus people who had signed up for the cancelled Southern Gem tournament, which was to have been held from November 29 to December 4.
Mr Stephens said many clubs were owed an average of $4500 in green fees, but club managers in Queenstown, Arrowtown, Wanaka, Alexandra and Cromwell decided the tournament was too good to go by the wayside.
"It was a great concept, it just wasn't run well," he said.
Mr Stephens joined forces with Wanaka's Grant Bunting, Alexandra's John Roach, Queenstown's Michael Shaddock and Cromwell's Graham Mercer to establish the Mount Michael Autumn Classic.
"We had Mount Michael come on as the major sponsor, which was great, and got 267 people.
"Next year, we will get the 500 maximum [players].
"They were mainly visitors to the area and they had a ball."
Mr Stephens said the tournament would become an annual fixture.
The organising group had also established a website, centralotagogolf.co.nz, which provided information on all courses in the Lakes district and Central Otago regions, he said.
"We decided to brand the area here as a golfing destination ...
hopefully, it will bring a lot of tourists to the area."
2012 Mount Michael Autumn Classic results
Team: Norman Gilbert, Barry Homan, Michael Homan, Peter McKay, 1; Warwick King, Keri Kotua, Thomas Weiss, Lewis Wilson, 2; Jeffrey Brown, Peter Fridd, Laurie Goodson, Sandy Purdon, 3.
Individual men: Granville Jones (Arrowtown), 1; Doug Harradine (Cromwell), 2; Larry Kapinga (South Head), 3; Martin Hickman (Methven), 4.
Individual women: Anne Osment (Lumsden), 1; Helen Baird (Dipton), 2; Judith Walton (Levin), 3; Jane Kim (Russley), 4.
Overall men - Cardrona: Steven Fair (Formosa, Auckland), 1; Alan Hill (Purangi), 2; Alan Walpole (Grand Vue), 3; Peter McKay (Coringa), 4.
Overall men - Clutha: Warwick King (Waahi Taakaro), 1; Kevin Adlam (Coromandel), 2; Callum Maclean (Lincoln), 3; Michael Homan (Rawene), 4.
Women - Shotover: Michelle Sowman (Nelson), 1; Lynley Burgess (Greenacres Country), 2; Lyn Smith (Windsor), 3; Vonnie Fletcher (Poverty Bay), 4.
