Gent said yesterday it had been a "frustrating" year, waiting for the announcement.
Michael Hill's Arrowtown course first hosted the tournament in November 2007, then again in March 2009 and in January this year.
However, New Zealand Golf has delayed an announcement on the host venue of the 2011 tournament.
The Hills has made no secret of its desire to secure the tournament for five years.
Despite the frustrations, Gent said The Hills was prepared to do "whatever it takes" to host the Open again.
"That's about building relationships and making sure the right thing is done.
"It's frustrating, but ... as time went on we realised that 2011 was not necessarily something we could engage in.
"2012 has really come from us ... we were really running out of time."
Gent said Hill believed New Zealand should be looking for leverage from the 2011 Rugby World Cup. For the New Zealand Open, that may mean trying to align with the OneAsia tour to "lift the tournament".
Rumours have been circulating for months that Clearwater, in Christchurch, would be named the host of the 2011 tournament, with a likely shift back to The Hills the following year.
However, Gent said she did not know "where that's coming from" and it was "not something we can necessarily comment on".
Other rumours of an alleged "rift" between Hill and tournament promoters Bob Tuohy and Associates were "not true", she said.
"The rumours that there's any kind of problems with the relationships are not true.
"We have got a blank page. Everybody should be able to pitch for the Open ... in an honest way, not behind closed doors.
"Everybody, including the venues, should be able to have a fair pitch.
"I keep asking for the same thing as everybody else - when are we going to know? All the timeframes and all of the deadlines ... have come and gone," she said.
"We always said the November date was always great to do for Queenstown because it was a shoulder season.
"If we've got a five-year [deal] locked and loaded we may have a better chance of getting a date [and keeping it].
"On November 26 and 27 we've got the Cure Kids Open and the reason we started that event was because after 2007 we were not given a date.
"Everybody kept asking 'what's happening' so we put a stake in the ground and made a tournament that would be held at the same time every year, and if we didn't get the Open we would grow this event."
This year's Cure Kids Open had attracted 52 players for the two-day tournament, boasting $30,000 in prizes.
"Along the track, who knows if that's something we can build into the Open?"
• North Harbour newcomer Reg Fleet came from behind to halve his match and secure the Freyberg Masters provincial title for his team at Invercargill yesterday, NZPA reports.
North Harbour edged out defending champion Wellington 3-2 in a tense final.
It gave North Harbour its fourth victory in seven years. It also made amends for last year when it was beaten by Wellington in the semifinals.
Fleet, one of the newcomers to the North Harbour line-up this year, came back from two-down with five holes to play to grab the vital half.
Mosley, who has been an integral part of the North Harbour success since 2005, said his team played outstanding golf on the demanding Otatara course at the Invercargill Golf Club.
"It was sweet revenge for us today."
Mosley said his team's tight win over perennial rival Auckland 3-2 in the morning semifinal was the turning point.
North Harbour had to dig deep to win its morning semifinal with wins to Reg Fleet, Mark Dawson and Mosley.
Wellington showed its experience to dispose of Waikato 4-1 in the other semifinal.
• Results. -
Final: North Harbour 3 Wellington 2 (Reg Fleet and Jeff Sims all square, Mark Dawson and Peter Brinsdon all square, Waka Donnelly lost to Malcolm Gullery 3 and 2, Phil Mosley beat Tam Slaven 3 and 2, Rob Noffke beat Rodney Barltrop 5 and 4).
Semifinals: North Harbour 3 Auckland 2 (Fleet bt Martin Tumata 2 and 1, Dawson bt Richard Griffin 2 and 1, Donnelly lost to Tony Treen 1 down, Mosley beat Mike Leitch 3 and 2, Noffke lost to David Headland 1 down), Wellington 4 Waikato 1 (Sims beat Andrew McKenzie 5 and 4, Brindsdon lost to Phil Hunter 1 down, Gullery beat Wybo Veldman 2 and 1, Slaven beat Ken Shea 1 up, Barltrop beat Mike Karl 1 up).
