"Sort out five memorable moments from the New Zealand Open," said the Sports editor. So Dave Cannan trawled through the record books and dusty newspaper files from the previous 91 New Zealand Golf Opens and came up with these on the eve of next week's Michael Hill NZ Open at The Hills . . .
Bobby Locke, Otago Golf Club, Balmacewen, November, 1938(75, 69, 72, 72 for 4-under 288)
Certainly, there would be no-one quibbling about including Bobby Locke and Peter Thomson in that elite group.
Coincidentally, both won titles at the Otago Golf Club's Balmacewen course although, in Thomson's case, he won nine NZ Opens, more of which later.
In addition, they were, arguably, the greatest golfers produced by their countries (South Africa and Australia respectively) and between them won nine British Open championships as well.
In short, golfers of world status during their premier playing days whose stature even now remains unchallenged.
Locke was already being hailed as a future star when he trekked south to Dunedin in November 1938, to take on New Zealand's best in the national championship.
Still not 21, he had already chalked up the South African and Irish Opens in his first year as a professional.
His much-anticipated arrival in Dunedin was preceded by a small but ominous story in the Otago Daily Times which told of Locke beating reigning New Zealand champ John Hornabrook in an exhibition match at Masterton's Lansdowne links by two strokes.
Locke was reported to have "played with machine-like precision; he was coolness and confidence personified".
But in the first round at Balmacewen there were only glimpses of those attributes on the par-73, 6207-yard (5648m) course, shooting a 2-over 75.
But by Saturday, when the final two rounds were played the same day, he had moved up to second, one shot behind Invercargill's B. J. Smith jun.
And then, in the afternoon, with Smith slipping to a 76, Locke's final-round 72 (a course-record 288 total) was enough to give him the win by three shots over Smith and six-time former winner Andrew Shaw (291) and Otago amateur and Dunedin dentist Tony Gibbs (292).
The ODT reported the crowd that followed Locke and Brian Silk in the afternoon was "so big it inconvenienced seriously a number of other competitors with several instances of balls striking spectators, to the detriment of player's scores".
Locke, however, was a popular winner and endeared himself to local supporters with some typically forthright comments at the prizegiving ceremony, saying while the course was short, this was made up for by hills and "provided a good test for all golfers".
He went on to say he was impressed with the standard of golf he'd seen in Dunedin.
"It seems to me that the sportsmen of New Zealand do not realise the high standard of play prevailing throughout the Dominion," he continued, urging local officials to send a New Zealand team to play in England.
"The English players are not as good as they are cracked up to be and their fame is largely built up through publicity."
Locke flew out of Dunedin the next day and duly played in an exhibition match at Miramar, Wellington, where he beat J. D. McIntosh 6-up.
But his New Zealand title was just the start of a fabulous career that saw "Old Baggy Pants" notch more than 70 wins on the PGA, European and South African tours, including the British Open in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1957 and nine South African Opens.
Famous for his enduring quote "you drive for show but putt for dough" Locke was, in fact, one of the great putters and also a natty dresser on course, hence the nickname bestowed on him by Sam Snead.
His career was cut short by a bad car accident in 1959 and, after being elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977, he died 10 years later, aged 69.
Bob Charles, Royal Wellington Golf Club, Heretaunga, 1954 (69, 72, 68, 71 for 8-under 280)
Kiwis would also argue that our greatest golfer, Bob Charles - the man who single-handedly put New Zealand up front on the world's golfing stage - deserves to ranked among the world's best in his prime.
Certainly Sir Bob, as he became, has provided numerous highlights at our national championship for almost 60 years.
And, even though he has won four of the 47 New Zealand Opens he has contested (by his count), it is his first title 56 years ago which is singled out for this feature, for several compelling reasons.
Firstly, Charles was just 18 when he beat Australian pro Bruce Crampton by two shots all those years ago; secondly, he was still an amateur (so Crampton got the winner's cheque) and amateurs rarely win open titles; actually only Australian Harry Berwick (1956 at Shirley, Christchurch) has done it in New Zealand since, and thirdly, because he captured the imagination of New Zealand's sports fans in winning the national championship.
In fact, such was the excitement on course after the gangly and shy teenager was confirmed as the winner, his Masterton golf club team-mates carried him shoulder high off the last green.
The late, great sports writer Terry McLean described the scene thus: "There has never before been a performance like this in New Zealand golf.
I seriously suggest that it compares well, if on a more modest scale, with the epochal achievement of Francis Ouimet in beating Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in 1913 (United States Open) and with the feat of Bobby Locke in winning the South African Open at the age of 18 - though they, bless them, weren't left-handers."
Charles, who continued to work as a bank clerk in Masterton after his win at Heretaunga before turning professional in 1960, went on to win the NZ Open three more times (1966, 1970 and 1973) and of course earned his place in the history books forever by winning the British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 1963.
But that wasn't the last time he would make headlines at the NZ Open.
He lost a three-hole play-off to American Bob Gilder at Shirley in 1974 after a bogey 5 at the last cost him the title outright and then, of course, who could forget his amazing comeback at The Hills in 2007 when, aged 71, he made the cut after two rounds, against all odds, and eventually finished in a tie for 23rd.
Peter Thomson, Otago Golf Club, Balmacewen, November, 1971 (71, 66, 69 70, for 8-under 276)
By 1971, Thomson was well established as one of the world's premier golfers but when he arrived in Dunedin it had been six years since he'd last won this country's championship, having taken a back seat to fellow Australian Kel Nagle, who had three titles in that time.
Thomson, however, was in sublime form at Balmacewen and, according to the ODT report, was the "only player to master the course - playing the last day like an old hand, selecting holes he knew he could birdie".
He and England's Maurice Bembridge were tied at 7-under during the final round but Bembridge then bogeyed the 16th, Thomson birdied the 17th and the title was his by two shots with New Zealander Walter Godfrey a further four shots back equal-third.
It was the Otago Golf Club's centenary year but its Balmacewen course came in for some criticism with tight fairways and fast, difficult greens, made even harder by gusty winds - "the course separated one or two men from the dozens of boys", the ODT noted.
Thomson, however, was quite complimentary about the greens.
" They are better than average, much better than a lot we play on; they are better than the greens at last year's British Open [St Andrews] - and you can quote me as saying so," he said.
Thomson's ninth NZ Open win earned him page one status in the ODT but a week later, in the Otago Charity Classic across town at St Clair, the headlines were devoted to Bob Charles who shot a 69 on the last day to win by six shots with Thomson equal-third with Godfrey.
Thomson, who turned 80 last August, retired from competitive play in the late 1980s, having made his mark on the Seniors tour in the US.
Five years ago, in a rare interview with the ABC network in Australia, he described his golfing life thus: "I've had a very joyful life, playing a game that I loved to play for the sheer pleasure of it and I don't think I did a real day's work in the whole of my life."
Tiger Woods, 6th, Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, to Craig Parry, January, 2002
The world's No 1 golfer flew into Wellington in his $101 million private jet seeking to win the lion's share of the $1 million prize money, having already been guaranteed a reported $5 million appearance fee for the New Zealand Open.
And the fact he didn't win - he never seriously challenged the leaders all week after struggling on the greens - should not detract from the huge impact his presence had at our national championship, although not all of it was as positive as the organisers had hoped for.
Woods went home with $32,300, little more than pocket change, for finishing sixth, six shots behind popular Australian Craig Parry who won with an 11-under total of 273.
But while his appearance at Paraparaumu helped raise the event's overseas profile, the strict security around Woods and its associated inconveniences for both players and spectators alike only added to the negativity created by huge increases in gate prices for fans.
For a start it seemed Woods had won the hearts of many fans who flocked to the course to watch the superstar; even on his practice day more than 4000 people followed him over the closing holes while supermarket owner John Street paid $75,000 (about $280 a minute) to partner Woods in the pro-am, their group attracting a gallery of about 3500.
Woods shot a 7-under 65 that wet Wednesday but he never replicated that form in the tournament proper, finishing with a 2-under 69 on the last day after four-putting the second hole.
Asked what happened on the par 3, Woods replied with a smile: "I missed the first, I missed the second, I missed the third and I holed the fourth."
While getting Woods to New Zealand for the Open was regarded by some as a great coup for the game, it proved a costly exercise for the club and New Zealand Golf.
Several investors in the company Open2002, that ran the tournament, are believed to have lost more than $1 million after the fans voted with their feet - fewer than 40,000 attending over the four days when 70,000 were needed for backers to break even.
But, for all the Woods hoopla alone, you'd have to rate the 2002 Open quite a memorable event!
Richard Finch, The Hills, Arrowtown, November - December 2007 (73, 65, 64, 72 for 14-under 274)
And even after winning by three shots he remains a fairly low-profile professional - although he did make news bulletins around the world six months later when he won the Irish Open at Limerick despite falling into the River Maigue after playing his third shot to the 18th green on the final day.
But the affable Finch didn't make it into this list of memorable New Zealand Opens for his playing prowess, even though he became the first Englishman to win the championship.
No, Finch's Open was memorable because of the occasion and because the tournament, being held in the South Island for the first time in 22 years, defied all the doomsayers by being the most successful held for many years.
Consider this. The venue, Michael Hill's private course, had never been open to the public and was untried and untested by professional golfers although it came with big raps from Sir Bob Charles and a handful of other top golfers.
The event, having stagnated in the North Island in previous years, was a financial albatross around the neck of New Zealand Golf, which took quite a gamble by handing over much of the organisation and financial risk, to promoter Bob Touhy and the entrepreneurial Michael Hill.
And, to cap off the odds against its success, the Open was held in early summer and during a non-holiday time, so big crowds were not expected. Yet more than 32,000 fans packed the spectator-friendly course over the four days.
In short, the 2007 Open was successful beyond anyone's dreams.
Greg Turner, writing in The Cut magazine, said: "Michael Hill hosted an event of extraordinary standing and golfers around the country should be most grateful".
NZ Golf CEO Bill MacGowan said the event was the start of a new era: "This is what it has been about; turning the New Zealand Open into an event, not just a golf tournament."
And Hill had the final word: "I'm going to make the event famous; I doubt they will take the bloody thing off us!"
