With just 14 days until tee-off in the 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open, preparations are in full swing at The Hills near Arrowtown - flags are flying, the scoreboard is up and Mainstreet is already taking shape.
Plans for the extended Mainstreet - this year featuring 40 "tenants" - were announced by Tuohy Associates New Zealand Sales and Marketing manager Mike Godinet yesterday.
The number of corporate displays and activities had more than doubled from the last event, he said, and now included a Heineken bar, coffee shops, wine outlets, retail displays, event merchandising outlets and a sandpit for the youngest fans.
However, the biggest change - and one expected to be the biggest hit with golf fans - was the decision to move the players' "lounge" from inside the clubhouse, on to Mainstreet.
The lounge would now be placed beside the "Championship Club" at the very beginning of the street.
"In 2007 the players' lounge was in the clubhouse - the public never saw them, but now the players' lounge is situated right [in a public area]," Godinet said.
Players would also likely be making the most of a practice area, including a bunker, beside their base.
"Golf is probably the only sport in the world where the players and supporters are within touching distance.
"It doesn't matter whether you're Tiger Woods, there's a close proximity.
"To be able to watch players practise as part of Mainstreet, I think that will be quite an attraction."
The Open attracted more than 30,000 spectators in 2007 and this year could be even bigger.
"It is more than a golf event in the same way that New Zealand Cup day at Addington is more than a horse race.
"It is a social event and people are just looking forward to coming to Queenstown for that reason.
"Mainstreet really turns the Michael Hill New Zealand Open into something more than a golf tournament . . . I'm sure there were people that came in 2007 that didn't see a lot of golf, but spent a lot of time on Mainstreet."
