However, it has not yet signed any name players for the event.
The 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open was confirmed for The Hills course, near Arrowtown, on March 12-15, with the event part of both the Australasian Tour and the Nationwide Tour.
The date had already been named by event promoter Tuohy Associates early last month.
"There is still huge public interest in the event, and there has been a lot of rumour around that date being the one.
"But we couldn't confirm it until the contracts were signed, which happened over the weekend," New Zealand Golf chief executive Bill MacGowan said yesterday.
Hills owner Michael Hill said he could see nothing but positives in the dates, and the course was looking unbelievably good.
The Open has been co-sanctioned with the European Tour for the past three years and was held at the end of November last year but, after the European Tour only offered one more year and unsuitable dates for the tournament, New Zealand Golf decided to link with the Nationwide Tour.
The Nationwide Tour is the tour below the US PGA Tour and has plenty of promising golfers looking to make the step-up.
The 154-strong field for the 91st Open will be made up of Australian Tour, Nationwide Tour players and New Zealand Golf entries.
MacGowan said he could not confirm how many entries New Zealand Golf would get until the entry numbers from the other tours were finalised, but many promising players would head south.
He said New Zealand Golf was in touch with Michael Campbell and his representatives as recently as last Friday and, depending on Campbell's schedule, he was a possibility to play.
The same was true of Sir Bob Charles and other New Zealanders such as Tim Wilkinson.
Top New Zealand amateur Danny Lee was another possibility, but nothing has been confirmed.
Defending champion Richard Finch, of England, had yet to confirm he was returning.
The Open will complete the Australasian swing of the Nationwide Tour, following the Moonah Classic near Melbourne on February 26 to March 1, and the NZPGA Championship at Clearwater, Christchurch, on March 5-8.
The Open's agreement with the Nationwide Tour was for two years, with the possibility of extending that for another two years.
MacGowan said those three events would make up a mini-tour and there might be an order of merit with a prize for the money for the three-event swing, but that had yet to be finalised.
Television coverage had been secured on Sky Television and March was a far better time to stage the Open as the weather was more settled.
Tuohy Associates sales and marketing manager Mike Godinet said although the event was not far away it was still too early for many players.
"Most players at this time of year are just looking to finish the year and then go away on holiday.
They'll come back in the new year and have a look at their schedule," Godinet said.
He said many players were in qualifying tournaments over the next few weeks which would dictate where they played.
Prize money is about the same, about NZ$1 million (US$600,000), and will be paid out in US dollars.
Tickets bought after February 8 are $5 dearer than last year.
About 35,000 attended the Open last year, and Godinet was hoping to match that if not better it next year.
Accommodation should not be a problem in Queenstown with more motels being opened, he said.
The Open was to be held at the Hills for the next two years at least.
Sponsorship for the Open was not suffering from the credit squeeze, with most sponsors signed on for the long term while Godinet doubted smaller sponsors would be affected.
Hill said the event would attract more people to this part of the world, as the tournament was at the end of the three-event tour.
It had been hard to get the course suitable in spring, but March was far more suitable.
