Golf is often identified as New Zealand’s most popular sport. Moreover, the beauty of nature and the fresh green terrains of New Zealand have favoured making some of the best golf courses in the world. Golfers in New Zealand can witness the 18 holes against the backdrop of several awesome vistas such as lush green hillsides, splendid rock formations, and royal blue water stretches.
In addition, the internet and online platforms allow golf enthusiasts to enjoy playing at online casinos at their convenience. This site offer a wide range of gambling games, and golf enthusiasts can find fun and entertainment by playing games such as poker or blackjack.
In fact, in New Zealand, golf tourism is an active sector, which a tourist wishes not to miss when they make a tour of New Zealand. On average, the net worth of the golf industry in NZ stands out to be $54 million of the annual GDP. But apart from golf, online gambling has been on the rise in New Zealand of late. This is facilitated by the large variety of operators that are available in this country. The reviews on all sorts of online casinos and casino games will help him with that. Read the information and make the right choice.
This proves that the Kiwis are particularly crazy about golf, they often visit NZ bookmakers from CasinoDeps list and at least 500,000 of them have at least registered themselves as club members or played golf. In New Zealand, one can witness the enriched spirit of golf, and this allowed the world to recognize some of the best golfers in the world.
All-Time Top golf players in New Zealand:
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Michael Campbell
Michael Shane Campbell, popularly known as Michael Campbell is a heartthrob of the kiwis. Born on February 23, 1969, in Hawera, Taranaki, this Maori-born player is known for bringing home 15 professional wins. He is also known to have won the 2005 US open, and the richest cash prize in golf, i.e ‘1000,000 Euros HSBC World Match Play Championship.
He has a massive number of 8 wins on the European Tour, and 7 winnings on the PGA Tour of Australia. He is also known for being the co-founder of the Project Lifefoot Trust, a body that works extensively to help New Zealand community sports clubs to reduce the impact on the environment, as well as save money.
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Mark Brown
Another popular star that the Kiwis simply swoon over is Mark Brown. Born in February 9, 1975, in Lower Hutt, the player started off with a rough patch in his youthful days, without much success in the PGA Tour of Australia, the Canadian Tour, and the Asian Tour. However, in 2007 he ended up having 4 top-10 finishes in the Asian Tour, and 15th in the ‘Order of Merit’.
His success rate was increasing exponentially with every match. Furthermore, in 2009, he witnessed his wins in the first Asian Tour event, the SAIL Open Golf Championship held at Jaypee Greens, India. He also won the Johnnie Walker Classic in a row. His outstanding performance placed him 64th in the Official World ranking chart, the highest-ranking NZ player then.
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Lydia Ko
Also known as Bo-Gyung Lydia Ko, this Korean-born player is perhaps the most successful of all female golfers in New Zealand. Not only does she have 23 professional wins, but she also brought a silver medal in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics, and a bronze in the 2020 Olympics.
She won 17 LPGA Tours, 6 Ladies European Tour, 1 LPGA of Korea Tour, and 5 ALPG Tour. She also achieved the title of ‘No.1-ranked woman’ professional player on February 2nd, 2015, when she was just 17 years 9 months. This makes her the youngest female player to be ranked as the No. 1 professional player.
Top Supporters of Kiwi Golfers:
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Watch Companies
Golf playing and golf stars are adorned by numerous fans of all ages. Most young fans have taken up the fashion statements from their favourite golf players. Watches and golf complement each other since it represents the culmination of two different luxury worlds. Elite and reputed golfers are also known by the watch brands they carry on their wrists.
Rolex is definitely the most preferred choice. The famous trio, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer, together known as the “The Big Three” have worn Rolex for over a decade. Other big brands of value are Audemars Piguet, and Omega, which have actively sponsored the kiwis, and tournaments.
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Gambling Operators
Betting operators are a source of financial transactions during sports matches. On one hand, they provide sponsorship for training amateur players, and on the other, they actively finance several tournaments too.
The Kiwis have themselves voted Bet365 as their favourite bookie. Other important gambling operators include Betway, 888Sport, Leovegas, 22Bet, Rabona, etc.
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Luxury Car Producers
Luxury car brands such as Volkswagen have celebrated heritage in New Zealand, and have been an active part of the Kiwis since 1977. Inspired by the celebrity status of golf in New Zealand, Volkswagen introduced the recent ‘Volkswagen Golf’.
The Giltrap Group has been a leading car dealer in NZ. It has aided in sponsoring many golf events too. BMW undoubtedly remains undefeated when it comes to sponsorship of events, as well as players.
Conclusion
Golf is an integral part of the life of the Kiwis. The golf players have attained celebratory status over time. Several golf stars are esteemed as legends of the New Zealand Golf industry. Nick Voke (world ranking 44), Daniel Hillier (world ranking 67), Ryan Chisnall (world ranking 81), etc are just a few to name.
Children from a very young age are very passionate about taking golf as their career and proceeding with it, and the success rate of the Kiwis in the golfing industry can easily be traced from it.