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<\/a><\/p>\nTE ARAI LINKS, New Zealand \u2013 Strong winds off the Pacific made scoring difficult all week at Te Arai Links, leaving only four golfers under par heading into the final stretch.<\/p>\n
Jim Rohrstaff, the Managing Director at Te Arai Links, said the course performed just as the team hoped it would.<\/p>\n
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Jim Rohrstaff<\/p>\n
The Managing Director of Te Arai Links<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re absolutely thrilled with where we\u2019re at,\u201d Rohrstaff said. \u201cYou know, there are four players in red figures, which we thought, if the weather cooperated, that we\u2019d see some really low scores out here, and that hasn\u2019t really come to fruition. We\u2019ve had some big winds on Thursday, Friday. Yesterday was a beautiful day, very manageable, but some more difficult hole locations. The course is playing exceptional and I think people are really seeing it for what it is, which is a phenomenal links golf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing an event run by The R&A and the Masters Tournament to the venue took nearly four years of planning, starting back in late 2022. However, Rohrstaff noted that hosting big tournaments was never the main goal when the facility was built.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst discussion was December of 2022,\u201d Rohrstaff said. \u201cAnd that would have been with The R&A and with the Masters Tournament. And so that goes back almost four years now. And you know, there\u2019s just been a continuing string of conversations about how do we host an event like this here? We did not plan on being a host venue to large-scale events like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite that, working alongside staff from Augusta National and The R&A turned into a major learning experience for the local crew.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThey\u2019ve been incredible to work with,\u201d Rohrstaff said. \u201cI mean, they\u2019re the most professional institutions in the game of golf. And for us, I think having our team work side by side with them has been \u2013 I think everybody will record this in their career as one of the highlights and milestones.\u201d<\/p>\n