Wills Classic

The Wills Classic was a series of golf tournaments held in Australia and New Zealand from 1960 to 1964. The first event in 1960 was contested by four players over nine different courses between 17 September and 2 October; the winner was determined by the aggregate score. Total prize money was A£5,100. The players were Stan Leonard, Gary Player, Mike Souchak and Peter Thomson. In 1961, the event became a 72-hole tournament with prize money of A£3,000. From 1963, the Australian tournament was replaced by the Wills Masters and the Classic event was moved to New Zealand. The New Zealand tournaments were part of the New Zealand Golf Circuit and had prize money of NZ£2,000. The sponsor was W.D. & H.O. Wills, a cigarette manufacturer.

Wills Classic

Tournament information
Location	Wellington, New Zealand
Established	1960
Course(s)	Royal Wellington Golf Club
Par	70
Tour(s)	New Zealand Golf Circuit
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	£NZ2,000
Month played	September
Final year	1964
Tournament record score
Aggregate	266 Ted Ball (1964)
To par	−14 as above
Final champion
Ted Ball
Location map
Royal Wellington GC Location in New Zealand

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Venue	Ref.
1964	Ted Ball	266	−14	5 strokes	Barry Coxon Bob Tuohy	Wellington	[1]
1963	Bruce Devlin (2)	287	−5	4 strokes	Ted Ball Kel Nagle	Russley	[2]
1962	Bruce Devlin	281	−7	6 strokes	Ted Ball	The Australian	[3]
1961	Gary Player	286	−2	3 strokes	Eric Cremin	The Lakes	[4]
1960	Peter Thomson	633	−15	3 strokes	Gary Player	Various[5]	[6][7]