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 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]

References

1. "Ball takes five stroke win in Wills Classic". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 027. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 December 1964. p. 18. Retrieved 22 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "Win to Devlin in N.Z." The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 September 1963. p. 67.
3. "Devlin in easy go - Six-stroke margin from Ball". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 October 1962. p. 67.
4. "Player's triumph - Tragic shot fatal for Cremin". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 October 1961. p. 48.
5. "Hard hitting Mike for golf classic". The Cumberland Argus. 22 June 1960. p. 23.
6. "Souchak leads in tourney". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 September 1960. p. 19.
7. "Marathon golf to Thomson". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 October 1960. p. 19.