Australian Daniel Valente and local golfer Sean Riordan led the way in qualifying as the field was finalised for the New Zealand Open starting near Christchurch on Thursday.
Valente and Riordan are two of 26 players to book a start in the $NZ500,000 ($A396,000) tournament at Clearwater Golf Club which is co-sanctioned with the Australasian PGA Tour.
Riordan will play the tournament for the first time after shooting a four-under-par 68 in the one-round qualifying event played in blustery conditions on Monday at the Russley Golf Club.
One stroke back were Valente and New Zealand professionals Troy Ropiha and Anthony Doyle.
The field is dominated by Australians – among them Steven Jones and Peter O’Malley – although several notable Kiwi golfers will tee off, including Mark Brown, Gareth Paddison, Michael Hendry, Ryan Fox and Mahal Pearce, who were all prominent at the Australian Masters in Melbourne.
Unavailable were New Zealand No.1 Danny Lee, who is trying to qualify for next year’s US PGA Tour, and resurgent former US Open champion Michael Campbell, who has ruled out a late appearance.
Australian Brad Kennedy, who beat compatriot Craig Parry in a playoff to win last year’s title, is not returning.