Golf officials are standing by Christchurch as venue for the Australasian PGA Tour's New Zealand Open, despite ongoing earthquakes there.
New Zealand Golf (NZG) remained committed to staging the championship at Clearwater Resort, which escaped damage from the February 22 quake in which 181 people were killed, chief executive Dean Murphy said on Wednesday.
Christchurch residents were still being unnerved by quakes, with a magnitude 5.4 shake on Tuesday night.
Christchurch lost its Rugby World Cup matches after the February 22 quake, with AMI Stadium badly damaged and the loss of suitable accommodation for players and fans.
Much of the central business district remains cordoned off due to the structural damage caused to buildings, and aftershocks have most hurt the eastern suburbs, with the reappearance of liquefaction, loss of essential services and damage to their homes.
Clearwater, on the western outskirts of the city, has been spared damage, and Murphy remained confident the Open will go ahead as planned there on December 1-4.
"Clearwater and that half of the city are up and running and Clearwater has not been affected," Murphy said.
NZG had done due diligence on the number of available hotel and motel beds and he was comfortable Christchurch could provide the level of services required to accommodate an influx of people for the championship.
He estimated up to 2000-3000 beds were needed per night, taking in players, wives, caddies, support crews, tournament organisers and staff, plus visitors and news media specifically there to watch the championship.
NZG has looked at billeting some players with the assistance of Clearwater Resort to help ease demand, but Murphy said "we are comfortable that there is still a lot of capability for hotel accommodation in Christchurch".
Christchurch, which last hosted the New Zealand Open in 1984, was unveiled as the venue for the next three years the day before the Februaryquake struck.
A minimum purse of $NZ500,000 ($A385,000) is guaranteed, international car dealership BMW has been brought on board as the naming rights sponsor and the championship is to be sanctioned by the Australasian PGA.
The previous three editions of the championship, held on jeweller Michael Hill's outstanding private course outside of Queenstown, carried larger purses and sanctioning from the Nationwide Tour, the second tier circuit in the United States.
