Twenty years, four convenors and comradeship that is immeasurable.

A night devoted to all things nine-hole golf has been celebrated with a 20^th Anniversary Dinner at Tauranga Golf Club.

The club boasts a long history of nine-hole golf, being the place in which the division originated from.

Convenor Marion Guy says the 20^th Anniversary event has been a great chance to celebrate the sport, share stories, enjoy a laugh and catch up with old friends.

'Nine-hole golf started in Tauranga 20 years ago, it was originally called Honda Nine Hole Golf, named after its sponsors.

'Phyll Sandlant established it and she really drove it. Since then there's only been three other convenors with myself being the fourth.”

Marion says the dinner had more than 100 people in attendance on Wednesday night.

'It was a gathering of people catching up which was quite amazing really.

'There was also a light-hearted presentation on the night by Anne McLeod who put together a collation of photos of those who have played in the division over the past 20 years.

'The comradery is amazing, we've done a lot of fun things together over the years like bus trips, different tournaments and events like ‘Grandmother Days' so we're quite a close club.

'And we're still the biggest club in New Zealand for nine-hole.”

As a tribute to old times, Honda came on board once more, with the Bay of Plenty branch sponsoring raffle prizes during the night, says Marion.

'Everyone had lots of fun, lots of laughs and they've enjoyed catching up. Some people even stayed after the event to catch up and reminisce.

'Some of the girls on the committee were even the inaugural founding members and they're still as active as ever.”

That includes Marion herself, who has been involved in nine-hole golf for more than 16 years. She says she still plays weekly.

Phyll Sandlant and Marion Guy cutting the cake.

'My Dad had always played golf at Tauranga Golf Course but it wasn't until sometime during 2003 that a friend of mine, who played nine-hole at the time, encouraged me to give it a go. I took it up and I love it.

'The best thing is meeting a lot of other people and the social aspect to it but you can make the division as competitive as you want it to be.

'Nine-hole is great too because it's also a shorter commitment of time, you can play a round of golf and be home before the end of the morning.”

One of the pitfalls she says, however, is in gaining the right recognition, but it's a situation she says is improving.

'Often we aren't recognised as being legitimate, but I think it's becoming more of a recognised sport nowadays.”

Tauranga Golf Club president Michael Smith says the club has a vibrant nine-hole division.

'It's consistently run at about 100 members, which proves there's a really good market for that type of golf.

'Historically, there's been this view that nine-hole golf is a stepping stone for women to get into golf and then graduate through to full 18 hole players.

'This has been seriously disproved in that its own form of the game, and most of the women who have been through the ranks, have only ever wanted to play nine-hole.”

Michael, who is also the deputy chair of the New Zealand Golf board, says from a national and international perspective there has been a drive to bring innovation to golf as a whole.

'To keep the game relevant, there's been a need to work up shorter forms of the game, similar to what's happened with cricket and rugby.

'So our club has been way ahead of the curve in doing this, based on their appetite for involvement.”

He says this much is clear when comparing the Tauranga club to others.

'Some clubs around the country still haven't got their head around nine hole being a relevant category of membership. While they do allow for shorter format forms of golf, they don't treat them as full members and they don't allow them to vote at annual meetings.

'Tauranga Golf Club has always treated their nine-hole golfers as an equal class, for a number of years, we estimate over 20 years they've contributed about one-million-dollars' worth of funds to the club. In terms of life-blood that's gold.”

Michael says the division continues to flourish.

'New Zealand Golf has been working with RNA, the governing body of golf, and looking at helping to develop shorter forms of the game.

'They have embraced nine hole as a format, at a global competition they will be hosting and the winners of which will play at the UK Open on the Saturday before the event.

'It's come to a point where it's relevant and part of the competition.”