The opening day of the Jennian Homes Charles Tour Taranaki Open has been abandoned due to high winds.
Play got underway at the New Plymouth Golf Club this morning before a vicious southerly change belted up the west coast of the north island bringing wind gusts of more than 60 km/h.
It was deemed several holes were unplayable with the difficult 8th being the main culprit as players battled to keep their ball still on the putting surface.
The decision to abandon play was made at 2pm after a four-hour suspension of play to see if the wind gusts would reduce.
As no change was evident and with the forecast predicting strong winds for the remainder of the day, it was deemed to abandon play for today with those players who had completed holes scores not counting.
The tournament will now be a 54-hole event, with a cut to be made on Saturday where the top 60 and ties will play the final round on Sunday.