“I’m just going to play nine holes and nine holes, obviously I know the courses well enough,” says Campbell.
Local knowledge has twice seen Campbell finish runner-up in previous NZ Opens: 2017, where he lost a three-way playoff to Michael Hendry; and 2023, when he was three shots behind Brendan Jones of Australia.
All smiles for Ben Campbell in Morocco, at the 2024 International Series. Photo / Paul Lakatos, Asian Tour
“I’ve come second a couple of times now, so, yeah, I would love nothing more than to get the win.”
There’s more in his bag than just course knowledge.
“It’s nice when you can sleep in your own bed for a golf tournament.”
Those “own bed” opportunities will be few and far between in the coming weeks. Campbell, a LIV tour member, has an exhausting travel schedule ahead of him.
“The week after the New Zealand Open, I’m flying on Monday up to Hong Kong. So, I’ve got Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa all in a row. It’s a busy start to the year for me.
“I’ll have six vents in seven weeks.”
Crowds lining the Watering Hole during the 2025 LIV Golf Adelaide at The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide. Photo / AAP Images
Campbell says he’s loving life with LIV, and playing team golf.
“I’m on the Range Goats, so Bubba Watson’s my captain. Matt Wolff is also on the team and Peter Uihlein.”
The team is unmissable on course.
“It’s been one of the things I’ve had to get used to, wearing pink. Bubba loves his pink, so pink’s a big, big part of our team’s colours.
The team aspect to LIV has resonated well with Campbell.
“Being able to travel around with the team and [go out for] dinners and things like that. We do spend a lot of weeks away from home, so it’s nice having a group of guys to be able to spend some of those times with.
“Plenty of practice rounds and some of that team aspect. You grow up in New Zealand playing a lot of team sports, and then golf’s obviously very individual. We play for teams championship and things like that. It’s nice sometimes when the golf’s not going great, you know, you got to dig it in for the team.”
Another advantage to playing on the breakaway tour is the length of it.
“We play 14 events from February to August this year, so it’s nice just to be able to get a little bit of an offseason. It’s probably one of the things I’ve really enjoyed, it’s great.
There’s also a constant change in scenery.
“I think this year we go to 10 different countries around the world. I’m really looking forward to South Africa this year, actually. I’ve never been there, never played there, so that’s definitely a nice one to be taking off the bucket list.”
The 2017 NZ Golf Open at Millbrook Resort. Ben Campbell lost in a playoff. Photo / Photosport
The next bucket list item is winning the national open title, and he’s more than happy with where his game is at in the lead up.
Campbell finished tied for 17th in LIV’s Adelaide event just over a week ago, 11 shots behind runaway winner Anthony Kim, but equal with Dustin Johnson and Charl Schwartzel. He was also five shots clear of LIV’s other Kiwi, Danny Lee.
“I had played well in Adelaide for the first couple of rounds [three-under and nine-under]. I didn’t quite finish it off, but the game’s still in really good shape.”
To put that into perspective, Campbell’s second-round score of 63 was the equal-best round in the tournament. He’s arrived home full of confidence, and ready to launch his bid for the 2026 title.
“I think like the key one of the real key keys with Millbrook is actually getting through the par threes. The par threes can actually play quite tricky.
“If you’re level or under par with them for the day, you can really set yourself up for a good score. Playing them well and the par fives. There are plenty of opportunities on the par fours, so yeah, I think the big thing for me is just playing those par threes as well and probably not playing them too aggressive.”
Ben Campbell at the 2024 Hong Kong Open. Photo / Photosport
Campbell knows how important it is to find form with one club in particular at Millbrook.
“They always get the greens amazing for the open. You do have to have a really good week with the putter to be up there.”
The forecast for the four-day tournament is cool, though largely dry. Campbell is hopeful another element will make its presence felt.
“Hopefully, a little bit of wind. Obviously, I know the course well, so, a little bit of wind would be nice, but hopefully the rain stays away.”
Mike Thorpe is a senior multimedia journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.