The inaugural Southland Amateur Golf Invitational was ‘born’ as a result of frustration at the loss of the New Zealand Open Tournament which had been scheduled to be played at the Otatara Golf Course in 1977.

A group of golf enthusiasts then considered alternatives for staging their own tournament and although the idea appealed to the golf administrators, the feeling was that there was too little time available to organise an event of this size. Despite this, the original enthusiasts proceeded with (in hindsight) blind faith that the job could and would be done, and the 54-hole teams competition for provincial teams, preceded by a four-ball charity event held on 11-13 November 1977, was a huge success.

A second tournament was discussed with the team managers in attendance at the inaugural competition and they agreed - the format was satisfactory, that an event of this nature was necessary on the national calendar, but that a change of dates from November to March was needed to avoid a clash with the New Zealand Interprovincial Match Play Tournament.

It was decided that the second tournament be held in March 1979, and by this time the New Zealand Golf Association had made available a trophy, the Macquarie Cup, to be competed for annually and presented to the winning provincial association.

In 1990 an additional trophy was presented by two members of the original committee, the Founders Trophy, to be awarded to the best performed provincial team over two rounds (on day two) from the bottom placed seven teams after the first day’s competition. This has added an extra incentive for teams supposedly out of the main competition after the first day’s play.

The SBS Golf Invitational is now an established event on the national golfing scene and with the change in status to the New Zealand Interprovincial Teams Strokeplay Championship has joined the New Zealand Amateur and the New Zealand Interprovincial Match Play Tournament as one of the big three events on the National Amateur Calendar.

The SBS Golf Invitational is unique. It is the only nationally recognised 'open' tournament based upon the format used for the Eisenhower and Espirito Santo World Amateur Teams Championships.

The 2007 tournament has attracted teams representing all 15 provincial associations comprising the New Zealand Golf Association and a Senior Men's team from Australia. The four best scores, from a team of 5 players, from each round are counted towards the team aggregate and the winner is the team with the lowest 72 hole total.

It is an honour that such a prestigious national tournament continues to be based in Southland and organisers can feel justifiably proud of this achievement. On a number of occasions in the past, visiting team managers have paid tribute to the organisers on their magnificent efforts in staging such a competition, a feat which in their opinion, their association would have difficulty in duplicating.

The enthusiasm of numerous local businesses and individuals in sponsoring The SBS Golf Invitational provides the opportunity to encourage and expose amateur golf both locally and nationally.

A large number of professional golfers currently performing with distinction on various circuits around the world, have participated in the Invitational during their amateur careers - Phillip Tataurangi, Grant Moorhead, Steven Alker, Grant Waite, Michael Campbell, Marcus Wheelhouse, Elliot Boult, Greg Turner, Stephen Scahill and David Smail to name but a few.