by Phil Hamilton | Aug 25, 2020 | Courses
The list of New Zealand courses that sit on land tailor-made for golf is a very short one. Paraparaumu, Arrowtown, maybe Tara Iti, and Waverley are about it. The small South Taranaki course appears to be well out of its weight class in this company but the terrain...
by Phil Hamilton | Jul 30, 2020 | Courses
Set on a ridge above the lake, Wanaka Golf Club is a cut above the usual small-town course. The front nine, unquestionably the better half, is fittingly hilly for a course set in the mountains. Steady tree-clearing over the past 20 years has opened up the lake views...
by Phil Hamilton | Jul 22, 2020 | Courses
Harewood is a great advertisement for intelligent golf course renovations, something sadly too rare in New Zealand writes Phil Hamilton. From the road the course doesn’t look too promising as the land is as flat as Christchurch Airport, which it borders, while...
by Phil Hamilton | Jun 28, 2020 | Courses, features
Golf architecture buff Phil Hamilton rates his top-10 New Zealand courses. New Zealand has among the most golf courses per capita in the world but until recently the quality of those courses, apart from a couple of notable exceptions, was pretty ropey. However, over...
by Phil Hamilton | Jun 28, 2020 | features
Little-known Waverley and Arrowtown are the big winners in legendary architect Tom Doak’s latest guide to New Zealand golf courses writes Phil Hamilton. The straight-talking American architect, who designed modern masterpieces Tara Iti, Cape Kidnappers and...
