by Michael Donaldson | Sep 2, 2020 | Courses, features
A new golf course owned by jeweller Michael Hill sits in elite company alongside Augusta National as one of the world’s best par-3 courses according to the influential Golf magazine. Hill’s latest venture, known as The Farm, opened last year. The nine-hole par-3...
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 Michael Donaldson | Jul 13, 2020 | Courses
The first tee at Muriwai Golf Club offers one of the best opening hole vistas in New Zealand – and it just gets better from there. The links layout butts up against the famous surf beach on Auckland’s West Coast – it’s so close to the beach that the Muriwai Surf Life...
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...
