New Zealand
There are currently 396 golf courses in NZ and according to Golf New Zealand, the country’s governing body, almost 250,000 adults play golf each year in NZ, making golf the highest participation sport in the country. It’s the No.1 one sport for men and the No.2 sport for women just behind netball. We are surprised, given the popularity of golf in New Zealand, that nobody has yet produced a New Zealand Top 100, but we went half way towards such a national listing by creating a Top 50 in 2015. The figures quoted were rather impressive: club membership up from 105,976 in 2019 to 115,835 (+9.3%), with identified casual golfer numbers also rising from 117,510 to 135,609 (+15.5%). Not only that, the number of rounds of golf played in the second half of the year grew by 26% when compared to the corresponding period a year earlier.
Te Arai Links (North)
North Island, New Zealand
Te Arai Links (North)
Unveiled in 2023, the North course at Te Arai is the second of two brilliant 18-hole layouts to operate at an exciting new public-access golf complex that’s owned and operated by fund manager Ric Kayne and managing partner Jim Rohrstaff – who are also both involved in the nearby golf development at Tara Iti.
Te Arai Links (South)
North Island, New Zealand
Te Arai Links (South)
Debuting in 2022, the South course at Te Arai was the first of two stellar 18-hole layouts to operate at an exciting new public-access golf complex which is owned and operated by fund manager Ric Kayne and managing partner Jim Rohrstaff – who are also both involved in the nearby golf development at Tara Iti.
Cape Kidnappers
North Island, New Zealand
Cape Kidnappers
The longest drive at Cape Kidnappers is between the public road and the clubhouse. But once on the course, if you can keep your eyes off the cliff top views, the main golfing points are the bunkers and the greens.
Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club
North Island, New Zealand
Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club
Host to twelve New Zealand Opens, the first in 1959, Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club is a New Zealand household name.
The Kinloch Club
North Island, New Zealand
The Kinloch Club
The Kinloch Club pays homage to the great British and Irish links courses, although it is about as far from the ocean as you can get in New Zealand.
Jack's Point
South Island, New Zealand
Jack's Point
The golf course at Jack’s Point is nestled between 2,300 vertical metres of the saw-toothed, razorback Remarkables mountain range and the majestic Lake Wakatipu to the east...
Kauri Cliffs Golf Course
North Island, New Zealand
Kauri Cliffs Golf Course
Playing Kauri Cliffs golf course is quite a formidable test and I’m sure I’m not alone in fearing that a mounting tally of lost balls was beginning to detract from the views.
Titirangi Golf Club
North Island, New Zealand
Titirangi Golf Club
Formed in 1909 as Maungakiekie Golf Club, Titirangi Golf Club, as it is now known, is the only course in New Zealand that can say it has Alister MacKenzie as its golf course architect.
Arrowtown Golf Club
South Island, New Zealand
Arrowtown Golf Club
The course at Arrowtown Golf Club is a little masterpiece with fairways threaded through tiny valleys, between boulders, or over gorges with greens nestling snugly into hillsides.
