Titirangi, 11 Links Road, New Lynn, Auckland 0600
- Titirangi, meaning 'Fringe of Heaven' in Maori, is a historic golf club on the outskirts of Auckland, featuring the only course in the country designed by renowned architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie.
- Established in 1914, MacKenzie redesigned the course during his Australasian tour in 1926, spending two weeks at Titirangi without substantially altering the original routing.
- Despite occasional narrowness, the design feels spacious, playing longer than the scorecard suggests. Notable features include impressive par threes, such as the triple-tier 7th green and the Redan-styled 11th.
- A mid-1990s masterplan program, guided by MacKenzie's original drawings, successfully restored the course, addressing issues like overplanting. The improvements make Titirangi a challenging and enjoyable golf destination, showcasing MacKenzie's genius.
Te Arai Links, 11 Te Ara Whenua, Miharo Kotiti, Tomarata 097
- The world has been waiting with baited breath for Tom Doak's North course at Te Arai to open. When it did, in October 2023, it immediately garnered fantastic reviews.
- Doak describes the course thus -
- The North Course starts and finishes on the ocean, but for me the unique character of the course will be found inland. The green of the par-4 5th hole, and the next tee, sit high on a ridge adjacent to an ancient Māori Pa, or hill fortress, built from the largest dune on the property, while the 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th greens sit in a shared bowl amongst the dunes.
- Possibly the most dramatic holes on the course will be the 11th and 13th. The former is a long par-5 with an elevated green and a ‘whirlpool’ hazard to the right, some seven meters below the green. The 13th is a long par-4 with its green at the edge of a huge natural bunker, so that second shots have to be played over the sand or safely around to the left. It’s a hole very reminiscent of Pine Valley in New Jersey, and indeed so is much of the inland terrain at Te Arai.
- The South course, designed by Coore and Crenshaw, opened a year before Doak's North and has gone straight into GOLF World Top 100 at number 85.
- The magazine's description is enough to make you want to get on a plane straight away
- Playing Te Arai South is a beautiful experience where the linksland rises perfectly from the beach, mesmerizing the golfer with white sand below, the Pacific Ocean beyond and the islands in the distance.
- Whilst the early holes dance in and out of the woods, from the 5th hole onwards, Te Arai South unfolds into a mind-bendingly fun stretch of coastal golf featuring thrilling short holes, an array of fun short fours and some bold, diverse, restrained and zany greens punctuated by the Sitwell inspired sixteenth.
- No commentary on the South course at Te Arai is complete without a nod to the wee 17th which, no matter how hard the wind is blowing, is one of the greatest 100 yard holes in world golf.”
Cape Kidnappers Golf Course, 446 Clifton Road, Te Awanga 4180
- GOLF Magazine have just ranked this Tom Doak as the 55th best course in the world and their write-up captures the course well -
- Drone shots of this course are evocative, showing holes located on fingers of land 500 feet above the Pacific Ocean. But golf is played from the ground, not the air, and that’s just fine here as the tumbling landforms are ideal for golf.
- The course’s most famous hole is also its most feared, the 650-yard, par-5 15th, which falls away on both sides of the fairway and sports a horizon green perched precariously on a bluff overlooking the ocean.
- Architecture buffs are likely to be just as captivated by the playing angles at the preceding hole, a short two-shotter with a Road Hole green complex.
- Doak completed a renovation of the Cape Kidnappers golf course in 2023.
- Doak's associate Angela Moser and course superintendent Brad Sim worked on the project, which included regrassing greens and fairways with the aim of restoring firm and fast conditions ahead of the courses 20th anniversary in 2024.
Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, 376 Kapiti Road, Paraparaumu Beach, Paraparaumu 5252
- There is no doubt that Paraparaumu Beach is a true links. The course is actually slightly inland from the coast, but the rectangular site is pure, sandy links ground, including all of the wonderful undulations and bumps that sort of terrain gives you.
- The course was designed by Alex Russell and opened for play in 1949. Russell created something very special. If you build a course perched on the edge of the ocean, the setting gives you a lot of built-in advantages. But it’s credit to Russell that he managed to create a links course packed with memorable holes despite never seeing the sea.
- The routing is fascinating. You start with holes 1-6 which go up and down the middle of the property, before doing an entire lap round the outside on holes 7-14, before heading back through the middle of the course. It’s a fantastic layout which uses the site to full effect.
Jack's Point Golf Course & Restaurant, McAdam Drive, Jack's Point, Queenstown 9371
- With a backdrop of 2300 vertical metres of the Remarkables mountain range and an armchair view of an outstanding lake panoramas, Jack's Point Golf course is one of the most visually spectacular courses in the world.
- The course has been designed around the natural landscape, with minimal excavation. The course measures 6986 yards from the championship tees and is built on the most spectacular of Jack's Point terrain, weaving through native tussock grasslands, dramatic rock outcrops, steep bluffs and swathes of native bush to the edge of Lake Wakatipu.
Arrowtown Golf Club, 166 Centennial Avenue, Arrowtown 9371
- Queenstown is blessed several modern courses with spectacular settings that wow visitors from around the world. But to come through these parts and not play Arrowtown would be a travesty. It’s a tribute to a bygone era which is just great fun to play. It may end up being the course you remember best.
- Nine holes were opened here in the 1930s and then a further nine added the other side of Queenstown to Arrowtown road in the 1970s. Originally, they played the older nine first but have recently swapped them round. While they occupy different types of land the two nines work well together.
- The word ‘quirky’ is often banded around when describing shorter courses, but no-one can deny Arrowtown deserves the moniker. It’s quirk personified!
- The Hills Golf Club, 164 McDonnell Road, Arrowtown 9351
- Owned by Kiwi entrepreneur Sir Michael Hill, The Hills has evolved from the modest beginnings of a short par 3 hole to become a world class championship golf course. The 18-hole layout was designed by Darby Partners and opened in 2007 to host the NZ Open.
- It is ranked as the 9th best course in New Zealand by top100golfcourses.com.
- Set over 500 acres of land across a glacial valley, the layout highlights the dramatic elevation changes and rocky schist outcrops that are a feature of the area.
- This championship layout provides a serious challenge for accomplished players while thoughtful and considerate design means that the golf course is equally enjoyable for golfers of all abilities.
