Clifftops, dunes and alpine fairways.

Te Awanga · Hawke's Bay

Cape Kidnappers

Fairways run out along narrow ridges that fall away 140 metres to the sea. Few courses anywhere feel this exposed, and fewer still make the drama playable. It sits above the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, in the middle of Hawke's Bay wine country.

Resort guests and visitors

Matauri Bay · Northland

Kauri Cliffs

Fifteen holes look out over the Pacific and six are played along the cliff edge, with the Cavalli Islands sitting offshore. It is the gentler, greener sibling to Cape Kidnappers, and the Bay of Islands is an hour away.

Resort guests and visitors

Te Arai · Auckland / Northland

Tara Iti Golf Club

Built into genuine coastal dune country north of Auckland and consistently rated the finest course in the country. It is a private club, so access is by member introduction only — we list it because no honest account of New Zealand golf leaves it out.

Private club — introduction required

Te Arai · Auckland / Northland

Te Arai Links

Two full championship links laid over the same wild dune system, with on-site accommodation — the closest thing New Zealand has to a purpose-built golf destination, and the way most travellers get to play this coast.

Resort guests and visitors

Kinloch, Taupō · Central Plateau

The Kinloch Club

Nicklaus's only New Zealand design: rumpled, links-style ground moved into the hills above Lake Taupō, with the volcanoes of Tongariro on the horizon on a clear day. The on-site lodge makes it an easy overnight from Auckland or Rotorua.

Resort guests and visitors

Wairakei, Taupō · Central Plateau

Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary

A long-loved parkland course that fenced itself off from predators and became a wildlife sanctuary. Kiwi live inside the boundary; you play among native bush and birdsong, ten minutes from Huka Falls.

Visitors welcome

Paraparaumu · Kāpiti Coast

Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club

The country's most historic championship links, laid out in 1949 by Alister MacKenzie's design partner and a long-time host of the New Zealand Open. Kāpiti Island sits offshore; the wind does the rest.

Visitors welcome

Arrowtown · Queenstown

The Hills

A private course in a natural amphitheatre outside Arrowtown, long associated with the New Zealand Open, and scattered with large-scale contemporary sculpture. The most theatrical round in the country.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Millbrook Resort

Twenty-seven holes under the Remarkables with a resort, spa and several restaurants on site — the country's most complete Stay & Play address, and a regular New Zealand Open host.

Resort guests and visitors

Queenstown · Queenstown

Jack's Point

Played along the shore of Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables rising straight off the fairways. Photographs of New Zealand golf are usually taken here, and the course is genuinely good enough to deserve them.

Visitors welcome

Scenic Golf

Rounds you would walk even without a club in your hand.

Te Awanga · Hawke's Bay

Cape Kidnappers

Fairways run out along narrow ridges that fall away 140 metres to the sea. Few courses anywhere feel this exposed, and fewer still make the drama playable. It sits above the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, in the middle of Hawke's Bay wine country.

Resort guests and visitors

Matauri Bay · Northland

Kauri Cliffs

Fifteen holes look out over the Pacific and six are played along the cliff edge, with the Cavalli Islands sitting offshore. It is the gentler, greener sibling to Cape Kidnappers, and the Bay of Islands is an hour away.

Resort guests and visitors

Te Arai · Auckland / Northland

Te Arai Links

Two full championship links laid over the same wild dune system, with on-site accommodation — the closest thing New Zealand has to a purpose-built golf destination, and the way most travellers get to play this coast.

Resort guests and visitors

Wairakei, Taupō · Central Plateau

Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary

A long-loved parkland course that fenced itself off from predators and became a wildlife sanctuary. Kiwi live inside the boundary; you play among native bush and birdsong, ten minutes from Huka Falls.

Visitors welcome

Whangaparāoa · Auckland

Gulf Harbour Country Club

A former World Cup of Golf host on the tip of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, with the Hauraki Gulf on three sides and Tiritiri Matangi across the water. The most accessible big-view round near Auckland.

Visitors welcome

Arrowtown · Queenstown

The Hills

A private course in a natural amphitheatre outside Arrowtown, long associated with the New Zealand Open, and scattered with large-scale contemporary sculpture. The most theatrical round in the country.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

Queenstown · Queenstown

Jack's Point

Played along the shore of Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables rising straight off the fairways. Photographs of New Zealand golf are usually taken here, and the course is genuinely good enough to deserve them.

Visitors welcome

Kelvin Heights, Queenstown · Queenstown

Queenstown Golf Club

The Kelvin Heights peninsula is almost entirely golf course, with Lake Wakatipu on three sides and the mountains all around. You can arrive by ferry from Queenstown Bay, which is the only way to do it.

Visitors welcome

Wānaka · Central Otago

Wānaka Golf Club

Wide, sunny and quietly spectacular, with the Southern Alps filling the horizon. Wānaka's whole character in one round — the same views as Queenstown at half the pace.

Visitors welcome

Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury · Canterbury

Terrace Downs

High-country golf beneath Mount Hutt, with the braided Rakaia River below and nothing else for miles. On-site accommodation makes it a proper escape rather than a detour.

Resort guests and visitors

Dunedin · Otago

Chisholm Links

Perched on the cliffs above St Kilda with the Pacific crashing below and albatross country around the corner on the Otago Peninsula. Raw, windy and extremely good value for the view.

Visitors welcome

North Island

Clifftops, dune links, geothermal parkland and wine-country golf.

Te Awanga · Hawke's Bay

Cape Kidnappers

Fairways run out along narrow ridges that fall away 140 metres to the sea. Few courses anywhere feel this exposed, and fewer still make the drama playable. It sits above the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, in the middle of Hawke's Bay wine country.

Resort guests and visitors

Matauri Bay · Northland

Kauri Cliffs

Fifteen holes look out over the Pacific and six are played along the cliff edge, with the Cavalli Islands sitting offshore. It is the gentler, greener sibling to Cape Kidnappers, and the Bay of Islands is an hour away.

Resort guests and visitors

Te Arai · Auckland / Northland

Tara Iti Golf Club

Built into genuine coastal dune country north of Auckland and consistently rated the finest course in the country. It is a private club, so access is by member introduction only — we list it because no honest account of New Zealand golf leaves it out.

Private club — introduction required

Te Arai · Auckland / Northland

Te Arai Links

Two full championship links laid over the same wild dune system, with on-site accommodation — the closest thing New Zealand has to a purpose-built golf destination, and the way most travellers get to play this coast.

Resort guests and visitors

Kinloch, Taupō · Central Plateau

The Kinloch Club

Nicklaus's only New Zealand design: rumpled, links-style ground moved into the hills above Lake Taupō, with the volcanoes of Tongariro on the horizon on a clear day. The on-site lodge makes it an easy overnight from Auckland or Rotorua.

Resort guests and visitors

Wairakei, Taupō · Central Plateau

Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary

A long-loved parkland course that fenced itself off from predators and became a wildlife sanctuary. Kiwi live inside the boundary; you play among native bush and birdsong, ten minutes from Huka Falls.

Visitors welcome

Paraparaumu · Kāpiti Coast

Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club

The country's most historic championship links, laid out in 1949 by Alister MacKenzie's design partner and a long-time host of the New Zealand Open. Kāpiti Island sits offshore; the wind does the rest.

Visitors welcome

Heretaunga, Upper Hutt · Wellington

Royal Wellington Golf Club

New Zealand's only club with a royal charter, and the host of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Amateur. A quiet, mature parkland test with a formal clubhouse tradition, half an hour from central Wellington.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

New Lynn, Auckland · Auckland

Titirangi Golf Club

The only Alister MacKenzie design in New Zealand — the architect of Augusta National and Cypress Point. Small, tilted greens and native bush corridors twenty minutes from central Auckland.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

Whangaparāoa · Auckland

Gulf Harbour Country Club

A former World Cup of Golf host on the tip of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, with the Hauraki Gulf on three sides and Tiritiri Matangi across the water. The most accessible big-view round near Auckland.

Visitors welcome

Mount Maunganui · Bay of Plenty

Mount Maunganui Golf Club

Sandy, quick-draining ground a few minutes from one of the country's best swimming beaches. The honest holiday round: play in the morning, swim at Mount Maunganui in the afternoon.

Visitors welcome

Waiohiki, Napier · Hawke's Bay

Napier Golf Club (Waiohiki)

The everyday Hawke's Bay round: mature, unfussy and set among the vineyards of the Tūtaekurī river terraces, minutes from a dozen cellar doors and Napier's art deco streets.

Visitors welcome

South Island

Alpine amphitheatres, high country and cliff-edge links.

Arrowtown · Queenstown

The Hills

A private course in a natural amphitheatre outside Arrowtown, long associated with the New Zealand Open, and scattered with large-scale contemporary sculpture. The most theatrical round in the country.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Millbrook Resort

Twenty-seven holes under the Remarkables with a resort, spa and several restaurants on site — the country's most complete Stay & Play address, and a regular New Zealand Open host.

Resort guests and visitors

Queenstown · Queenstown

Jack's Point

Played along the shore of Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables rising straight off the fairways. Photographs of New Zealand golf are usually taken here, and the course is genuinely good enough to deserve them.

Visitors welcome

Kelvin Heights, Queenstown · Queenstown

Queenstown Golf Club

The Kelvin Heights peninsula is almost entirely golf course, with Lake Wakatipu on three sides and the mountains all around. You can arrive by ferry from Queenstown Bay, which is the only way to do it.

Visitors welcome

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Arrowtown Golf Club

The unpretentious local round in a valley of famous ones — rolling, walkable, beautiful in autumn when the poplars turn, and warmly run by its members.

Visitors welcome

Wānaka · Central Otago

Wānaka Golf Club

Wide, sunny and quietly spectacular, with the Southern Alps filling the horizon. Wānaka's whole character in one round — the same views as Queenstown at half the pace.

Visitors welcome

Christchurch · Canterbury

Clearwater Golf Club

Christchurch's championship course, laid out among spring-fed lakes and wetlands ten minutes from the airport — the practical first or last round of a South Island golf trip, and a long-time professional tournament venue.

Visitors welcome

Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury · Canterbury

Terrace Downs

High-country golf beneath Mount Hutt, with the braided Rakaia River below and nothing else for miles. On-site accommodation makes it a proper escape rather than a detour.

Resort guests and visitors

Rārangi, Blenheim · Marlborough

Marlborough Golf Club (Rārangi)

A genuine seaside links tucked behind the beach at Rārangi, fifteen minutes from the sauvignon blanc capital of the world. Golf in the morning, Marlborough cellar doors in the afternoon.

Visitors welcome

Dunedin · Otago

Chisholm Links

Perched on the cliffs above St Kilda with the Pacific crashing below and albatross country around the corner on the Otago Peninsula. Raw, windy and extremely good value for the view.

Visitors welcome

Queenstown Golf

Four very different rounds within half an hour of town.

Arrowtown · Queenstown

The Hills

A private course in a natural amphitheatre outside Arrowtown, long associated with the New Zealand Open, and scattered with large-scale contemporary sculpture. The most theatrical round in the country.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Millbrook Resort

Twenty-seven holes under the Remarkables with a resort, spa and several restaurants on site — the country's most complete Stay & Play address, and a regular New Zealand Open host.

Resort guests and visitors

Queenstown · Queenstown

Jack's Point

Played along the shore of Lake Wakatipu with The Remarkables rising straight off the fairways. Photographs of New Zealand golf are usually taken here, and the course is genuinely good enough to deserve them.

Visitors welcome

Kelvin Heights, Queenstown · Queenstown

Queenstown Golf Club

The Kelvin Heights peninsula is almost entirely golf course, with Lake Wakatipu on three sides and the mountains all around. You can arrive by ferry from Queenstown Bay, which is the only way to do it.

Visitors welcome

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Arrowtown Golf Club

The unpretentious local round in a valley of famous ones — rolling, walkable, beautiful in autumn when the poplars turn, and warmly run by its members.

Visitors welcome

Golf + Wine

Morning tee time, afternoon cellar door. Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Central Otago.

Te Awanga · Hawke's Bay

Cape Kidnappers

Fairways run out along narrow ridges that fall away 140 metres to the sea. Few courses anywhere feel this exposed, and fewer still make the drama playable. It sits above the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, in the middle of Hawke's Bay wine country.

Resort guests and visitors

Waiohiki, Napier · Hawke's Bay

Napier Golf Club (Waiohiki)

The everyday Hawke's Bay round: mature, unfussy and set among the vineyards of the Tūtaekurī river terraces, minutes from a dozen cellar doors and Napier's art deco streets.

Visitors welcome

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Millbrook Resort

Twenty-seven holes under the Remarkables with a resort, spa and several restaurants on site — the country's most complete Stay & Play address, and a regular New Zealand Open host.

Resort guests and visitors

Rārangi, Blenheim · Marlborough

Marlborough Golf Club (Rārangi)

A genuine seaside links tucked behind the beach at Rārangi, fifteen minutes from the sauvignon blanc capital of the world. Golf in the morning, Marlborough cellar doors in the afternoon.

Visitors welcome

Stay & Play

Sleep where you play — resorts and lodges with golf on site.

Te Awanga · Hawke's Bay

Cape Kidnappers

Fairways run out along narrow ridges that fall away 140 metres to the sea. Few courses anywhere feel this exposed, and fewer still make the drama playable. It sits above the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, in the middle of Hawke's Bay wine country.

Resort guests and visitors

Matauri Bay · Northland

Kauri Cliffs

Fifteen holes look out over the Pacific and six are played along the cliff edge, with the Cavalli Islands sitting offshore. It is the gentler, greener sibling to Cape Kidnappers, and the Bay of Islands is an hour away.

Resort guests and visitors

Te Arai · Auckland / Northland

Te Arai Links

Two full championship links laid over the same wild dune system, with on-site accommodation — the closest thing New Zealand has to a purpose-built golf destination, and the way most travellers get to play this coast.

Resort guests and visitors

Kinloch, Taupō · Central Plateau

The Kinloch Club

Nicklaus's only New Zealand design: rumpled, links-style ground moved into the hills above Lake Taupō, with the volcanoes of Tongariro on the horizon on a clear day. The on-site lodge makes it an easy overnight from Auckland or Rotorua.

Resort guests and visitors

Whangaparāoa · Auckland

Gulf Harbour Country Club

A former World Cup of Golf host on the tip of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, with the Hauraki Gulf on three sides and Tiritiri Matangi across the water. The most accessible big-view round near Auckland.

Visitors welcome

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Millbrook Resort

Twenty-seven holes under the Remarkables with a resort, spa and several restaurants on site — the country's most complete Stay & Play address, and a regular New Zealand Open host.

Resort guests and visitors

Christchurch · Canterbury

Clearwater Golf Club

Christchurch's championship course, laid out among spring-fed lakes and wetlands ten minutes from the airport — the practical first or last round of a South Island golf trip, and a long-time professional tournament venue.

Visitors welcome

Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury · Canterbury

Terrace Downs

High-country golf beneath Mount Hutt, with the braided Rakaia River below and nothing else for miles. On-site accommodation makes it a proper escape rather than a detour.

Resort guests and visitors

Local Favourites

The unpretentious clubs New Zealanders actually play.

Wairakei, Taupō · Central Plateau

Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary

A long-loved parkland course that fenced itself off from predators and became a wildlife sanctuary. Kiwi live inside the boundary; you play among native bush and birdsong, ten minutes from Huka Falls.

Visitors welcome

Paraparaumu · Kāpiti Coast

Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club

The country's most historic championship links, laid out in 1949 by Alister MacKenzie's design partner and a long-time host of the New Zealand Open. Kāpiti Island sits offshore; the wind does the rest.

Visitors welcome

Heretaunga, Upper Hutt · Wellington

Royal Wellington Golf Club

New Zealand's only club with a royal charter, and the host of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Amateur. A quiet, mature parkland test with a formal clubhouse tradition, half an hour from central Wellington.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

New Lynn, Auckland · Auckland

Titirangi Golf Club

The only Alister MacKenzie design in New Zealand — the architect of Augusta National and Cypress Point. Small, tilted greens and native bush corridors twenty minutes from central Auckland.

Limited visitor access — arrange in advance

Mount Maunganui · Bay of Plenty

Mount Maunganui Golf Club

Sandy, quick-draining ground a few minutes from one of the country's best swimming beaches. The honest holiday round: play in the morning, swim at Mount Maunganui in the afternoon.

Visitors welcome

Waiohiki, Napier · Hawke's Bay

Napier Golf Club (Waiohiki)

The everyday Hawke's Bay round: mature, unfussy and set among the vineyards of the Tūtaekurī river terraces, minutes from a dozen cellar doors and Napier's art deco streets.

Visitors welcome

Kelvin Heights, Queenstown · Queenstown

Queenstown Golf Club

The Kelvin Heights peninsula is almost entirely golf course, with Lake Wakatipu on three sides and the mountains all around. You can arrive by ferry from Queenstown Bay, which is the only way to do it.

Visitors welcome

Arrowtown · Queenstown

Arrowtown Golf Club

The unpretentious local round in a valley of famous ones — rolling, walkable, beautiful in autumn when the poplars turn, and warmly run by its members.

Visitors welcome

Wānaka · Central Otago

Wānaka Golf Club

Wide, sunny and quietly spectacular, with the Southern Alps filling the horizon. Wānaka's whole character in one round — the same views as Queenstown at half the pace.

Visitors welcome

Christchurch · Canterbury

Clearwater Golf Club

Christchurch's championship course, laid out among spring-fed lakes and wetlands ten minutes from the airport — the practical first or last round of a South Island golf trip, and a long-time professional tournament venue.

Visitors welcome

Rārangi, Blenheim · Marlborough

Marlborough Golf Club (Rārangi)

A genuine seaside links tucked behind the beach at Rārangi, fifteen minutes from the sauvignon blanc capital of the world. Golf in the morning, Marlborough cellar doors in the afternoon.

Visitors welcome