The latest addition at Te Arai Links has fortified New Zealand’s golf ‘hotspot’, as the entire nation continues to boast world-class courses.
The late Bill Davis, a co-founder of the American edition of Golf Digest, once observed that great golf courses are often found in clusters. Think of the Melbourne Sandbelt, the heathland courses outside London, New York’s Long Island collection and, of course, seemingly any stretch of coastal linksland you like in Great Britain and Ireland. Each course in a cluster, Davis theorised, utilises common topography while earning individual distinction.
A new set has emerged north of Auckland as New Zealand weighs in on the ‘cluster game’. The emergence of the North course at Te Arai Links in October 2023 gave more lustre to its sister South course (2022) and nearby Tara Iti (2015). The trio, separated by no more than a few kilometres, now occupy the top three places in our biennial ranking of New Zealand’s Top 50 Golf Courses. Tara Iti holds top spot for the fourth of four times, while Te Arai’s original course, the South, holds onto No.2. Joining them on the podium is the new North course at Te Arai, which complements its sister layout while providing distinct differences, much as Davis suggested all those years ago.
New Zealand golf is rightfully basking in an era of distinguished growth. Each of the top six courses (and eight of the top nine) was built since 2000, as our neighbour continues to do a fine job of blending old and new – the newcomers far from discarding the established layouts in the eyes of golfers. It’s this mix that has allowed the cult following Arrowtown Golf Club has garnered to continue to prosper amid the wave of new options, or courses like Ohope Beach and Waverley to strengthen their magnetic pull. For every ‘new’ in New Zealand golf, there seems to be an old favourite that endures.
The fact that Rory McIlroy decided last summer to spend part of his offseason on a golf holiday in New Zealand also speaks volumes. He and Ryan Fox took in Tara Iti and the South course at Te Arai in a multi-day getaway with friends built largely on a desire to see these majestic tracks. There’s not a lot of downtime for the Northern Irishman who plays a global schedule, so jetting across the planet to play yet more golf shows how the pulling power of New Zealand golf goes all the way to the top of the game.
BALANCING ACT
International visitors are indeed the focus in this boom period the golf-course scene on the other side of the Tasman is undergoing.
“I think to have a golf tourism destination, it does require it be a great golf course,” says prolific New Zealand course architect John Darby, whose design credits include Jack’s Point and The Hills. “Therefore, on great land, with the right amenities to support it. I think that is the big driver of what we’re seeing with new courses. There’s three under construction that I’m aware of right now. And all of them are very focused on the international golf destination market.”
Yet there’s still scope to do more with what the nation already has. “The revival of golf clubs is not such a strong trend, sadly,” Darby adds. “That is the improvement of course facilities, just because of the constraints of capital and sometimes land availability. So we’re not really seeing a lot of rejuvenation of clubs. But there’s a middle ground that we’re hopeful in seeing more of. And that is upgrading for the casual public golfer or local visitor, as opposed to internationals, which are very high-end market product.
“There’s some great examples of that with our local little course Arrowtown, which does very well with the visitation green fee. And I’m a big fan of courses that are open to all to play. I think we’re seeing a trend of some private courses which are very restricted in terms of access. I always like to see that balanced with courses that are available for anyone to come and play. And we’re seeing that latter one grow a little bit more recently, as opposed to the private club. Tari Iti is a private club but the courses in the South are readily accessible, which is a good balance. We wanted to see that. And it’s the same in the Queenstown area, where Jack’s Point will always be available and open for the visitor to play. As will Glendhu, because we think that’s important for golf tourism, let alone the local golfer who would feel very aggrieved if he had a great golf course next door that he couldn’t access. So I think we’re seeing that trend of golf courses supporting golf tourism, and it’s an important one.”
It wasn’t long ago that New Zealand was lauded as the nation with the greatest number of golf courses per capita in the world. Officially, it’s been knocked off (Scotland, the home of golf, regained its crown), yet there’s an obscene amount of golf riches to be discovered in the Land of the Long White Cloud. And as Darby hints at, there’s more to come.
Three new courses are in the pipeline: the Darby-designed Glendhu on the edge of Lake Wanaka (expected to open in late 2026), Muriwai Downs near the existing Muriwai links west of Auckland (Kyle Phillips, April 2027) and Hogan’s Gully near Arrowtown (Gil Hanse/Greg Turner, late 2027). In February, the Darius Oliver-designed Douglas Links, on the coast north of Wellington – the same coastline made famous by the timeless and peerless Paraparaumu Beach course – received the land reclassification it required to proceed.
Meanwhile, some existing courses are improving or adding to their offerings. For instance, Queenstown Golf Club climbed 10 places on the back of sensible tree removal, which improved the condition of the turf thanks to the additional sunlight – always important at lower latitudes – and amplified the views.
“Significant investment has been made in the equipment available to the grounds team (as well as the team themselves), allowing us to now effectively prepare the course daily,” says general manager Andrew Bell. “A strong focus on the greens has paid off with air injection and scarification programs reducing thatch to below 10 percent, eliminating moss and controlling poa. The greens are now firm, yet receptive, with true roll and speeds between 10.5 and 11 feet. They have drawn the greatest compliments.”
Elsewhere, Titirangi Golf Club in Auckland is currently redesigning its par-5 13th hole and Mt Maunganui Golf Club in the Bay of Plenty region is adding a huge Himalayas-style putting green next to its clubhouse, which is due to open this month. It’s the kind of facility that’s a perfection addition for clubs if space allows, as it’s beneficial for hard-core golfers and an ideal ‘welcome mat’ to golf for newcomers.
Whichever way you turn, the game in New Zealand is doing anything but standing still.
MOVEMENT, BOTH SUBTLE AND SHEER
In that vein, our fourth ranking of New Zealand’s Top 50 Golf Courses yielded plenty of movement within the list but only three courses moved in/dropped out – with one departure a forced exit. Rotorua Golf Club in the Bay of Plenty region and Roxburgh in Central Otago rejoined the ranking at the expense of Formosa (47th last time) and Waitangi (50th last time). We also bid a sad farewell to Gulf Harbour Country Club, the peninsular Robert Trent Jones Jnr design north of Auckland that closed in mid-2023, but welcomed the second layout at Te Arai when the highly touted North course opened for play a few months later.
Enjoying most upward movement was Waverley Golf Club in Taranaki, which leapt 11 places to 25th. It seems an odd leap until you realise the wonderfully undulant layout also came in 25th two rankings ago, making this more the correction of an anomaly rather than an outlier result. The aforementioned Queenstown Golf Club authored the next biggest jump, climbing 10 spots to 22nd. Other notable moves came from Whakatane and New Plymouth. None of the descents were as sizeable, mostly a handful of places or less. What’s more evident is a stability within the actual Top 50, making it reasonably clear which are considered the leading courses in New Zealand – even if opinions on the final order vary – thanks to such little movement into and out of the Top 50.
That’ll surely change in the coming years, though, thanks to the array of exciting new courses on their way. – additional reporting by Rohan Clarke
How the ranking works
For their time, input and dedication, we thank our panel (listed below), who provided scores for 127 different New Zealand golf courses in the period from January 2023 to January 2025. They visit and score courses out of 10 based on seven criteria:
Shot Options: How well does the course present a variety of options involving risks and rewards and require a wide range of shots? (Shot Options counts twice in our formula, because it is by far the most important aspect of a course design.)
Challenge: How challenging, while still being fair, is the course for a typical scratch golfer playing from the tees designated as back tees for everyday play (not from seldom-used championship tees)?
Layout Variety: How varied is the physical layout of the course in terms of differing lengths (long, medium and short par 3s, 4s and 5s), configurations (straight holes, doglegs left and right), hazard/‘penalty area’ placements, green shapes and green contours?
Distinctiveness: How individual is each hole when compared to all others on this course? Additionally, how fun and enjoyable for all levels of golfers would this course be to play on a regular basis?
Character: How well does the course design exude ingenuity and uniqueness and possess profound characteristics that you would consider outstanding for its era?
Aesthetics: How well do the scenic values of the course (including landscaping, vegetation, water features and backdrops) add to the pleasure of a round?
Conditioning: How firm, fast and rolling were the fairways? How firm yet receptive were the greens? How true were the rolls of putts?
To arrive at a course’s final score, we total its averages in the seven categories, doubling Shot Options (from 10 to 20) to create a score out of 80.
The panel
Scott Ball, Steve Bray, John Brugman, Geoff Burns, Michael Caridi, Dan Crook, Craig Duffy, Ray Ellis, Craig Gallie, Ian Greenwood, Tolan Henderson, Mark Henricks, Raymond Hinton, Macaulay Howell, Erik Jorgensen, Loren Justins, William Leipnik, Peter McCormack, Shane McPhee, Grant Naylor, Kevin Pallier, James Pearson, Gerald Ponsford, Robert Radley, Gracie Richter, Cameron Rust, Philip Rust, Dave Saunders, Troy Scott, Andrew Sloane, Jonathan Smith, Tom Starr, Geoff Steer, Mike Wharepouri, Anaru White, Brendon Williams, Jamie Woodhill and Charles Vincent, along with Ryan Brandeburg who assisted in a non-voting capacity.
When luxury calls
Staying at Kauri Cliffs or Cape Kidnappers heightens an already exhilarating experience
Using the phrase “doing it properly” often applies to adding high-end accommodation to a holiday. In golf, there are few places where the term applies more appropriately than Rosewood Kauri Cliffs [below] and Rosewood Cape Kidnappers [above].
Not only are you experiencing a world-class golf course with knockout views of the Pacific Ocean at each site, you do so in tranquil luxury that has a way of extending your absorption of the surroundings, both in duration and in memory. Leaving after 18 holes feels torturous – so don’t. Stay after you’ve played.
The two properties are subtly different yet at the same time familiar. The more northerly Kauri Cliffs lodge is arguably more swimming-friendly, especially in summer, while hiking and exploring the surrounding region is a welcome pastime at both. The menus in the two restaurants are similar, with a ‘farm-to-fork’ approach in place at each property, plus a killer wine list on offer to sate any palate. The lodge rooms are spacious, private and equipped with every modern convenience one could ask for. Waking up to a stunning sunrise is just another bonus. Clear mornings can’t be guaranteed, of course, but you get the sense anything can be arranged in such an idyllic setting.
Visit rosewoodhotels.com/en/kauri-cliffs and rosewoodhotels.com/en/cape-kidnappers
The List
