Member Golf Courses

New Zealand and golf have a long history, with direct links (pardon the pun) to Scotland. Scottish immigrants introduced the game in the South Island in the 19th century and their links-style courses still thrive today.

But those courses were built for locals, not for the rest of the world. Subsequently 'New Zealand' and 'golf' were not spoken in the same breath unless a television commentator referred to one of the many great professionals from here, foremost British Open champion Sir Bob Charles, US PGA Tour winners John Lister, Frank Nobilo, and Phil Tataurangi, or European PGA Tour winners Greg Turner and Michael Campbell. Michael's win at the US Open in 2005 put New Zealand firmly back in the golf spotlight.

New Zealand is popular for extraordinary outdoor adventure and thrills like bungy jumping and having the most stunning landscapes to do it in. But it's less established as a destination for golf. Now, with new investment and a series of world-ranked, quality resorts, that has changed. The country has been transformed into a golfing paradise, whether you want to leap off a bridge or not.

The Best of Golf New Zealand

From Carrington Resort on the Pacific coast to Millbrook in the Southern Alps, nine dedicated golf facilities have joined forces and with Tourism New Zealand, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, the New Zealand Golf Association, and the New Zealand PGA to form a quality-control group called The Best of Golf New Zealand.

The Best Possible Golfing Holiday

The aim is to provide guests with world-class courses and facilities and altogether the best possible golfing holiday. To do this, The Best of Golf New Zealand has teed off, so to speak, with Tourism New Zealand's quality assurance programme called Qualmark.

To receive a Qualmark endorsement, golf resorts have to meet stringent requirements that cover every detail from the condition of the course and the facilities, to a Code of Ethics that requires, for example, courses to 'recognise the right of the customer to courteous, prompt, and honest service'.

A World First

Where other countries promote golf travel packages, New Zealand is the first country to establish golf tourism underwritten by a government-backed quality assurance programme. To learn more about The Best of Golf New Zealand go online to www.newzealand.com or the cluster's own website, www.bestofgolfnewzealand.com.

If you have only one week to play, then think of North Island and South Island as separate tours. Play one tour now, the other at another time. To try your luck at all eight destinations reviewed here, we suggest you plan a full two weeks in which case, after eight rounds of golf, you may feel like doing that bungy jump!

Words by Tom Hyde, Golf Writer