New Zealand Golf Club

New Zealand Golf Club was designed by Samuel "Mure" Fergusson and opened for play in 1895 and immediately found acclaim as one of the first courses to make such wonderful use of a heathland setting. New Zealand golf course enjoyed an unusually enduring long relationship with its architect - "Mure" Fergusson was a long serving secretary and devoted himself to improving and perfecting his creation. This led Bernard Darwin - almost as good a judge of golf courses as he was a writer about the game - to say "New Zealand is sui generis. It does not compete with other courses, but it sets its own standard and lives up to it." Today that reputation is still deserved. At just over 6000 yards, with a par of 68, New Zealand has not felt the need to lengthen to protect itself from the threat of the "bomber." Rather, with birch trees and heather providing defences, the course places a premium on accuracy rather than distance. The trees also help to seperate fairways giving many of the holes a serene and tranquil feeling of isolation.