For a city which punches well above its weight on the elite sporting stage, the quality of golf on offer in Ōtautahi Christchurch also catches many by surprise; the region remaining largely untapped and underrated as a golfing destination.
This writer spent the vast majority of his childhood in the Garden City and is privy to just how spoilt for choice golfers are when it comes to playing and accessing high quality – and very affordable – golf across the district.
The region is like a secret surfing spot for golfers. Keep it to yourself; it is precious, untold and on the down low.
However, it is time to share the plethora of riches Christchurch has to offer, which can hang with even the best golfing hotspots across New Zealand regarding top-tier premier layouts.
Where the red and black city separates itself from the rest is its variety. The sheer number of golf courses you can play is incredible, with a special mention of some of the hidden beauties which bourn the outskirts of the CBD. This feature encapsulates 10 pages of this esteemed journal, yet we have still only just scratched the surface, even with the phenomenal courses we covered.
Christchurch is New Zealand’s second biggest city, the largest south of the Cook Straight and is becoming a mecca for tourists who have their sights set on devouring something new.
Returning to Christchurch and experiencing it as a tourist was magnificent; it is modern, glowing and has all you can ask for, from world-class dining to postcard-like views, adventure, relaxation and, as established, an abundance of golf courses around each corner.
Aside from the golf, the balance of the city makes it an exquisite destination for a couple or family holiday; the modern city of Christchurch will sweep you off your feet with glamourous adventure and relaxation extracurriculars for a day away from the sticks.
As your plane loops the city outskirts, if you are spoilt with a bluebird day, you can feast your eyes on the stunning mountain ranges and rolling hills, beautiful rivers and the famous Canterbury Plains. However, the keen golfer will spy a handful of looping layouts appearing to be a mere long iron from where your international flight hits the tarmac.
They aren’t quite a long iron away, but within 10 minutes of collecting your bags and flagging down a cab or jumping in a rental car, you can easily pick which track to kick off your Canterbury adventure at. There are three premier courses within your realms in what we here at Golf Australia magazine like to call the “airport triangle”.
You set the bar high if you kick off at the stunning John Darby and Sir Bob Charles-designed Clearwater Golf Club, eight minutes from the arrival gates at the Christchurch International Airport.
The ride down the long drive to get to the clubhouse at Clearwater is where the suspense kicks in. It is hard to put it into words, but you just know you are about to have an unforgettable day.
The anticipation is heightened when you see one of the best facilities in the country on your right. The brand-spanking new centre of excellence, the Sir Bob Charles Centre.
This is one of the most impressive operations I have ever seen, beginning with the 3,500 square-metre putting green which lays claims to being one of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Clearwater has six different tee options, catering for players of all abilities and ages, measuring 6526 metres from the championship tees.
The condition of the course is immaculate, fitting of a resort-style venue. Large bodies of water glisten in the early afternoon sun, creating a few nerves for this historically temperamental driver of the golf ball as I threw myself into my work around the front side.
The opening nine is like a tapas entrée; there is something for everyone, with a couple of standouts well and truly whetting the appetite for what is around the corner.
The pick of the holes on the front are the closing two, the troublesome par-4 8th and the even more daunting par-3 9th.
When you arrive at 8 – which measures in at 372 metres off the tips – the most manageable collection of holes is behind you, and accuracy off the tee is at an absolute premium. Water runs parallel with the right-hand side of the fairway the entire way to the green, and fairway bunkers are in the landing zone on the left. Pulling the driver is brave; laying up short of the bunkers leaves you about 170 metres into the green. The easy option is to bail out left and clear the bunkers, but the tradeoff is compromising your approach. The hole just demands accuracy the entire way, making you earn your four.
Par-3s with minimal to no elevation don’t excite many, especially golf course aficionados. The 9th is a flat one-shotter, synonymous with the Canterbury region. Again, the long par-3, 188 metres from the tips, demands a proper golf shot off the tee. The green is surrounded by water and has bunkers greenside on the left. If you miss the green left and find the sand trap, you are hitting your following with a lake behind you. All the best if the flag is on the right. Take your three and run to the 10th.
This scribbler once said on a New Zealand golf podcast that Clearwater’s back nine is in the grand final for best stretches of golf in the country, and heading back and playing it for the first time in a good while, I was reminded I was in fact not exaggerating.
The back nine is just great hole after great hole. What I love about the back at Clearwater is playing. It is a science; you must think about every shot and make calculated decisions off the tee. There is a reward there; alternatively, you will be punished if you try to bully the back nine.
For the story’s sake, I will try to choose a couple of favourite holes, but this was almost like picking a favourite child. Borderline impossible. The par-5 14th is one of the best three-shooters in the country. For the mere mortal, it is a double lay-up with burns splitting the fairway twice. Off the regular whites, it is 230m to the first creek; it is a genuine three-shotter – you have to pay attention. Once you have combatted the spit fairways, you will encounter a sloping bowl of green. Words don’t do the hole justice.
The long par-4 closing hole is a fantastic finisher. Water sweeps along the left and the hole doglegs with the water. Played with the elegant clubhouse as a backdrop and surrounded by bunkers short of the putting surface and with the green sloping towards the water, par is no guarantee. You can’t wait to get out on the patio and watch the next group combat the hole with a cold beverage.
The next course within the realms of the Christchurch International Airport is the Russley Golf Club, perched virtually across the road.
Russley is a traditional Kiwi parklands course with a hugely loyal membership. The course is treelined with towering pines, is ultra-demanding and always in premier condition. Russley also sports a fantastic practice facility where you can prepare for your round by hitting off turf.
First and foremost, you never get sick of strolling the fairways at Russley. It is flat and beautiful and feels like an elegant forest in the middle of suburbia.
New Zealand golf blogger Matt Wallbank, The Kiwi Caddy, said it best in his review of the tricky venue: “Russley is a great test of your golf game and will be sure to give it a thorough examination off the tee. Despite the restrictions imposed by the dense tree lining, it provides a gorgeous walk and an interesting combination of holes, providing plenty of opportunities for fun golf shots.”
There is a stand-out hole on each nine for me; on the front, the signature hole is the par-5 5th – a fantastic risk-reward hole. There is plenty of room off the tee, and by skirting the bunkers on the right-hand side of the fairway, you are left with a decision to ponder. Do you take on the lake which guards the narrow green, or leave yourself a wedge by laying up? My advice is if the flag is positioned on the right, it is a green light special to take it on; there is a margin for error, and missing the right is okay.
The par-4 14th is my favourite hole on the property, another risk-reward hole which asks questions of your accuracy. Doglegging sharply to the right, you can take a direct line to the green, but that is biting off a big chunk of the treeline; if you miss too far, you could be donating a ball to the greenkeeper’s shed, too. Even with the perfect lay-up, hitting this green is no guarantee; it is long and narrow and the solitary tree on the left is overhanging with a big false front. Russley general manager Tony Marriott agrees. “My favourite hole here would probably be 14. I think that it is a fantastic hole. You have to think about it. I like it when you think about a golf shot; it’s a great risk-reward.”
Harewood Golf Club runs along the back side of the airport off McLeans Island Road and, like Russley, is a tidy traditional parklands course sitting amid extensive redevelopment. The club and staff have removed over 280 trees from the property for more rolling mounds.
Harewood was formerly a 36-hole complex, but an airport runway extension means it is now just the solitary 18 holes and continually improving, including its fantastic practice facilities. The club commissioned Greg Turner and Scott Macpherson to improve the Woodlands layout, completed in 2012. I have played my fair share of golf at Harewood, and it has always been a thinking player’s course; quirky and enjoyable.
The primary defence Harewood boasts is the undulation and speed of its greens. You aren’t always comfortable over a three-footer, but they get the creative juices flowing. This was integral to the Turner and Macpherson redesign; the duo redesigned all 18 greens. The pick of the bunch is the 5th. A swale splits the right- and left-hand sides of the green, which is visually intimidating.
It is evident Christchurch is flush with premier golf; we are only three courses in. What is arguably the cream of the crop in the Garden City is the Christchurch Golf Club, which offers a unique and different challenge to the other courses in the region.
The layout has dramatically changed over the years, going from a dense and beautiful parkland course to an almost treeless beauty. Founded in 1873, the “Shirley” layout is the second oldest golf club in the country. Christchurch is at an interesting middle ground between being a parkland course and a links. The soil is sand, a tick in the links column, though it isn’t a links course, even though it illustrates plenty of the suitable characteristics.
It would be remise to label a golf course a links just because it has a limited number of trees, as best described by the British Golf Museum’s definition of what a links course truly is:
“A stretch of land near the coast characterised by undulating terrain, often associated with dunes, infertile sandy soil, and indigenous grasses such as marram, sea Lyme, and the fescues and bents which, when properly managed, produce the fine-textured, tight turf for which links are famed.”
Nonetheless, Christchurch GC is of the highest quality. Although I was a schoolboy when Christchurch was plastered in trees, I remember the green complexes being flat compared to what they are now, which are some of the best-putting surfaces in the country, to go alongside its world-class bunkering. Today, the greens are sloping and multi-tiered, complementing the brilliant rolling fairways which provide an excellent test of skill. Christchurch GC comes into its own around the greens. Creativity is a prerequisite if you want to score well.
The front nine has plenty of scoring opportunities, but some equally daunting prospects with narrow, undulating greens, false fronts and brilliant bunkering. The par-3s are fantastic – the 3rd and 7th. Also, there is a collection of par-4s with generous landing areas, meaning you can take the headcover off your driver. If the wind is up, one would rethink that option, though.
RIGHT: All Black Will Jordan believes the city of Christchurch has some top-class golf. PHOTO: Getty Images.
Golf Australia magazine asked one of the club’s more recognisable members, born and bred Cantabrian and All Black fullback Will Jordan, about his favourite holes at his home loop.
“From the clubhouse, you can see a large number of holes in play, and that continues as you play the course. The greens, in particular, are of a high standard and offer one of the purest rolls in the country,” Jordan said.
“My favourite hole on the course would be the newly designed 11th hole – a dogleg right that’s protected by one of the only trees on the course. The fairway is full of undulation.
“That will often leave you with a tricky lie for your approach. The green has plenty of slope to deal with, and in particular, a left hole location leaves you a challenging approach to a narrow part of the green.”
Christchurch GC general manager Mike Hadley says the club has never been more ready for visitors. “We can provide the experience: the carts, the food, the beverages, the whole thing. We have a product slightly different to what Australian visitors typically have; that links character style. It is different.
RIGHT: Waimakariri Gorge Golf Club is a fantastic value for money course just outside the city. PHOTO: Waimakariri Gorge GC.
“We are ready to go. We haven’t been ready for 10 years, but we’re now ready.”
The Waimakariri Gorge Golf Club is a quirky country course with plenty of value. For $35, admission is well worth the price if you want to get out of the city, with some epic holes overlooking the Waimakariri River.
There is nothing more Kiwi than playing golf in the mountains. Fable Terrace Downs Resort is one of the best stay-and-play adventures in South Island. There is something special about staying in the mountains. The villas are magnificent. This is premier accommodation courtesy of Fable. And that’s not all; indulge in top-quality dining overlooking the golf course and the Alps, or sip a mulled wine by the fire inside. Terrace Downs is the best couples’ weekend away in the region.
A tick over an hour’s drive out of Christchurch, Terrace Downs is nestled among the Southern Alps. From the opening tee shot, you will be mesmerised by the panoramic views on offer. Sometimes you can get lost in the visual overload of unbelievable views, but the championship golf course would stand on its own two feet if you dropped it anywhere in the world.
It opened just before the turn of the century and was designed by Sid Puddicombe and David Cox. There are some brilliant holes in this layout.
If the wind is up, make sure you pack your A-game. The course is in Windwhistle, so take that however you see fit.
I loved the challenge Terrace Downs provided; it is best to take a strategic approach and plot your way around it. The pick of the holes on the front is the par 5-7th, a monster. The fairway sweeps to the left and is flanked by a lake on the right; a good test and a genuine three-shotter.
I will rave about two holes in particular to anyone who will listen. They are both back-nine one-shotters. The 10th is outside the clubhouse; you are hitting a long iron from an elevated tee with a lake behind the green. The best of the lot, though is the par-3 16th. The tee shot is on the edge of a gorge overlooking the Rakaia River with a mountain backdrop. It is one of the most visually appealing holes in the country.
If you want to relax, take the short drive into Methven for 25 minutes as the crow flies from the resort, bathe in the Ōpuke Hot Pools, and unwind in natural thermal waters which soothe both body and soul. Each pool is thoughtfully designed to blend seamlessly with the landscape, providing an idyllic spot to soak while enjoying the stunning mountain views.
If you are heading north of Christchurch, taking on the challenge of Pegasus Golf Club is a delight. The layout was designed by Kristine Kerr and was a regular host of the New Zealand Women’s Open in the early 2010s.
Bunkers and water hazards are the leading cause for concern throughout your 18 holes. It is a reasonably typical resort-type golf course. There is plenty of room; the fairways are vast, so the course is suitable for golfers of all abilities. However, it is a credit to the design that it is still challenging for the better player to score.
The back nine at Pegasus is excellent. One of the better holes in the region is the 15th, a par-4 with a split fairway. You can attack the green, but if you come up short, you are in a world of trouble.
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