GOLF ATRAVEL Player’s Guide
Royally
Spoiled
Courtesy of Jack’s Point Golf Course
Queenstown, in New Zealand’s South Island, is making a name for itself as one of the world’s most spectacular golf destinations, writes Alex Jenkins.
Seventh Heaven: The splendid seventh hole, a short par-3, at Jack’s Point, one of the very best courses in New Zealand 66
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Where To Play Jack’s Point
Courtesy of The Hills Golf Club; Courtesy of Millbrook Resort; Destination Queenstown
I Clockwise from top: The 18th tee shot at the HK$3,000 a round The Hills Golf Club; the picturesque Millbrook Resort in Arrowtown; an aerial view of the Queenstown Golf Club, which protrudes into Lake Wakatipu 68
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challenge any first-time visitor to Queenstown not to be in awe. The breathtaking mountain range that surrounds the resort town, part of the Southern Alps, is known as the “Remarkables” and it doesn’t take a genius to work out how they got their name. Add to this the sheer majesty of Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown can rightfully claim to be one of the planet’s most beautiful and idyllic settlements. There’s a reason New Zealand has stringent immigration laws: the place would be completely overrun without them. Originally settled in the 1860s at the height of the country’s gold rush, Queenstown has in more recent times become known for extreme sports – bungy jumping was born here in the late 1980s – as well as being the home to a plethora of world-class fishing sites. But in the past few years, golf has been added to this cosmopolitan resort town’s ever-growing list of outdoor pursuits – and not just good golf: Queenstown golf is truly memorable.
This could well be the best course you’ve never heard of – and contrary to first-time visitors’ belief, it has absolutely nothing to do with Jack Nicklaus. Named after “Maori Jack” Tewa, an early Queenstown settler who, legend has it, saved the life of a British officer whose boat had capsized off this point of Lake Wakatipu, this John Darby design, wedged in between the towering Remarkables and the enticing blue water, offers a thrilling ride from start to finish. Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs might be New Zealand’s best-known courses but Jack’s Point ranks right up with this pair in terms of quality. First opened for play in 2008, the course starts out from a valley floor next to the simple but elegant clubhouse with a straightforward opener before ascending sharply until you reach the sixth, a glorious and tempting short par4 that almost forces you to reach for the driver. While Jack’s is known for its fine conditioning – greens routinely run at around 11 on the stimpmeter – there is a distinctly rugged nature to proceedings here, with many of the greens protected by blown-out bunkering and native grasses. The lake is first spied at the fourth hole but the view from the seventh tee is arguably the most memorable. This par-3 plays straight downhill to a wide but shallow “infinity” green that almost seems suspended in the water. Watching a (hopefully) well-stuck tee shot rise and fall against the mountain and lake backdrop is a real joy. The back nine is every bit as interesting, with the rising and plunging terrain providing the perfect canvas for the little known Darby – a golf and landscape architecture graduate from Harvard – to produce some of truly stunning holes. Take the 15th, for instance, a 383-yard par-4 where players hit from an elevated tee to a snaking fairway framed by a handmade stone wall. The shortest route over the wall down the right side leaves a long-iron to a plateau green protected by yawning bunkers; good hitters can challenge the wall further down on the left, leaving an easier approach. It’s a risk though: fail to make the carry and you’re entering double bogey or worse territory. The 15th, like the vast majority of holes here, is a strategic masterpiece, one that you’ll want to revisit time and time again. Jack’s Point Golf Course Yardage: 6,906 Par: 72 Green Fee: HK$1,049 Designed by John Darby Contact: jackspointgolf.com HKGOLFER.COM
The Hills
Considered New Zealand’s most exclusive club, The Hills is the brainchild of Sir Michael Hill, a one-time concert violinist who went on to amass a fortune in the jewellery business – and like the rest of his products, this course sparkles. The course started life in 2002 as just one hole after Hill asked John Darby to build him a par-4 on land close to the family home in Arrowtown. But so bitten by the golfing bug was Hill that before long he called in Darby to construct another eight, before broadening his horizons yet further with instructions for a full 18, one that was capable of hosting the New Zealand Open, which was played on this splendid layout for the first time in 2007. The setting is breathtaking – located in the Wakatipu Basin, surrounded by those wondrous Remarkables – but what puts this course in the upper echelons of Australasian golf is its design and fabulous conditioning. The course flows over the rolling terrain like it has been there for decades. While perhaps more conventional in both look and feel than Jack’s Point, the course continually asks questions of strategy and execution. Most people’s favourite holes at The Hills come during the final stretch, starting at the 15th, a short par-4 with a tremendously elevated tee, and moving on to the signature 17th, a par5 that plays through a canyon, and the 18th with its stadium-style green. These are all fine holes for sure, but my particular preference is for the fifth, which was only the second built here. At only 303 metres this par-4 looks like a pushover on paper – as it does from the tee, with a generous fairway protected by just one solitary bunker. But its genius lies with the narrow elevated green. Guarded at the front by bunkers, the putting surface falls away on either side requiring laserlike accuracy with the short-iron approach. HKGOLFER.COM
The Hills is really a one-off. The understated clubhouse sits mostly submerged underground to blend in with the natural surroundings, while a collection of weird and wonderful sculptures appear throughout the course, often at the most unexpected of times. My habitual over-fade from the 18th tee came to nestle among a sword-wielding warrior fending off the vicious advances of 110 wolves. This, it turns out, is the work of the Chinese sculptor Liu Ruowang, one of Hill’s favourites. A round at The Hills, for the moment at least, can be had for the extraordinary green fee of NZ$500 (approximately HK$3,000). That’s nearing Pebble Beach prices. Is it worth it? Well, no course is really worth that amount of money, but if you want to try it for yourself then hurry. Once The Hills reaches its membership quota (which is thought to be 500) visitors will no longer be able to make bookings. The Hills Golf Club Yardage: 7,213 Par: 72 Green Fee: HK$3,000 Designed by John Darby Contact: thehills.co.nz
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TRIP PLANNER GETTING THERE
Air New Zealand (airnewzealand.com.hk) operates a daily direct flight, using Boeing 777-200 aircraft, from Hong Kong to Auckland (10hrs 55mins), from where visitors connect to one of Air New Zealand’s regular domestic flights to Queenstown (1hr 50mins). Given the length of the international sector it is well worth considering the carrier’s award-winning premium economy and business classes, which offer some of the finest food and wines in the sky. Fares at the time of press are from HK$12,760 (Premium Economy) and HK$35,800 (Business Class).
WHERE TO STAY
Destination Queenstown
Millbrook
Arrowtown Golf Club, above, is an intriguing test, one that is ranked in the top -20 courses in the country 70
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Sir Bob Charles, a native Kiwi legend who won the 1963 Open Championship making him the first left-handed player to claim a major, designed the original 18 holes at this charming, almost twee resort, and for years this was considered the class of Queenstown golf. While the course here has, in truth, been surpassed by the opening of Jack’s Point and The Hills, the resort has benefitted tremendously by the unveiling of the Greg Turner-designed Coronet nine in 2010, bringing the total number of holes here to 27. Turner is a likeable no nonsense New Zealander who won four times on the European Tour and his Coronet Course is an intelligent design with teeth, featuring exposed rock formations and offering plenty of shot-making opportunities, particularly over the final five holes where a handful of streams and ponds weave strategically into play. The other nines, named the Remarkables and the Arrow (Turner re-routed closing holes here when he was completing the Coronet), are very pleasant too and while there are challenges to be dealt with, the golf here has the resort guest as opposed to the professional in mind. This fact alone makes picturesque Millbrook a soothing contrast to the sterner tests faced at the other courses mentioned here. Millbrook, which is owned by Eiichi Ishii, a charming Japanese entrepreneur who flits between Queenstown, Tokyo and Hawaii, makes an ideal place to base in which to explore the region. The accommodations range from wellappointed rooms to luxurious suites and villas, and the on-site dining options are excellent. The resort’s award-winning spa, meanwhile, is the place to head following a brisk 18 holes.
Accommodation options range from budget to five-star, with holiday parks, backpacker properties and motels alongside B&Bs, international hotel chains, and luxury lodges – and all get busy, particularly in the summer months. A 10-minute water taxi from the heart of town, set on the banks of Lake Wakatipu, is the exceedingly comfortable Hilton Queenstown Resort & Spa (queenstownhilton.com), which boasts an array of dining options – including the splendid Wakatipu Grill – and a wealth of leisure facilities. An added bonus: all the courses listed here are within a 30-minute drive. Millbrook Resort Yardage: 6,957 Par: 72 (Arrow / Coronet) Green Fee: HK$479-1,079 Designed by Sir Bob Charles / Greg Turner Contact: millbrook.co.nz
Best of the Rest
For yet more of those sublime views of Lake Wakatipu head to the Queenstown Golf Club (queenstowngolf.co.nz), also known as Kelvin Heights, which has been laid out over a pine-clad peninsula jutting out into the water. If anything, Queenstown’s location is the most spectacular of all the courses in the region, and although a great deal of fun, possibly lacks the finesse of its neighbours. Set on rolling terrain close to The Hills, Arrowtown Golf Club (arrowtowngolf.co.nz) is an intriguing and supremely interesting test that has been routed through mighty trees, dense scrub, rock formations and even historic stone cottage ruins, a legacy of the town’s pioneers. While it’s considered short by modern standards (coming in at a little over 6,000 yards and playing to a par of 70), and there can be a little scruff around the edges, New Zealanders have a great deal of affection for the place – it’s ranked inside the country’s top 20 courses – and at barely HK$400 per round for non-affiliated visitors, offers excellent value for money.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK
Innovative and award-winning indoor and outdoor cafés and restaurants offer cuisine to please every palate, from the discerning connoisseur to a group looking for a fun, relaxed meal. Dining alfresco is the ideal way to enjoy the sunshine and you’ll find restaurants literally everywhere, many with outdoor areas. A veritable melting pot of nationalities, cultures and influences serve up tantalising menus and you can choose from traditional pub, bistro, stylish café bar, Asian, designer burgers, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Turkish or Mexican. Nearby, historic Arrowtown is a fine-dining hub and is also home to a French crêperie, gelaterie, delicatessen, bakery, traditional tavern and boutique brewery. One restaurant that should be on every traveller’s itinerary is Amisfield Winery & Bistro (amisfield.co.nz), a 15-minute drive from the centre of Queenstown. Opened in 2005, the bistro offers a daily changing a la carte menu and its signature “Trust the Chef” menu which offers a shared dining experience, with dishes selected by the chef based on fresh produce and ingredients available on the day. If the sun is shining bag an outdoor table and wash down the fine fare with a bottle or two of the winery’s fine Pinot Noir.
WHAT ELSE TO DO
Known as the “World’s Adventure Capital”, Queenstown is the birthplace of bungy jumping, with over 350,000 visitors taking the plunge since the activity was introduced in 1988. Those brave enough to want to try should head to AJ Hacket Bungy (bungy.co.nz), site of the first commercial jump where thrill-seekers lift off from Kawarau Bridge some 43m above the river of the same name. If that’s not extreme enough for you then skydiving from 15,000ft above Jack’s Point Golf Course should fit the bill. NZONE Skydive (nzoneskydive.co.nz) has been offering tandem skydiving since 1990 and encourages you to “Embrace the Fear”. This writer was unable to do so – high winds kept us grounded – and I’m still not sure if this was a good or a bad thing. Watch the videos on the company’s website and decide for yourself.
WHEN TO GO
The best time to visit Queenstown for golf is the New Zealand summer, which runs from December to mid-March, and is characterised by temperatures in the mid-twenties, little rain and plenty of sunshine.
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