Otago Golf Club

Overview: Otago Golf Club’s Balmacewen course sits on the hills above Dunedin, with views toward the city, Otago Peninsula and the South Pacific. The 18-hole course plays to par 72 and about 5,973 metres, using hilly terrain, native bush and changes in elevation to create a varied inland round. It is close to the city but does not feel urban from the fairways, especially around the elevated holes and the views over the surrounding suburbs.

History: The club was established in Dunedin in 1871 and is regarded as New Zealand’s oldest golf club. The first nine-hole course was laid out by Charles Ritchie Howden near Mornington in 1872, but the present Balmacewen site dates from 1896. The club has hosted the New Zealand Open seven times and amalgamated with the Otago Ladies Golf Club in 2009, bringing two long histories together.

Did You Know? Gene Sarazen singled out the 11th, The Glen, among his best 18 holes worldwide. Arnold Palmer also drove the green on that hole in 1966, while Gary Player made a hole-in-one on the par-four Ridge during the New Zealand Open.