A common thread binds many of the world’s links courses together: often, they are found in remote locations. This is especially true of layouts unearthed during the past 75 years, as the search for appropriate golfing land has spread far and wide. It is rare these days for a genuine links to be found within town limits, the way the St Andrews courses in Scotland are, or Lahinch and Ballybunion in Ireland.
Oreti Sands, home of the Southland Golf Club, slips easily into the remote category. Perched on the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, it is the world’s southernmost links course. That said, it is only 10 kilometres west of Invercargill, a city of more than 50,000 people with seemingly strong ties to the home of golf. Venture around the city centre and it’s hard not to notice the Scottish influence, with street names like Dee, Tay, Ness, Esk and St Andrew.
It is hardly surprising, then, that Oreti Sands should have the feel and look of a Scottish links. One of Scotland’s finest golfing journalists, John Huggan, summed up Oreti Sands better than most: ‘This remote and dramatic course has the potential to be that ever-elusive “hidden gem” you read about in the glossy travel magazines. Such is the quality and variety of an endless stream of interesting and challenging holes. Go there soon; this is a great place to play golf.’
The original layout was the work of Sloan Morpeth, a former New Zealand amateur champion who moved to Australia and became secretary-manager of Melbourne’s Commonwealth Golf Club. He was also a course designer. During his 33-year stay at Commonwealth, Morpeth completely redesigned that layout and created many other high-quality courses, including the Peninsula’s North and South courses and his acclaimed redesign of Portsea.
In the summer of 1970 Morpeth arrived in Invercargill. He surveyed the land. He pieced together a masterplan and addressed the club’s members at a meeting to outline his proposal. He never got to see Oreti Sands completed; he died two weeks later on his return to Melbourne. His legacy is a fine course that went largely untouched for years and has only recently been improved on, with four new holes built and several Morpeth originals modified.
Overseeing these changes was tour pro turned course designer Greg Turner and his associate Scott Macpherson. Turner believes Oreti Sands has the potential to rank among the Southern Hemisphere’s finest links. ‘It has long been regarded with some affection by aficionados of the game,’ he says, ‘but the combination of a few weak holes and a high degree of southern modesty left it somewhat undiscovered.’
The new additions – the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 17th holes – officially opened for play in 2009. They have raised the bar at Oreti Sands. The 2nd, a 355-metre par-four known as ‘Sloans’, sees the rolling fairway occupy the flattest ground between marram grass-covered dunes. A wasteland about 80 metres short of the green is best avoided, as is the high dune to the right of the putting surface.
The 3rd hole, like the 2nd, has no bunkers around the green. This 148-metre par-three is arguably the best test of links golf on the entire course. The green sits slightly above tee level and plays straight into the teeth of the prevailing wind. Calm days are rare in this part of New Zealand, so a much longer club than the scorecard suggests might be required to reach the putting surface, which is ringed by dunes, closely mown slopes and some deep hollows. On a jewel of a course, this hole’s a gem.
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MEMORABLE HOLES 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 13th, 16th and 17th WHERE TO GO Links Rd, Otatara, Invercargill BOOK A ROUND (03) 213 0208, www.nzgolfcourses.co.nz/users/web22_southland/index.htm OTHER 120 GREAT COURSES NEARBY Jack’s Point (184 km), Queenstown (193 km) WHERE TO STAY Central Invercargill, five minutes’ drive from the course, has plenty of accommodation options, from motor inns to five-star serviced apartments. BEFORE/AFTER YOUR ROUND Bluff is a seaside village, about 30 km south of Invercargill, with a colourful past. The oldest European-settled town in NZ, it has scenic walking tracks and a great maritime museum. |