Hylton Hensman was larger than life: a World War II fighter pilot who returned home to finish a carpentry apprenticeship and instead became a self-made millionaire businessman. Queenstown’s world-famous Skyline gondola stands as a lasting testament to Hensman, one of New Zealand’s tourism pioneers.
Hensman was also a keen golfer, and he reckoned Queenstown could do with a better facility than the existing course at Frankton. He earmarked a spectacular piece of land on the Kelvin Peninsula, land that offered 360-degree views across Lake Wakatipu to Frankton, Queenstown and The Remarkables. He sought advice from Commander John Harris, a noted designer who’d created the outstanding Wairakei International course with Peter Thomson and Mike Wolveridge. And then he started work. For nearly three years, Hensman and farmer John Grant bulldozed the land and got the course ready for play.
It opened in 1974. The result is a par-72 layout that ranks among New Zealand’s most scenic.
Winding over and across the undulating landscape, nearly every shot is accompanied by a million-dollar postcard view. This gives rise to plenty of memorable holes. The dramatic 362-metre, par-four 5th is Queenstown’s most spectacular offering. Lake Wakatipu frames the left side of the fairway, which doglegs left and climbs uphill to a two-tiered green. The aggressive player can hit their drive over the edge of the lake – following the line of a protruding boulder – to significantly shorten the hole. But it is a high-risk play. Two pot bunkers left of the putting surface will catch any misguided approach shot, while under-clubbing into this green will see your ball roll back down the sloping fairway.
Breathtaking views of Lake Wakatipu are a feature once more as you approach the green on the 330-metre, par-four 9th. Your tee shot is a blind one. The best driving line is just right of a trio of tall trees beyond the crest of a hill. From there a short iron, from a downhill lie, is all that is needed to reach the massive raised putting surface, where steep, well-trimmed slopes run down the fringe on all sides.
On the scorecard the 10th hole, a 109-metre par-three, looks a pushover. But length – or lack of it – is no guarantee of comfort. Four teeing areas terraced into the edge of a hill offer four varying lines of play into a huge green, which sits about 40 metres below. This is a deceptive hole, one where club selection can prove tough, especially if the wind is blowing. A pretty pond short and left of the target will catch the poorest of shots, while slight mishits will find the green but leave a long and hard-to-read putt. This golfing midget poses a similar test to Pebble Beach’s famed 7th hole, where a bogey can be carded as quick as a birdie or par.
Even the short par-fours are not so straightforward as the scorecard makes them seem. The 323-metre 14th is a case in point. A dogleg-right fairway cambers to the right, yet the ideal side from which to approach the green is the left half, or high side. Hitting to the green, right-handers need to be cautious, with the ball lying below their feet encouraging a mishit to the right.
Considering that a businessman and a farmer with no design or construction experience built the course, the golfing experience at Queenstown is first class. The variety of its slopes and doglegging fairways add to the spice of the challenge and the richness of shot-making required if you are to put together a good score.
|
MEMORABLE HOLES 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 14th and 18th WHERE TO GO 759 Peninsula Rd, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown BOOK A ROUND (03) 442 9169, www.queenstowngolf.co.nz OTHER 120 GREAT COURSES NEARBY Jack’s Point (13 km), The Hills (20 km), Arrowtown (21.6 km), Millbrook Resort (22 km) WHERE TO STAY Among the huge range of accommodation options in central Queenstown, 14 km from the course, are holiday parks, serviced apartments and five-star resorts. BEFORE/AFTER YOUR ROUND Go on a scenic helicopter flight with Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters. Tours take in Milford Sound and Fiordland National Park and incorporate glacier and snow landings. Adventure tours – hiking, mountain biking, snowmobiling – are also available at various times of the year. |