The Kinloch Club

Few golf clubs in New Zealand carry the quiet prestige of The Kinloch Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature design that opened in 2008 on the western shores of Lake Taupō. Nicklaus routed the course through an ancient pumice landscape of native tōtara and rimu, carving fairways that play across volcanic ridges and ravines with the country's largest lake shimmering in the background. The result is a layout of genuine championship ambition — long, strategic, and visually dramatic — that earned a place among Australasia's top-ranked courses almost immediately after opening.

The setting near the small settlement of Kinloch, roughly 20 kilometres from Taupō township, is genuinely remote, and that isolation is part of the appeal. The central North Island's volcanic plateau gives the course a rugged, otherworldly texture that no parkland or links design elsewhere in the country can replicate. The pumice soils drain superbly, keeping the course firm and fast even through the wetter months.

The Kinloch Club operates as a private members' club with accommodation on site, positioning it firmly as a destination experience rather than a casual round. Visitors typically combine it with Wairakei and Taupō Golf Course, making the region one of the Southern Hemisphere's most compelling golf pilgrimages.