The Hills

Few golf settings in New Zealand announce themselves quite so dramatically. The Hills sits in the Arrow River basin outside Arrowtown, a remarkably preserved 19th-century gold-rush town in the Otago region of the South Island, and the course was developed by Sir Michael Hill — the jewellery magnate — on his private estate. Designed by Australian architect Bob Sherriff and later refined with input from Greg Turner, the layout sprawls across a high-country sheep station with views of the Remarkables and the Crown Range that stop you mid-swing.

The course earned an immediate reputation as one of New Zealand's finest private layouts, and it came to international attention as the longtime host of the New Zealand Open, which attracted world-ranked professionals and regularly produced compelling leaderboards across its dramatic terrain. Sculpted fairways move through tussock grasses, schist rock outcroppings, and willow-lined water features fed by natural waterways — a palette that feels unmistakably Central Otago.

The Hills rewards players who think carefully. Elevation changes are real, wind off the surrounding ranges can shift club selection by several numbers, and the course's scale and visual theatre make it feel unlike almost anything else in Australasian golf.