The Hills

Michael Hill was judged “New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year, 2008” by Ernst & Young. The former concert violinist has a bow with many strings but one of his most widely acclaimed assets is undoubtedly his golf course, which officially opened to an orchestral fanfare in 2007.

However, it was way back in 2001 when the jewellery magnate first contacted the renowned Kiwi course architect John Darby. Hill’s request was for Darby to build him “something grunty” on land next to the Hill’s family home in Arrowtown. His ambitions went only as far as one hole at that point, simply for his own purposes – staging the New Zealand Open was just a twinkle in the eye.

That first hole was built, and it is indeed “grunty” – it’s the 6th hole on the current layout, a 432-yard (395m) par four, with the approach shot all carry over Dragonfly Lake. A return hole naturally followed (now the 5th). Hill then widened his horizons, first planning a 9-holer, before asking Darby for a full 18, capable of staging a national tournament.

The results of Michael Hill’s vision are breathtaking. Not only is the setting awe-inspiring, located in Wakatipu Basin, surrounded by the Southern Alps on all sides, but also the design is a triumph, particularly the closing stretch. From the switchback 14th, with its sheer rock face backstopping the green, to the vertigo-inducing tee shot of the driveable 15th and that controversial short 16th to a classic concluding two-shotter, with its cavernous greenside bunker. But it is the par five 17th that captures the attention the most. Christened ‘The Canyon’, it’s a 553-yard (506m) dogleg right, arching round a huge beach bunker that borders a lake. The second requires a perfectly struck fairway wood to thread between two imposing and precipitous schist outcrops.

A feature of the Hills course is the distinctive artwork designed by Mark Hill (son of Michael Hill). His innovative work includes The Weta, a five-metre tall sculpture standing on the fairway on the 1st hole. The 6th hole, known as Dragonfly Lake, has dragonfly sculptures nestled in the water hazard approaching the green while Walking Woman, an imposing three-metre tall sculpture of a woman, stands on a bridge at the 4th hole. Additionally, the centrepiece of the club is the award winning, distinctive bunker-styled clubhouse.

The 90th New Zealand Open Championship moved from Gulf Harbour to The Hills Golf Club in 2007, the same year the Hills opened its tees for play. Understanding the evolution (or should we say intelligent design?) of this club, from a single hole to hosting the New Zealand Open in six short years, begs the question: How far can The Hills go?

The Farm, a 9-hole par three course designed by writer and golf consultant Darius Oliver, opened for play in 2019 and it’s been described by its creator as “an elastic, ‘choose your own adventure’ style layout, with a flexible design that allows golfers to choose from multiple tee locations, distances and angles of approach”.

Oliver continued: “I didn’t think a par three course would add much to the appeal of the club for the serious golfer… then I walked the site and immediately changed my mind. What I didn’t expect to see were nine ready-made and incredible par threes sitting there already on the ground – but that was the case.

The routing really only took a couple of hours to figure out… the site is really the star attraction – and in particular the views and the Arrow Irrigation water race which runs through the property and is used numerous times in the design.”