The Christchurch area is one of New Zealand's oldest golfing regions. European settlers first brought the game there in the late 1800s and today it has a number of courses that are favorites amongst Kiwis.
All cards on the table, as a company we have not sent many players to this area in the past due to a number of reasons. Outside of the cleanup due to the 2011 and 2016 earthquakes, the amount of time taken to visit Christchurch versus other areas of interest in New Zealand simply did not make sense for Americans pressed for time.
Perhaps that is changing.
Christchurch as a city has bounced back significantly in recent years. Once known as the Garden City, today young chefs and artists flood the downtown area. This is a top spot for cuisine within the country.
From a golf perspecific, per Stuff Magazine, a proposal for a major conference center and a PGA event are in the cards for Pegasus. This would not only be a great boon to golf in the area but for New Zealand as a whole. While the New Zealand Open is played currently at the end of February in Queenstown (between Millbrook Resort and The Hills GC) other locations in the country are not setup to handle crowds. Exclusive courses like Cape Kidnappers, Kauri Cliffs and Kinloch Club were not built with the infrastructure to address cameras and patrons to line the fairways.
We will keep a close eye on the progress of these plans and hope that another region in New Zealand evolves to the standard expected of our clients.
