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Origins of New Zealand golf
New Zealand’s first recorded game of golf was played in Dunedin in 1871. Another club was set up in Christchurch in 1873. Both clubs folded within a few years
Longer-lasting clubs were founded in the early 1890s, and the New Zealand Amateur Championship began in 1893. In 1899 a Golf Council was set up to represent clubs and players nationally.
The 20th century
The first Open Championship, for both professional and amateur golfers, was held in 1907. It was won by A. D. S. Duncan, New Zealand’s most prominent golfer of the era.
Before the Second World War golf was mainly a game for the wealthy, and players dressed smartly on the course. In the 1960s there was a worldwide golfing boom, and player numbers rose rapidly.
Participation
Women played golf from its early days. A women’s golf club was set up in Otago in 1892, and the first Ladies Amateur Championship was held in 1893. By 1930 almost as many women as men played golf.
Māori have been prominent golfers. In 1903 Kurupō Tāreha (Ngāti Kahungunu) won the Amateur Championship. His son, Kapi, and Kapi’s daughter, Audrey, also became prominent golfers. Walter Godfrey was another successful Māori golfer in the 1950s and 1960s.
Between 1985 and 2011 player numbers almost doubled. More New Zealanders played golf than any other sport.
Competitions
The amateur and open championships remain the country’s largest individual golfing events. Competitions for teams of two or four players have been held since the 1920s.
Major international successes by individuals include:
- Bob Charles winning the (British) Open in 1963
- Michael Campbell winning the US Open in 2005
- Danny Lee, aged 18, being the then youngest-ever winner of the US Amateur Championship in 2008
- Lydia Ko, aged 17, becoming the youngest professional golfer to be ranked world number one. By 2016 she had won two major championships and become New Zealand's youngest-ever individual female Olympic medallist at the Rio Olympics.
Golf courses
The Manawatu Golf Course opened in 1895 and is New Zealand’s oldest. Napier Golf Club opened the following year on land donated by Ngāti Kahungunu.
In the 2010s New Zealand had about 400 golf courses – more per person than any other country except Scotland. Many international tourists visited New Zealand to play golf.
