Pegasus

Pegasus Golf & Sports Club is not just one of the newer faces in town in terms of golf courses in New Zealand – it is literally a new town (of the same name), developing week by week. The golf course was the first significant layout to have been completed in New Zealand since The Hills in 2007, and opened on the 5th of December 2009. Within three months, Pegasus hosted its first national championship, the Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open, which was won by England’s Laura Davies. Pegasus retained the event in 2011, which Australia’s Kristie Smith won.

Pegasus also has a female architect, Kristine Kerr, who had previously worked with Gary Player before setting up her own company, Kura Golf Course Design. She was also earmarked to design the course for a new Christchurch Golf Resort, just 8 miles south of Pegasus, but this facility has not been constructed.

The Pegasus course itself is set on relatively level ground, with the challenge being provided by lakes (in play on ten holes) and areas of natural wetland, surrounded by waterways and native grasses. Fairways are generous, and coupled with the wide range of teeing options (5,500 to over 7,000 yards), it is tailored for a wide range of abilities. Strategic thinking is emphasised throughout, with alternate routes to the green, and many putting surfaces angled to better receive an approach from a favoured side of the fairway.

And most importantly, visitors to the South Island should note that the vast majority of Christchurch courses were open for business soon after the recent earthquakes and Pegasus itself escaped without any significant damage.