North Island
The North Island of New Zealand mixes rugged volcanic landscapes with laid-back city life, and is blessed with a delightfully mild climate. More than half of the island’s 3.3 million inhabitants live in the two main cities (Auckland and the capital, Wellington), leaving the rest of the island rather sparsely populated.
From a golfing point of view, the landscape has changed dramatically since the turn of the 21st century, with overseas clients utilising the amazing landscape on offer to build some truly world-class courses. Before that time, the links at Paraparaumu Beach (opened in 1949) was the flagship course for the entire country, and it remains one of the nation’s best.
However, the fledgling clifftop cousins at Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers are now the ones that sit comfortably within some World Top 100 lists, as well as being two of the most scenic places to play the game anywhere.
Our North Island rankings were last updated in March 2017.
