Known locally as Otatara Links, the golf course at Invercargill Golf Club was established in the 1920s and set on the immediate outskirts of New Zealand’s southern city. A short entrance drive leads visiting golfers to a gravel car park and a first impression dominated by rows of established pine trees and an aging clubhouse and pro shop precinct. The ‘links’ appear anything but, until out on the golf course and able to look beyond the trees and heavy turf and study the actual contours on the ground. In places the natural landforms here are superb, and ideally suited to our great game of golf.

The opening holes showcase both the charms and frustrations with Otatara. The 1^st is a drivable par four with a tiny green tucked beyond an interesting collection of undulations kept curiously within the rough grass. The anorexic narrowing of this already skinny fairway turns an otherwise fascinating par four into a dull lay-up, wedge hole. Additionally, the longer par four 3^rd plays partly across a charming mound but so tightly through trees that the only strategic play is to bisect the timber rather than try favour one side of the fairway.

So the theme continues throughout this golf course, where a number of good holes, as well as potential stars like the 7^th, 13^th and 16^th, are hamstrung by inappropriate trees and an apparent desire from the club to maintain the difficulty of their course at all costs. Oddly for a suburban club of this vintage, the corridors between holes are generally quite large and strategic tree removal would not only create some wonderful longer holes, it would preserve, and potentially enhance, the woodland nature that members enjoy. In places there are 40-50 metres between adjacent holes, and dozens of towering pines. Shorter gambling holes, such as the 7^th and 16^th, would benefit most from a selective tree removal program, their attractive humps and bumps made redundant by ill-positioned trees that virtually force driver from your hand.

Of the holes unaffected by vegetation, the best include the seemingly straightforward par three 4^th, and the wonderfully undulating par five 8^th, which runs straight along a road and across a series of horizontal ridges.

Although still a solid golf course and certainly recommended as an accompaniment to the nearby Oreti Sands, Invercargill nonetheless has the potential for tremendous improvement. Damp turf aside, the natural ground available here is excellent for golf and really deserves to yield one of New Zealand’s best 10-15 courses. If the club ever decides to ignore the opinion of the modern professional, and contemplate an ambitious tree management program, the sky really is the limit.