Oreti Sands Golf Club
Our quest to play the world’s most unique golf courses brought us to Oreti Sands Golf Club. Unfortunately, it brought us here 18 months too late. Due to dwindling membership and lack of funding, the Club closed back in April 2018.
Located deep in the Southland of New Zealand, with no road signs, and no help from Google Maps, we couldn’t find the golf course on our first attempt. Wondering if we were close, we stopped an oncoming car to ask if they knew where the course was located. They unfortunately never heard of it and seemed to have never even heard of the word golf!
As they speed off, we decided to head to our next location just up the road, the Invercargill Golf Club.
The World’s Southernmost True Links Golf Course
Now, why would a golf course that we couldn’t find, and that has been closed for over a year be on our bucket list? That is a good question; one with a couple of good answers. First, according to our favorite golf book True Links, there are only 246 authentic links golf courses in the world. Our goal was to play all 9 true links golf courses of New Zealand, and Oreti Sands was one. Not only that, but Oreti Sands Golf Club (no website found) was once the southernmost true-links golf course in the world!
While we were at Invercargill Golf Club, we inquired about Oreti Sands. From everyone that we talked to about the course, it seemed as though it was something special to play. We also learned that Mr. Gene Sarazan visited here back in 1934. His reason was simple- to “satisfy his ambition to have driven a ball further south than any other American professional!” He then proceeded to tee one up and hit it deep into the southern Tasman Sea.
And, most importantly while we were there, we were given directions on exactly where the golf course was located.
We Found It
Armed with directions, we managed to find the golf course our second time around. We pulled our campervan under the “Welcome to The World’s Southern Most 18 Hole Links Golf Course” sign and parked in the empty parking lot. It was eerily silent, but we found it!
We got out and peered through the windows of the locked and abandoned clubhouse. We could see unopened boxes of scorecards in the small room where the honesty box was located. It was here that we saw the “Course Closed” sign. It stated that the course was closed as of the 31st of March 2018.
Golf is a Good Walk Spoiled
We decided to take a walk around the golf course to see what, if anything, remained. Near the clubhouse, we saw remnants of a tee box from what we guessed was once the first hole. Standing there was an empty frame that once housed a hole sign that has long since disappeared. Continuing towards the sea, we found blue, white, and red fairway distance markers, and what we thought was once a green.
With greens, tees, and bunkers no longer visible, we walked through what had to have been a wonderful true-links experience. We found stairs that lead to tee boxes, but there were no tee markers. With the sun shining down, we walked around and between some incredible dunes! There was something peaceful strolling around these links even though we couldn’t play golf. And the more we walked, the more we could tell that this was once a true golfers’ golf course.
While walking around Oreti Sands, I decided to hit a shot in Mr. Sarazan’s memory. Unfortunately, I hit it into the trees! I hate to use the “S” word, but I literally shanked a brand-new Srixon into the trees dead right! Menekse was more accurate with hers and we found it in the long fairway grass.
While we were at Invercargill, we learned that the property would be for sale to the right buyer. Does anyone have a direct line to Mr. Mike Keiser, the genius behind Bandon Dunes? We have no doubt that his passion would breathe new life back into these incredible links!
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It is a shame that the Southland golf club closed a few years ago .
It really was a wonderful course in its original 18 hole layout , and probably the best test of a golfers ability , or destroyer of egos in the lower south island of New Zealand .
There are a lot of local golfers that blame the closure of the course on redevelopments designed by a certain NZ golfer G Turner , which made the course to difficult for a lot of the elder members of the club and general late teen handicappers and higher .
You really did miss one of the best golfing experiences in New Zealand
Hello Lyndon,
Even though the course was no longer playable when we were there, we could see the bones of its former glory! There is no doubt that this course was something special. We would have relished the opportunity for Oreti Sands to destroy our egos!!!
Thanks mate!
Menekse and James
I was lucky to have played it then! In 2012 I was there and it was lots of fun. Tough course if you missed the fairways… So sad it’s gone though it looks like it only needs to be cut to be fine again!
Hello Paul,
You were lucky indeed! When we were there, it just needed a little love to restore it back to its former glory!
Thanks for stopping by our website!
Yours in travel and golf,
Menekse and James
Hi Team, had i known you where looking for is and visiting, i could have given you a tour of the inside, when the club closed down the Southland Astronomical Society started to lease a part of the building, we have been there ever since, and now we are building and observatory there, every now and then i/we see people there with the clubs etc hitting golf balls off into the distance.
Elizabeth King
President
SAS
Hello Elizabeth,
That would have been amazing- thank you! We are very happy to hear that the clubhouse has been transformed into the Southland Astronomical Society. We were very fortunate to have seen the Aurora Australis while we were in Tassie- it was an experience that we will never forget! If and when we make it back to your incredible country, we would love to stop by!
Yours in travel and golf,
Menekse and James
played twice …. top10 NZ course on its day when course was in prime conditions ..hopefully one day it can be revived with a cornerstone rich southern golf nut … add in decent country member price offered many lower south club golfers would join to support the club I know I would if say it was a $250-$275 country membership(and I live 3hrs away!) …you get 200-300 easy … then if the growing southern Golfers would add 200-300+ core members … decent on course investment clubhouse + self contained accommodation with focus on overseas golf nuts wanting to play a brilliant lowest in southern hemi links it could make it back to one of the best links in NZ
Hello John!
We have heard how fantastic Oreti Sands was from so many players like yourself! We just wish we would have arrived in your beautiful country a couple of years earlier!
If the course does get revived, we’ll be sure to join you there for a hit!
Yours in Golf,
Menekse and James
Having played this in the 1990s as a teenager, I have great memories of how cool it really was. It punished the bad shots which doesn’t deserve anything less in golf sometimes. Now I have a teenage son who’s a very keen golfer and know he would have enjoyed it as he hits much straighter than I ever did.
Hello Chris!
From everything that we have heard, your experience at Oreti Sands sums up how great of a golf course this must have been. No doubt your son would have loved these links! Thank you for stopping by!!!
Yours in golf,
Menekse and James
My Dad Ian Ferguson and uncle Tun , Keith Gerrard would be turning in their graves. Our family created this golf course and it is a great shame they followed Turners advice to borrow too much money to alter the course. The alterations did nothing for the members and the borrowed money caused it to close down.
We’re so sorry to hear that Keith. From everyone we talked to, we heard so many lovely stories about Oreti Sands and those that played there.
We truly hope that something positive will come of the property- it is just too good to sit idle.
Thank you so much for stopping by, your support means so much to us!
Yours in golf,
Menekse and James
Prob one of my most memorable GOLF experiences(I can still recall it 15yrs+ later!!), I got to play early winter morning, must have been only a few years before closing next to nil wind on a Tuesday, I only spotted 3x other players my whole round … The tide was high, so you could hear the waves crashing in the background as you played many of the holes. Something amazing the smell of the sea the noise of crashing waves, while you look to your next shot amongst the dunes sometimes feeling near lost in the experience smiling as I lost GOLF ball after Golf ball LOL … I have hopes to play it again one day maybe if Invercargill’s Golfer population grows enough we could see it re-open
Joe, what a beautiful memory- thank you so much for sharing that with us!
We could feel that early winter morning as we read your words. The stillness, barely any wind (which, feels like a small miracle down there!), the sound of the waves rolling in with the tide high… and that salty sea air wrapping around you as you stood over your next stot- we’re sure that is exactly what made Oreti Sands so special!
We share your hope that one day it might reopen. What a comeback story that would be for Invercargill, and for links lovers everywhere. If it ever does reopen, we’ll meet you there for that early morning tee time. And we’ll bring extra golf balls!!!
Thanks again for taking the time to share this with us Joe- it truly means a lot!
Yours in golf and travel,
Menekse and James