New Zealand Golf Club

Across Locke King's Woodham Estate

The golf course at New Zealand Golf Club began on Hugh Locke King's Woodham estate, where Samuel Mure Fergusson created a private layout that opened in 1895. The club took its unusual name from the cottages and surrounding land, already called "New Zealand" because of the King family's historical links with the country.

Fergusson continued refining the course during his long tenure as secretary. In 1931, Tom Simpson, assisted by Philip Mackenzie Ross, completed a major redesign that reshaped much of the bunkering. A later restoration programme began in 2015, with Frank Pont working to recover Simpson's diagonal and fingered bunker forms around the greens.

At a little over 6,000 yards and par 68, the course relies on placement rather than scale. Six par fours extend beyond 400 yards, while heather and tree-lined avenues punish loose drives. Most holes sit apart from one another, creating a quiet, enclosed round. The 9th begins a three-hole stretch beyond Martyrs Lane, adding a distinct break in the routing before the course turns home.