Teeing Off in Middle Earth: Welcome to The Hills Golf Club
Discover one of New Zealand’s most renowned private clubs and how an upcoming renovation will improve it even further.
It takes audacity to alter something that by most accounts is already close to perfection. The Hills Golf Club was opened in 2007 by one of New Zealand’s most successful entrepreneurs Sir Michael Hill, and no expense was spared in bringing it to fruition. The clubhouse is worthy of appreciation in its own right, a geometric structure of glass, aluminum and concrete which simultaneously blends into its surroundings while offering something completely new.
The setting, on the other hand, is quite literally something straight out of a fantasy novel. The Lord of the Rings scene where Arwen carries Frodo to safety across the River Bruinen was actually filmed in Arrowtown where The Hills is located. There are even a series of sculptures out on the golf course that appear to be mythical creatures, a reflection of the founder Hill’s appreciation and support of the arts.
However, time moves quickly and 16 years on from its opening there’s a feeling that some aspects of the course have aged better than others. That’s why Michael Hill and his daughter Emma Hill partnered with Jim Rohrstaff and Ric Kayne, the pair of American investors and real estate developers behind Te Arai Links and Tara Iti, to bring The Hills into the next era.
The planned changes revolve around making the course more walkable, removing trees to open up more sightlines and making the forward sets of tees more playable. In order to lead these changes Rohrstaff and Kayne enlisted OCM, a golf course design firm co-founded by professional golfer Geoff Ogilvy. The renovations, which will also encompass improvements to the clubhouse and new on-site accommodations, will be carried out over the next two winters with a planned completion by 2028.
We caught up with Jim Rohrstaff to learn more about what makes the club unique and how the planned renovations will build on its legacy of design and strong sense of place.
Ricky Robinson
Ricky Robinson
Ricky Robinson
Ricky Robinson
Ricky Robinson
Ricky Robinson
Can you describe the renovations and how they will improve the course?
The land at The Hills is incredible. We thought that a new routing of the course could make better use of the natural movements of the land and the views while making the course better and more walkable. It is a total rebuild.
What’s the natural setting of The Hills and how does it affect the playing experience?
The Hills is located in Arrowtown (Queenstown) which is home to the Southern Alps, so you are surrounded by gorgeous mountains and the course itself has beautiful rolling terrain as well as exposed schist and jagged rocks that surround it. One unique feature, while not natural, The Hills has an incredible collection of sculptures that are strategically placed around the course and make for added viewing pleasures while playing golf. It represents a very unique feature that Michael Hill added to the course, and we absolutely love it.
Ricky Robinson
What’s the idea behind making the golf course more walkable?
We love to walk while playing golf and think it is the right way to play the game. However, when making a course more walkable, you’re talking about concepts like linking greens to the next tee and therefore, tend to have better flow around the course. For us, we wanted it to be more walkable, but also a more seamless routing. There were a few transitions on the course that OCM has solved that are going to be a much more enjoyable playing experience.
What types of amenities will your club offer and why?
Beyond the incredible golf course that OCM is building for us, we have an award-winning clubhouse designed by Andrew Patterson that we are adding onto and remodeling. We are adding a private dining room for members to host dinners, meetings and parties, a new gym, a state-of-the-art golf training facility with all the latest technology, fireplace, firepit, bar and barbeque and pizza oven. The golf training facility will be a great place for our members to hang out!
We will also have a large garden for farm to table dining, an event lawn, tennis, basketball and pickleball courts added, along with a trail system which connects to the world-famous Queenstown Trail system for biking and hiking. It is important to us to have a complete package of amenities for our members who visit the course for the day, those that stay in our accommodation and of course, those who reside in the community we are building.
Can you tell us about the clubhouse and how it complements the course?
The award-winning clubhouse designed by Andrew Patterson is an iconic New Zealand golf clubhouse. The architecture is phenomenal with a concrete structure that cantilevers over the ground to the right of the 18th green. With the course redesign, the clubhouse will not only overlook the 18th, but will have increased views of the mountains, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes. The clubhouse is the vibrant heartbeat of the club where we gather, have a drink and dine together. It is a wonderful place.
What type of culture are you hoping to have at your club and how will you go about creating it?
We will have a culture that reflects respect and appreciation of our club, the environment we’re in, the game of golf and most of all our staff and fellow members. It is a very welcoming and social club here at The Hills. We are in the adventure playground of the world, so we’ll end up building programs that feature the world class mountain biking, fly fishing, skiing, hiking and dining that is at our doorstep.
The Hills Golf Club
164 McDonnell Road
Arrowtown, New Zealand 9351
