Wairakei International

Wairakei International, designed by English architect Commander John Harris with Michael Wolveridge and five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson, is regarded as New Zealand's first internationally acclaimed golf course. The eighteen holes run as long as 6,460 metres across the volcanic plateau near Taupo, routed to follow the land's natural contours through more than a hundred bunkers, streams and waterfalls. The 180-hectare property doubles as a wildlife sanctuary behind a 5.5-kilometre predator fence, hatching more than a hundred kiwi chicks a year alongside resident takahe and fallow deer.