An hour west of Queenstown, Cromwell is a small country club that was established in 1903 and golfed on various tracks until the 1946 opening of its current front nine. The back wasn’t opened until 1974, and the full links was redesigned by Greg Turner in 2011 at a cost of around $1 million.

What Cromwell got for its money in the most recent upgrade were more modern bunkers and greens, which on occasion are at odds with the rustic and unpretentious nature of the terrain and the club itself. This is not to suggest Turner did a poor job here, the land on the eastern section of the course is distinctly unremarkable and there are simply too few resources at the club to properly tie these newer areas with the older ‘lay of the land’ holes.

Turner’s work on some of the early, original holes is very good, particularly around the greens. Like many older courses in New Zealand cut across erratic undulations, Cromwell is quirky, fun and rarely dull. It isn’t quite to the standard of Arrowtown, but those golfing in the general Queenstown area and looking for a break from the modern resorts would do well to consider a game here.