I have trouble playing golf in New Zealand. I am so in awe with the scenery that I forget to concentrate on keeping my head down. If you are a golfer, you have come to the right place. New Zealand has more golf courses per head of population than anywhere else in the world and you will often have the fairways to yourself.

Visiting golfers are surprised and delighted at the number and variety of courses in New Zealand from nine-hole country tracks where you have to share the fairways with a bunch of sheep to world class layouts designed by the game’s greatest names. With 400 odd courses around the country, crowded fairways are a rarity at least on weekdays.

Many visitors are surprised at the cost of a round, which can be as little as $5 on a rural course. The average is probably $25-35 with the top courses asking around $65. A very few resort courses like the stunning Kauri Cliffs in the Bay of Islands and rugged Cape Kidnappers in Hawk’s Bay may demand up to $300 a round for a non resident but the experience is one you are unlikely to forget.

There are 40 courses within an hour’s drive of Auckland including some great coastal links like Muriwai on the west coast and Mangawhai to the north east. The PGA standard Formosa Auckland County Club at Beachlands is great, also the Gulf Harbor.

In the central North Island, Rotorua and Taupo each have their share of good courses. One I love is Arikikapakapa which sits atop a thermal cauldron that produces undulating fairways and bubbling vents.

South Island gems including Russley, Shirley, Clearwater Resort and Terrace Downs High Country Resort in Christchurch and Canterbury. Dunedin’s Balmacewen and the scenic splendor of Millbrook Resort and Kelvin Heights at Queenstown.

If you are on a self drive itinerary you will be sure to pass many other golf courses along the way. Pull in and have a game. I love the ones where you put your money in the honor box, and only a couple of woolly spectators make sure you are honest.

If you stay at a resort property, you can pay for half price which is worth it. My favorite is Millbrook, outside Queenstown. Have lunch at Millbrook, and dinner at the Aimsfield Winery in Arrowtown