Initial plans for a new golf resort in New Zealand have been unveiled.

An 18-hole golf course and property development has been earmarked for creation on a site beside the Highlands Motorsport Park near the town of Cromwell in the central part of the country’s South Island.

Golf course architect Brett Thomson of RBT Golf Design has been hired to design the course, with Phil Tataurangi hired as golf course consultant.

The site of the new course is generally flat and features sandy subgrade. Much of the site is currently covered in pine trees, around 75 per cent of which will be removed. Pockets of trees will be left to provide shelter on the course and to frame the views of the nearby mountain ranges.

Approximately half a million cubic metres of earth are likely to be shifted to add topographical interest to the course. Cuts of up to three metres and fills of between three and four metres will be created, with Thomson saying he is looking to create something ‘akin to an inland links with a hint of desert golf.’

Features of the design include particularly wide fairways of between 70 and 80 metres. The course will have a par of 70, with six par three holes forming part of the design.  

Thomson confirmed that the aim is not to create a championship golf course, but a design that will appeal to the golf tourism demographic. The owner of Highlands Motorsport Park, entrepreneur Tony Quinn, has identified golf as a ‘complimentary asset’ to his motorsport and tourism portfolio.