John Key tees off at Over The Top golf in Queenstown. Photo / Supplied to the Herald on Sunday.
John Key tees off at Over The Top golf in Queenstown. Photo / Supplied to the Herald on Sunday.
If having a caddy is a little last season for you, consider taking a chopper ride to your next round of golf.
Queenstown company 'Over the Top' has found a clever way to lift the game - hiding a course in the side of a mountain.
Marketing Manager forthe company, Hadyn Fitzpatrick said the experience at Cecil Park had been coined 'ego-tourism.'
"It's all about that photo and the bragging rights, like 'this is where I tee'd off and yes my chopper is waiting behind me'.'"
The 4500- 4900 foot high course, which Fitzpatrick says is "surprisingly playable" was the brainchild of local golfing enthusiast, Louisa Patterson. A helicopter pilot for the past 14 years, she joined forces with friend Eric Faesenkloet, owner of The Golf Warehouse, to build the fantastical course.
It took eight months to go through the consent process, gaining permission from various local bodies and doing ecological reports, but Over the Top Golf was launched in March last year with the full endorsement of the American world-class golf course architect, Tom Doak, who tagged it as 'one of the best spots he has ever set foot.'
Patterson says as a young girl, she used to dream of building a fantastical place to play golf. Her father was a spitfire pilot during WWII and her uncle the chairman of the then national airline NAC.
"In the sixties, my father had one of those calendars which had photos of tees taken in famous landmarks around the world, like the Eiffel Tower. I remember thinking to myself, 'wouldn't it be amazing if we could do that here.'"
An hour and a half's game on the 'ultimate 19th hole,' starts at $475, which includes the chopper ride to and from the mountain. Fitzpatrick believes this is a bargain, saying it's "cheaper than a new golf club cover."
Local boy scouts are used as tussock mountain ball-gatherers.
Prime Minister John Key has even had one of the holes named after him. 'Keyhole' is aptly named after Mr Key became the closest golfer to the hit the ball into the hole in the rock.
Fitzpatrick said says there was a good mix of local and offshore patronage of the course, but stopped short of name-dropping celebrities who have graced the mountain.
Despite the interest Patterson said she was still waiting for the big one.
"No one's got a hole in one yet."
Over The Top golf in Queenstown, which is accessible only by helicopter. Photo / Supplied to the Herald on Sunday
