THE CAIRNS GOLF CLUB

By Heather Kidd

There can be few more perfect settings for a golf course than that on offer at The Cairns Golf Club. The grandeur of the vista is all-encompassing: towering mountains, a vast alpine sky and the wondrous turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo. The Cairns, named after the distinctive rock piles that dot its nine holes, is a setting where the scenery rates as a serious and spectacular distraction from golfing. The creation of brothers-in-law, landowner Andrew Simpson and course designer Barry Johnston, the course is as close to nature as it can possibly be. Johnston walked the undulating terrain with a pen in hand, his design for the course drawn on the back of an envelope. The fairways and greens were mown into existence; the only soil moved to level the area where the tees were created. The course was opened in 2012; Sir Bob Charles doing the honours. In the years since, the fairways have been widened to make them more forgiving. With two tee positions per hole, players can have a genuine 18-hole golf experience. And what an experience it is. Take cash; green fees are paid into an onsite honesty box. Golf gear can be rented from The Cairns Alpine Resort reception at 48 Dárchiac Drive, Lake Tekapo. Green fees: $20 (9 holes), $30 (18 holes). Mt John Historic Homestead,

SH8, Lake Tekapo. (03) 680 6952, thecairns.co.nz