Queenstown has become a global travel magnet, the highest symbol of New Zealand’s tourism image of hiking, fly-fishing, bungee jumping or boating through pure natural beauty.

Unsurprisingly, it’s also become a place to play golf. Millbrook, with its 27 holes designed by Sir Bob Charles and Greg Turner, is the established course in the area. Newcomer Jack’s Point comes highly regarded, taking advantage of its setting between the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu. The host of the New Zealand Open, The Hills, is nearby in Arrowtown.

Another staple of New Zealand’s fabulously successful tourism profile is its lodges, high-end, luxe accommodation that have become destinations in their own right. Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs were courses worth crossing a hemisphere to play, but the lodges attached to them have played a critical part in what they’ve become. The courses get a lot of plaudits, but so do the lodges – voted no.17 and no.21 in Travel & Leisure magazine’s top 100 hotels in the world, the only two places in Australasia to make the lst.  Check out the video below to see why.

The owners of those North Island courses, the Robertson family, have added their first South Island site in the Queenstown area, Matakauri. The property has been refurbished and will open in late August.

There’ll be no golf course with Matakauri, but those looking for the Kidnappers or Kauri feel – indeed, maybe even having just come from the courses – will find it. Matakauri will have 11 guest suites, each with private balcony looking out onto the lake and mountains, and a lodge room with indoor and outdoor dining.

Queenstown is seven kilometres away from Matakauri, so golfers will have no problem getting out to the area’s courses. For more information, call +643 441 1008 or www.matakaurilodge.co.nz

Jacks Point is a short drive from the luxurious Matakauri Lodge (above).