Nine new golf holes are set to be built at Millbrook Resort on New Zealand’s South Island.

The resort has been planning the addition of a new course for three years, and in 2014 purchased 67 hectares of farmland lying next to the current resort.

The resort’s plans were approved by the Queenstown Lakes District Council earlier this year, with no third-party appeals believed to be submitted.

These plans include the development of nine new holes designed by golf course architect Scott Macpherson and former New Zealand golf professional Greg Turner. Macpherson and Turner were the architects behind the resort’s Coronet nine, and the new holes will play with the Coronet to form a full 18 hole course.

The new nine will take the total number of holes at Millbrook to 36, allowing for two fully-operational 18-hole courses at the resort.

Site clearing is set to commence early next year, and the work will have a strong ecological angle to protect the natural elements of the land.

It is hoped that the new holes will open for play in 2021.

“It’s fantastic news because it will cater not only for our Millbrook Country Club members and locals, but for the significant growth opportunities for high-yielding golf tourism in New Zealand, particularly here in the Queenstown Lakes area,” said Brian Spicer, director of golf at Millbrook. “Our plan is to run one private members’ course and one public course, changing the holes played on a daily basis. That adds to the exclusivity of our golf club offering for our 480 family memberships, and alternating it will keep it interesting for members and be an incentive for visiting golfers to stay an additional night and play the other course.”