Hill family partners with Tara Iti team for new club vision

American investor Ric Kayne and business partner Jim Rohrstaff, the duo behind Tara Iti and Te Arai Links, have partnered with Sir Michael Hill and his daughter Emma Hill on the redevelopment of The Hills Golf Club near Arrowtown, New Zealand.

The Hills course, designed by John Darby, opened in 2007 and has regularly hosted the New Zealand Open. In 2019, the club added The Farm, a nine-hole par-three course by Darius Oliver.

“Michael and Emma reached out in early 2022 to begin a discussion around the Hills course, the property, and how to ensure the family could achieve a great result for themselves, the club and legacy they have created here in Arrowtown,” said Rohrstaff. “Even though Michael created the Hills, he, nor the rest of the family, are developers. So, to create a sustainable club and community that maintains the aesthetics, the family said we [Rohrstaff and Kayne] were the only logical partners to help take The Hills to the next level. We bring a passion for the game of golf and have a track record of creating great clubs and communities with both development and operational expertise.

“It took nearly two years for all of us to figure out how to create a partnership that worked for everyone, but we got to a place where we are really excited for the next chapter of The Hills with a shared vision of delivering excellence across all areas.”

That vision has included the appointment of Australian golf course design firm Ogilvy, Cocking & Mead (OCM). The Hills represents its first foray into New Zealand golf and the designers have developed a new routing to be built over the existing layout with many new holes and a new style.

“One of the other important items for us was to make the Hills course more walkable,” said Rohrstaff. “The new routing does a great job of connecting greens to tees… far better than the existing layout does. This is typically done by linking them with shortgrass, which will be a beautiful change. They are also adding a very short par three as the new second hole as well as making the fifteenth a more driveable par four. The new routing plays over a lot of the same ground, although, at times, in the opposite direction.”

Another part of OCM’s brief is to ensure the course remains a challenge from the back tees while it is more playable from the middle and forward tees.

“There were a few holes that we really wanted to address, so we started with fixing some of those,” said Rohrstaff. “On the first visit OCM made, they had a couple of really big ideas. The first idea that they wanted to get my reaction to was shifting the first tee by around 150 metres to completely change the angle of the hole, bringing it right in front of the clubhouse and opening the view from the clubhouse. They also had the idea of removing trees to create an unbelievable view of the course and mountains. It was so obvious, but nobody else ever saw it. I don’t think they finished the sentence, and I lit up. From there, I knew we were building a new course, and they had my trust immediately.”

Construction is expected to start in April 2026, with work to be carried out over two winters. The plan for the first phase is to work on nine holes while the other nine, plus The Farm, remain open. For the second season of construction, Rohrstaff says there will likely be a six-month period over the winter of 2027 where only the short course will be available for play.

Other work at The Hills includes an interior remodel of the clubhouse, which will also be extended, as well as a new golf training facility, fitness centre and private dining and meeting room.

“We are also building a small community within the gates of The Hills that will have a variety of member/guest accommodation, homes and custom homesites,” said Rohrstaff. “It will be a highly desirable place to call home… likely similar in size to Tara Iti, which has quickly become home to some of the most coveted properties in New Zealand.

“The vision is to create one of the most desirable clubs in the world. Success will be that our members and guests love the new course and walk off the eighteenth and want to play again. The surrounding environment in Queenstown offers so many outdoor adventures, great wines, restaurants, fly fishing, skiing, mountain biking and so on. It really has the best of what New Zealand has to offer.”

The entire project is expected to be completed in 2028.

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