The Clearwater Resort

So, I'm at the Clearwater Resort in Christchurch, and this golf course is pretty impressive. It's a par-72 championship course, and it's hosted some big tournaments. From 2013 to 2016, it was home to the ISPS Handa NZ Women's Open, and before that, both the BMW New Zealand Open and the New Zealand PGA Championship were played here.

Apparently, John Darby designed it, and he worked with New Zealand golfing legend Sir Bob Charles. They blended a bit of that links golf feel, like the Scottish courses, with the parkland style you'd see in Florida. It's a cool mix.

The first New Zealand Women's Open was held here in 2009, and a Frenchwoman named Gwladys Nocera, who was Europe's number-one player at the time, won it by a good margin. Then, in 2013, Lydia Ko, as an amateur, won the ISPS Handa NZ Women's Open here. She was the first New Zealand woman to win her national tournament and the youngest ever to win a Ladies European Tour event. She even set a new course record of 61 in 2015 when she was ranked number one in the world, and she won the title as a professional that year. It seems she really likes this course, as she won her third title here in 2016 and has never shot over par at Clearwater.