Oreti Sands Links, Invercargill, New Zealand

The "World's Southern-most 18 Hole Golf Links", it says it right on the front of the scorecard! I believe this only means that I have come a long way from Staten Island to play some golf. Well, I didn't come all this way to lay up, right? I went straight for the back tees. This mistake cost me more golf balls than I was prepared to lose.

The combination of a strong wind and a unique layout required more orientation than I expected. The front nine twists its way through some wild low-land sand dunes, covered in shining thick native grasses. Oreti boasts a varied and unique topography but lacks in firm links conditions to take advantage of the playing strategies.

The second nine opens up into a large meadow and back out to some large trees, finishing among a small audience of sand dunes, unwinding a testing round of golf. Overall Oreti offered an exciting round as I discovered each hole and is worth a look if you ever make it this far for a round of golf.