Buy your own golf course
Have you ever imagined owning you own private golf course?
Now you can.
In Waianakarua, North Otago there is an opportunity to purchase the nine-hole Margaret Mackay Private Golf Course.
The course has been run by the Mackay couple, Anne and John, for the past 13 years and is named after Mr Mackay’s aunt, Margaret Mackay, a stalwart of the North Otago community.
The story of the golf course came about in the early 1900s, when a Waianakarua farmer received an offer for a 40-acre piece of his land.
When the farmer consulted his lawyer, A.J. Grave, about the offer, Mr Grave decided to also make a bid for the land.
As the new owner, Mr Grave decided to develop a golf course on the section that he wouldn’t later sell off to family and friends.
The course was completed in 1927 and has hosted players from around the world, including the Scottish Ladies Champion in 1935.
When Mr Grave died in 1948 he left the golf course to his niece Miss Mackay.
Miss Mackay maintained and played on the course for 50 years and passed it on to her nephews, including Mr Mackay, when she died in 1998.
“All 11 nephews were very delighted to be gifted a golf course, but the practicalities of the cost and everything else, some of them started saying they would rather have their share,” Mrs Mackay told the Otago Daily Times.
In 2003, the Mackay couple made an offer to buy the course.
‘‘We never planned to own a golf course, and we don’t play golf, but it’s been a privilege to have it,” she said.
The couple had plans to build a home by the private course on a terrace above the Waianakarua River, but decided to move closer to family and put the golf course out on the market instead.
Even though the Mackays never utilised the course themselves, a small group of golfers play the course once a week and assists in maintaining the green.
‘‘Other people ring up and ask to play and we’re always delighted to have it used,” Mrs Mackay said.
Barry Kingan, Farmlands real estate agent, said there had been significant interest in the property since it was listed in early January.
