Adventure Golfer Ian Cross travels to New Zealand, where there are more sheep and golf courses per capita than anywhere else in the world.

Starting his trip up in the North Island, Ian heads to the course at Cape Kidnappers, a peninsula named by Captain Cook. The most stunning hole on the course is Pirate’s Plank, built on a ridge stretching out in to the Pacific Ocean. If your ball doesn’t stay on the fairway, it’s lost forever in Hawkes Bay.

Ian visits the nearby town of Napier, which has some of the best art deco architecture in the world, and checks out a 1930’s hotel before venturing to the local winery to help out and, of course, sample the vintage.

Next it’s Rotorua Golf Club, where Ian plays a round with ex-All Black’s player Mark Irwin. The hazards on this course include a huge thermal crater and bubbling mud pools. After the round, Ian visits a local Maori centre and learns about the ancient tradition of wood carving.

On the South Island, extreme sports are the name of the game, with golf serving as a relief, a slower pace of life for the local sportsman. Millbrook Resort is the course of choice, and with the back drop of the Remarkables Mountain Range, Ian teams up with Ben Gally, a local pro who’s just one step away from the PGA tour.

Afterwards he joins a river safari on the Dart River, where he checks out some of the spectacular locations used in the Lord of the Rings filming. Director Peter Jackson capitalized on the same incredible scenery that gives rise to the incredible courses in this episode of Adventure Golf.