한국 vs 뉴질랜드 골프장: 비용·예약·회원권·캐디, 이렇게 달라요

If you learned golf in Korea, the first thing that looks odd in New Zealand is the price list. There is no caddie fee on it. Instead there are two lines called "Affiliated" and "Non-affiliated". This post puts the cost of 18 holes in both countries on the same footing, then goes through membership, carts and caddies, and booking and cancelling. The New Zealand prices come from the official price lists of clubs near Tauranga. Lined up on the same basis, the local New Zealand clubs come to roughly 30–60% of the Korean Saturday figure, and if you play often a one-year membership brings it down further.

In November 2021 I joined Omanu Golf Club, and I wrote on my blog that golf in New Zealand felt "about 100 times" cheaper than in Korea. That was a feeling. The real numbers are below.

At a glance

Won figures are rough conversions at 1 New Zealand dollar = about 750 won (the basic exchange rate in early October 2026). Prices change often, so check the official price list before you go.

One round of 18 holes, on the same footing

The Korean figures come from a news report quoting the Leisure White Paper 2026 by the Korea Leisure Industry Institute. In May 2026 the per-person charge at public-type courses was 229,000 won on weekdays and 273,000 won on Saturdays. May is peak season, and prices drop in winter. The key point is that this is not the green fee alone. It includes one player's share of the caddie fee and the cart fee. In the same data, the average caddie fee is 147,000 won per team and the average cart fee is 98,000 won per team.

The New Zealand prices are straight off the price lists. The 18-hole visitor (Non-affiliated) fee is $80 at Tauranga, $90 at Omanu, $90 at Ohope Beach, $100 at Te Puke and $145 at Mt Maunganui ($160 in December and January). This is the range across these five clubs, not an average.

So comparing Korea's 273,000 won with New Zealand's $90 as they stand is the wrong comparison. There are two ways to line them up.

• All-in against all-in: New Zealand has no caddie, so add the cart to the green fee. Even if one player pays for a whole cart alone, Omanu comes to $90 + $55 = $145 (about 109,000 won), and Mt Maunganui in summer to $160 + $55 = $215 (about 161,000 won).
• Green fee against green fee: take the caddie and cart fees split four ways (about 61,000 won) off the Korean figure and you get about 168,000 won on weekdays and about 212,000 won on Saturdays. That is my own rough calculation from the averages above (the figures in the report also match a four-way split). In New Zealand, if you walk, you pay only the green fee above.

Either way the local New Zealand clubs are cheaper. Not 100 times cheaper, though: roughly 30–60% of the Korean Saturday figure worked out on the same basis.

In New Zealand, most people play on a one-year membership

From what I have seen playing here, the usual way in New Zealand is to buy a one-year membership. There are many days when non-members cannot book, so people generally play as members. And it is very cheap.

At Omanu, the Full Playing (age 36 and over) subscription for October 2026 to September 2027 is $1,229 (about 920,000 won). At the Korean Saturday cost of 273,000 won per person, that is the price of three or four rounds. Even the first-year total of $2,104 (about 1,580,000 won), with the one-off Club Development Fee of $875 added, is less than six rounds. Mt Maunganui costs more, at $3,947.50 for the first year including the joining fee, and it states that Full members have no limit on how often they play.

Against the visitor fee, too, Omanu's subscription equals about 14 rounds at $90 (leaving out the joining fee). If you play more than once or twice a month, membership works out better.

When I joined Omanu in November 2021, the 25–35 age subscription was 805 dollars (741 dollars each because we joined in November) and the junior subscription was 150 dollars (coaching included). The current price list shows $940 and $175 for the same categories. The fee board I photographed then shows $70 for an 18-hole visitor and $60 for a New Zealand club member. Now it is $90 and $80.

For New Zealand residents who are not club members there is Golf NZ's Flexiclub ($120 a year plus a $30 joining fee). It gives you an official handicap and access to affiliated rates, but it is not for short-term international visitors, and the discount is up to each club. Travellers should read the Non-affiliated line.

Carts and caddies: standard or optional

In Korea, more courses still come with a caddie than without. According to a report quoting the same white paper, 257 courses offered a caddie-choice option such as no caddie or a marshal caddie in May 2026. That is 45.6% of the 564 courses in operation.

The price lists of the local New Zealand clubs have no caddie line at all. Carts are optional too, and hired separately. One cart for 18 holes is $55 at Omanu, Mt Maunganui and Te Puke. Walkers use a trundler (a pull or push trolley), which costs $20 to hire for 18 holes at Omanu and $10 at Mt Maunganui.

Book the cart early. When my family played at Omanu in November 2021, the electric carts were already booked out, so we pushed a manual trolley by hand, and it was a very tiring day.

How booking and cancelling differ

In Korea, people use booking apps as well as the course website and the phone. Under the Fair Trade Commission's standard terms for golf course use (checked in the terms of a course that adopts them), a non-member who cancels at least 4 days ahead for weekends and public holidays, or 3 days ahead for weekdays, gets the full deposit back. After that the penalty is worked out on the whole team's charge: 10% (3–2 days ahead for weekends, 2 days ahead for weekdays), 20% (1 day ahead) or 30% (same day or no-show). The standard terms are not compulsory, though, so each course differs.

There are three ways to book in New Zealand: the club's own online booking, a phone call to the pro shop, and Golf NZ's nationwide tee booking (Book a Tee). Mt Maunganui notes that visitors cannot play during members-only club days and corporate events.

Where I have played, if you book alone or as two, other people can book the remaining places in that time. It may differ by club, so ask when you book.

When I joined Omanu in 2021, booking was not easy even as a member. The good morning times were gone in an instant. I wrote at the time that it felt like signing up for university classes.

At famous courses, the price depends on where you live

• Jack's Point (Queenstown): $275–400 for visitors in 2026. A shared cart is included in the green fee.
• Wairakei (Taupō): from October 2026 to March 2027, $320 for New Zealand club members, $380 for resident non-members and $465 for overseas club members.
• Te Arai Links (north of Auckland): $700–975 for international visitors, $300–500 for Australian and New Zealand residents. It is walking only and does not accept cash.

Your first booking: steps and what to bring

1. On the club's Green Fees or Visitors page, check the price and the times when visitors cannot play.
2. Book online or through Golf NZ's tee booking, or phone the pro shop.
3. If you need a cart or hire clubs, say so when you book.

Bring a collared shirt, golf trousers or tailored shorts, and golf shoes. Mt Maunganui bans jeans, track pants and T-shirts. Bring a card as well: the Mt Maunganui clubhouse (café and bar) does not take cash.

With no caddie, you tidy up after yourself. As Golf NZ's etiquette page says, rake the bunker you played from and repair your own divots and pitch marks.

On the phone, this is enough.

• "Hi, I'd like to book a tee time for two on Friday morning. We're non-affiliated visitors."
• "Could we hire a cart and one set of clubs, please?"
• "Is there a members-only time on that day?"

Related reading

• Your first trip to New Zealand: NZeTA, arrival declaration, flights, exchange rates and weather