Nordic Invitational Celebrates 25 Years!

PaR nz 25th Blog

Well, hello all golfers and travellers – we are now well into our 26th year, having celebrated the 25th anniversary of PaR nz Golfing Holidays on the 1st of August in Prague with golfers on our Grand Europe 2025 tour.

This blog is being written in Copenhagen, where the Nordic 2025 Invitational is about to commence with a cruise around the inner harbour passing by The Little Mermaid, followed by rounds of golf at the award-winning Scandinavian Golf Club.

Hard to believe that 25 years have flown by! From simple beginnings with a Mercedes Van carrying eight golfers and their clubs, a New Zealand Open contract with the then NZ based IMG and NZGA, and our first long-haul tours to Fiji and Canada – to now, offering a wide range of overseas tours that frequently and amazingly quickly sell out.

This year we have already been to Japan, South Africa, Canada, Ireland, the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, and a grand European tour covering seven countries.

Our current tour includes Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, with the highlight being the acclaimed Lofoten Links on the island of Gimsøy in the Lofoten Islands, Northern Norway, above the Arctic Circle. This world-class 18-hole golf course is set in a rugged seaside landscape with breathtaking views of the mountains and the Norwegian Sea – and with luck, we may even witness the midnight sun or the Northern Lights. Fingers crossed!

Fiji is still to come in 2025, and we’ll return to Tasmania at the end of the year. Last places are available for this trip to Australia’s “7th state,” featuring world-class golf in Hobart and Barnbougle.

Our 2026 programme is already well underway, with tours planned to Japan, South Africa, Canada, and two more tours back to the Nordic region, including another visit to Lofoten.

Europe will also be a major feature in 2026, with golf tours to Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Italy, and Greece.

We continue to support research in the fight against MND for very personal reasons and extend our best wishes to the newly appointed professor at The Centre for Brain Research. The Auckland University team continues their vital work to find a cure.

Our good friend Sir Richard Faull is stepping back – what an incredible contribution he has made – and will pass the baton to Professor Hanneke Hulst, who takes up the challenge on 1st December 2025. To date, through our many fundraising efforts (with your generous support), we have raised over NZ$313,000. We truly hope that a cure, or at least some effective treatment, is found soon for sufferers of this hideous disease, which is still largely untreatable.

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of our journey. (Yes, one day we will write a book!) It’s been amazing – thank you – and we’ll see you on a fairway soon. We are aiming to play over 100 different courses this year – and tomorrow at the Scandinavian will be our 69th of 2025!

Happy golfing,

Denise & Kim