Rich-lister Sir John Davies' company Trojan Holdings has submitted plans to the local council for a "Hogans Gully Golf Resort Zone'' on 132ha of uneconomic farmland at Arrow Junction.
A luxury lodge and five or six clusters of residential house sites are planned, as well as a clubhouse, pro shop and restaurant.
The 18-hole championship course was designed by local former golf professional Greg Turner.
The land is largely owned by Hogans Gully Farming Ltd, a Davies family company, and Sir John's son Michael lives there.
Michael Davies said: "There's probably not much other land that lends itself to a golf course within the Wakatipu Basin.
"Rather than a large housing development out there in 15 to 20 years' time, I think it's a great use to have some green space in the basin.
"I also think the undulating land lends itself to hiding some house sites.''
The site is 3km from Arrowtown and is bordered by the Lake Hayes-Arrow Junction highway to the south, McDonnell Road to the east, Hogans Gully Rd to the west and the exclusive Bendemeer subdivision to the east.
In its district plan submission, Trojan Holdings stresses the development's "low impact'' philosophy and its plans to enhance the site's ecological values, including wetlands.
Mr Davies said Hogans Gully would be a public golf course, rather than a private one, like jeweller Sir Michael Hill's nearby course, The Hills.
In his submission, Mr Turner said: "There is significant concern about the lack of [golf course] inventory in the Queenstown region limiting the potential for growth in this tourism sector.''
Paddy Baxter, whose Baxter Design Group is the resort's master planner and landscape architect, said Hogans Gully was a unique piece of land "with folds and landscape forms you won't find anywhere else in the Wakatipu''.
"The important thing is that you'll be able to drive around the surrounding roads and you won't be able to see it.''
Mr Baxter said the resort would have a traditional Central Otago style.
"We want to keep sheep around the edges of the golf course.''
- Philip Chandler
