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New Zealand golf tourism is on the charge, and Queenstown’s trio of marquee courses are at the top of the leaderboard.

Golf Tourism New Zealand’s annual industry update, released last week, reported the number of rounds played by international golf visitors at the country’s 12 top-ranked courses was up 23% in the year to April compared with the previous 12 months.

Executive director Ryan Brandeburg said that generated an 18% increase in spending by those visitors over the same period, up from $4563 per person to $5385, generating $329million in value.

Of all overseas tourists to the country, 2.6% played golf during their stay, Mr Brandeburg said.

Australians played the most rounds, followed by Americans and Chinese.

The annual report, the third produced by Golf Tourism NZ since it developed an international golf tourism strategy in 2014, also found golfing visitors from overseas played 61% of their rounds in the South Island.

Four of the country’s dozen official "marquee" courses are in the South Island, of which Queenstown is home to three: Millbrook Resort, The Hills and Jack’s Point. Christchurch’s Clearwater Golf Club is the fourth.

Millbrook Resort golf operations manager Peter Smith said golf tourism in Queenstown was outpacing the supply of accommodation and workers.

"There’s a squeeze on — the limit for golf in this area is definitely not from a golf course perspective — we’ve got plenty of capacity."

For example, this weekend’s Queenstown International Marathon meant many potential golfing visitors had been unable to find hotel rooms.

"We’re a little bit a victim of our own success."

The challenge for Golf Tourism NZ was to spread golf tourists throughout the country, Mr Smith said.

"It must be frustrating because Queenstown is so successful.

"We’ve got everything on our doorstep, and that’s not necessarily the case in all the areas where you play golf.

"We are the jewel in the crown and you can come here and have a fantastic visit of between four and seven days of golf that would match the experience of anywhere in the world."