To advise golf course officials more appropriately, the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute conducted a golf course benchmarking project in 2004. Materials and methods that objectively assessed golf course conditioning were developed and then used to create a database of course conditioning parameters. Most parameters tested were related to golfer desires and expectations concerning course conditioning and performance. Green speed, green trueness, green firmness, tee slope, tee levelness, collar firmness, approach firmness, bunker sand depth, bunker firmness, weeds, and patchiness were a few of the 80 parameters measured per course. For 3 holes per course, data was collected from greens, collars, approaches, surrounds, sand bunkers, fairways, rough, and tees. Fifty of the 400 golf courses in 14 of the 17 geographical regions of New Zealand were sampled. Course averages along with answers from a questionnaire were entered into a relational database. A general trend with many parameters was that as revenue and greens staff increased, conditioning improved. Since data was collected from 3 holes on one day of the year during fall or winter, the data did not fairly represent a course's conditioning throughout the year. Additional data from more clubs tested during all seasons of the year would strengthen the database and add to its usefulness. The New Zealand Sports Turf Institute now has a tool to advise golf clubs more appropriately.