Central Otago is a scorcher in summer—dry as a bone, almost desert-like in places, with a vast, big-country feel to the landscape. Golf in this area dates back to the early days of golf in New Zealand. Alexandra started life in 1901, and Otago Golf Club, in Dunedin, is where the first shot in anger was fired in New Zealand in 1871. I played a couple of courses on a summer trip to the region.
Dunstan Golf Club – Dam Good Stuff.
In the cracking wee Dam town of Clyde there is a cool holiday vibe, old-time town centre, the start of the Otago rail trail, the legendary Oliver’s, Dam Tours(apologies for the language) and a nine-hole golf course. Dunstan Golf Club is flat but well-bunkered, with receptive greens that reward a good approach.
In central Otago the summer heat is intense, only a fool would tee off at noon in the peak of the season, we teed off at 5 past noon caked in sunscreen. Success in golf has many manifestations, just being there on the first tee is a win. After that you have a laundry list of success you can draw from.
· At least half the holes in par
· A single birdie
· Not losing a ball (or a club!)
· No sunburn disasters
· A couple of up-and-downs
· No double bogeys… no triple bogeys… no three putts …no four-putts
· And most importantly—the clubhouse being open for a post-round beer.
The list is a moving feast, it’s the demon that is golf. The game is deceitful, one minute it is a teenager, a mischievous toddler, your mother, an old man’s last words, and your second cousin. Take from it what you will and enjoy every minute, except losing a club, because you threw it in a lake.
A short par 4 for the 1st is comforting. I noticed that the fairways are irrigated, I wasn’t expecting that, normally this type of golf course has the ups and downs of the summer heat reflected in its fairways. Not Dunstan, nice firm fairways and excellent greens, that hold an approach well and putt true.
The first few holes all required a fade off the tee. I brought one of them with me. I started hitting fairway after fairway, add that to the list ..100% of fairways hit.. The good thing at Dunstan is that there is limited rough to trouble you if you stray off the tee. Not really a problem for me today, there is good bunkering across the course and a few trees that could trouble the other guy, but not me today.
Clyde is a delightful setting, with a typical gold rush feel with extensive mountain ranges in your eyeline, you have to love Central Otago. The flat course was very welcomed in the heat – especially since we had forgotten to pack refreshments, we had water but not “real” refreshments. The round was going along nicely, pars were flowing and I even had a look at birdie on a couple of holes.
I won’t mention the hole names, but I suspect the naming committee at Dunstan Golf Club needs a bottle of tequila and a brainstorming session to sort this out.
I wonder if there is a front nine hole naming committee and a back nine hole naming committee, are both unionised with no hope of a merger to one name per hole.
The alternate tees are varied enough if you play 18, to add interest, but not to the hole names, which change for the 2nd nine – that nonsense needs to stop.
I was really enjoying the course, it was giving me a sense of holiday golf, easy walking no drama in front of you and no pretentiousness. I had two serious birdie looks, on the 6th following a perfect 9 iron and then on the 8th off the back of the drive of the day on the longest par 4, I was beginning to frustrate the “a least one birdie” success tick box, but …not a fairway missed…not a ball lost… not an expletive uttered, there was much to be thankful for.
The last is called “Clubhouse” -of course – I was looking for the same rhythm and swing as on the 8th—100% fairways hit and happy days. Instead, wallop—straight into a tree. Success metric re-assessed.
From the rough, I couldn’t see the green, just two big trees between me and my target. The sensible play is to pop it on the fairway 100 out and make the best of the rest. The recovery club chosen, the lie was nice. Whack it through, over or under the trees (quick fact: trees are 90% air ) the ball clipped a tiny wee leaf on its journey to 5 feet from the hole. It is remarkable how some days success is everywhere. Birdie nailed, last tick of the success box was complete.
Clubhouse closed. No drinks for us. Disaster!
Roxburgh Golf Club
Golf on the Rox
The first at Roxburgh Golf Club is the longest you will face on your remarkable round. The road looms large on the left off the 1st Tee. “First Chance” is a tricky start to this unique golf course. The course is only 4,372 metres and par 68 for the full 18 holes. The suggestion from afar is that this is a chance at breaking 80. Roxburgh isn’t your usual lush fairway affair. It’s rugged, and unpredictable—a golf course that would be at home on Mars, where every shot could ricochet off a rock and rewrite your scorecard.
Complacency is easy. Scoring could be easy. Disaster is most likely.
The first is a test of nerves out of the blocks but a short par 5, I finished at Dunstan the day before with a birdie and started this round with the same, an easy 4 with firm fairways leaving me a shortish iron into the par 5 in two shots. The day before was a flat traditional golf course at Clyde, Roxburgh is none of these things. A hike up from the 1st green to the 2nd tee set the scene, elevated tee boxes were the norm. The second was 115 metres with more rocks than fairway, hitting the green was going to be important. I did and landed my second birdie – that makes 3 in a row, I am not sure I’ve done that before.
“Lady Roxburgh” the 3rd was a 215 metre par 4 asking for you to drive the green, and also asking for you to strike a rock – I was smart enough to pop my tee shot into the area in front of the green. A majestic pitch to 5 feet set up another birdie, and panic set in before the putter took on the ball. I missed by a mile – but okay for a par and sitting 2 under after 3.
A golf hole can be very similar across the country, but there are a few unique and stand-out golf holes in New Zealand. The 4th at Roxburgh Golf Club is one of these. “Happy Valley” only 126 metres -standing on the elevated tee box looking at a drop of sizable measure down to the green and of course rocks to avoid, I showed no fear. A beauty of a hole that makes you glad to be part of a club that has played this golf course and this particular hole. I wish I had a least pared it after hitting the green, 3 good putts later I disappointed myself.
Time was going quickly due to the short holes but time is relative, every moment at Roxburgh Golf Club was time more valuable than other ways of filling time. An impressive drive down the 5th (from an elevated tee box looking down at a wide fairway) “Long Valley” was a par 4 of a traditional 336 metres. I landed in the greenside bunker to test the sand, and found the heaviest bunker rake in the land, Osimium rakes must be a local thing. The rakes have never been stolen, according to local legends.
The next hole needed a hike up to an elevated tee to find “Surprise” – 232 metres down to a wee attractive green, with a wicked incline, sloping the green at you. I made a mess of this hole, the heat was asking some questions, but we did elect to tee off at noon (2 days in a row). We stopped for a proper refreshment and took some time to let a friendly Dunedin man play through – we shared an opinion on how the course was a bit quirky, and a great place to play.
“Surprise” and “Golden Run” are 2 short par 4’s I bogeyed one and birdied the other. These short holes give you a sense that you can play scratch golf. The entire golf course is set up for you to score well, a par 68 over the eighteen hole is asking for you to have the score of your golfing life. So, if you are looking for a class pie at the Jimmy’s Pie factory and an opportunity to score well then Roxburgh is the joint for you. My advice is simple, think your way around this course and you will be a legend in your own living room. Try to overpower it and it will spit you out like one of those other pies that have sat in the warmer too long.
