Auckland

Chamberlain Park Golf Club – A Father’s Day out

Chamberlain Park Golf Club is a parkland course in Mt. Albert. A public course which is great value for your money.

You turn up and get in the queue at Chamberlain. It was Father’s day and the course was packed with father son combos. We waited over half an hour to get our turn on the first.

I started my long and rocky golfing career on a municipal public golf course in Glasgow. Knightswood Municipal Golf course is 9 holes, you waited for your name to be shrieked out of the starter’s hut to announce your invitation to get on the tee box. It was a joker’s paradise using the name of a famous footballer or politician – many a Mick Jagger and Mohammed Ali were called up onto the tee. We had one golf club each and a putter between the 3 of us. I’m not sure were we got the golf balls.

Chamberlain Park Golf Club is under threat of extinction. The local council is attempting to carve up this course for other outdoor activities and maybe the odd development.

The movement to stop this ridiculous plan is vocal and extremely determined to save the park. This voice is being ignored by the council and others who don’t know better, their claim is that golf courses take up too much space.

Today there was not enough space for the son’s taking their fathers out for a bonding golf game. The winter sun was warm on this fine day. I met a friend who was out with his elderly father. The group behind us were bickering over the scoring on the 3rd tee, and then we heard “Happy Father’s day!” and a barrel of laughing. A great day in the golfing calendar.

Save Chamberlain Park Golf Club

I can only urge you all to visit the site Save the CPark and pledge allegiance to the course. On the site you will find out why it is vital we keep our golf courses. The history that these places carry with them, the value to the community are not to be swished aside easily. There is a climate change revolution happening right now. The council making less room for golfers and golf courses is not the what they should be focusing their time to. Their plan is to cut down acres of trees and add some concrete.

There has been no consideration of heritage or ecology in the proposed plan. The vision of some council members is truly fogged. This golf course is one of busiest in New Zealand. How can you be thinking that making it smaller is in the best interests of the people of Auckland?

This is a true public golf course. What does that mean? It is here for the general public to play a game with no airs or graces. All you need to do is take your clubs from the garage and head out to play. You don’t need a collared shirt or non denim shorts. The dress code of conduct suggest only that a shirt is worn at all times.

There was a group of 9 men all playing the same hole with 2 carts and a loud speaker to announce their arrival with music to freshen up the air.

A public course does not equal poor golf. Chamberlain has an interesting layout, with rolling fairways. It was playing well in the mid of winter. It is a course that all types of golfer can enjoy. And that my friends is what golf is for. We have a handicapping system that allows the best to play with the worst on a level pegging.

The day out at Chamberlain on father’s day was memorable because it was father’s day. Not so memorable was the number of times my son out drove me. No pocket money for him next week.

News Flash! Father wins the Father/Son Father’s Day Challenge!

I was playing well around Chamberlain until I hit 6 – 6 – 6 the number of the beast on 3 holes in a row. I sorted out my round on the back nine with a steady 39 this gave me a Father winning score of 84 for the day.

Auckland

Clarks Beach Golf Club – a pretty little number with a hidden Sassy side

Clarks Beach Golf Club is due south out of Auckland. Get off at horse country through Karaka and head to the peninsula that is
Clarks Beach.
This wise old owl chose playing a sand based course in the dead of winter. Winter in Auckland is no winter at all, when you are from Scotland. We had a still and sunny day to get out on the links of Clarks beach.


A friendly bunch you’ll find here, they even waived the fee for my 16 year old and told me to have a good time with him, “he will be paying for you soon enough.”

You’ll be pleased to read I left the trundler bag at home and picked up the clubs. It felt great to get the bag on my back once again.

Carry on


A flat looking course in fabulous condition. The greens looked inviting and were very true. Just over 5,000 metres the course isn’t too long with many short par 5’s and par 4’s.

I was expecting a scoring feast in these conditions and on this easy little course. On a windy day Clarks Beach would have some teeth but not today.
Or so I thought. Having negotiated the opening 3 holes in good shape the pretty little course woke up and fought back.

The 4th green is a place you don’t want to be. Double digits on the Stimp stick reading I’m sure. I stood over a 5 foot birdie putt and putted straight off the front of the green.
And then it started the hidden undulation of the greens here make securing 2 putts a lesson in patience and control. I had 4 birdie putts inside 6 feet none of which were ever going in.

The mental fatigue from staring at the devilish greens was getting to me. I would imagine in the heat of the summer you would be in an impossible position more often than not.
All of the par 3’s are attractive little numbers. The “prettiest hole on the course” number 12 is only 110 metres but a par is a treasure.
Fantastic views framing green with good bunkering all around. According to the pro tip the bunker will be your savour. Was this written by a golfer?

The bunker will save you from far worse.

The par 4 7th looks easy, simple drive and shortish flip wedge into the green no drama, except there is water all around the green and close, oh so close.

7th watering hole

Don’t be fooled by Clarks Beach Golf course . OB hugs many a hole here and the water is not a serene soothing touch to the area. The water appears to challenge your shot making on a regular occasion.

We met a lot of friendly locals, including a retired chap who wandered over to us on the 17th to pronounce “ I had 4 putts on this green yesterday!” – so it wasn’t just us. He wore a pink sun faded Clarks Beach Golf Club cap and knew the ferocity of the little course better than most I’m sure.
Utterly wonderful golf course pretty as a picture, challenging as it needed to be with friendly people to boot. A great addition to my adventure to meet every course in the land.

Course handicap of 15 today, the index moves tomorrow. I should drop closer to the mythical single figure mark following a few steady rounds.

North Harbour

Warkworth Golf Club – feel the burn

Warkworth Golf Club is just off Matakana Rd – a stand out and exceptionally friendly welcome from everyone you meet.

My addiction to a trundler continues. Shamed and remorseful as I write this confession. The excuses fill my head with the carry bag lying empty in the boot of the car.

…I have to trundle …just one more time.. 

Look at the size of my picnic, I couldn’t carry all that.

I need an umbrella with me

I need my 4 iron and 3 wood just in case I remarkably learn how to use them mid round. 

I have extra layer of winter clothing which will be heavy … I need to wheel around…

It was a perfect winter’s day for golf, but still I find myself asking for a trundler. The man in the shop pointed out the best trundler in the fleet, “she runs real good this one. “

We were given expert advice on the course and it felt that your experience was front of mind from the Warkworth Golf Club staff.

The front 9 is an absolutely beautiful sweeping and hilly way to start a round, before you get a flat run on the back nine.

Don’t be fooled by the card, short par 4’s on the front that seem appealing until you take on a few very up hill challenges. 

Wee Brae

The heritage of the course is obviously Scottish, “Highlander” a long way up the hill, the “Wee Brae”, a great driving hole, “The Burn” a down hill tee shot to prepare for a straight up hill 2nd. Plenty of walking to be done early in the round. I think the Burn referred to the creek straddling the fairway or was it to let you know the feeling you will have up the back of your legs as you get up to the green?

RING IT!

Ding-a-ling offers chance to attack a cool little green on a short par 4 and there is a bell to announce you hit the green like a happy clappy sales motivational tool.

In general there is not a lot of rough at Warkworth Golf club, some places on the course should be avoided but just off the fairway isn’t too bad most of the time. Here had been a bit of rain in the week , so soft greens and a slight sponge to the fairways was still acceptable conditions for winter golf.

Number 7 – Maggies Aces.

The Par 3’s are good value, the 7th is a nice looking 154 metres over a water feature. The 16th ” ruins many a good round” 156 metres with the option of missing the green and finding OB.

Rumbo A tight drive.

We sat with the local crowd and enjoyed a drink in the sun at the end our round. You can feel that the club is in good hands and the atmosphere is welcoming. I totted up the card, a tidy 83 on the par 72.

The trundler may have helped?

Do I really need to carry my bag out of some sense of personal pride?

A Clucking good day
Do all golf courses need this signage?


North Harbour

Helensville Golf Club – Rings my bell

This rural course just 10 minutes from wine country of Kemu. Good to see a carpark full as I pulled up to Helensville Golf Club. Surrounded by farmland and a little off the beaten track you would wonder whether this was a true country course. 

The set up here is great, nice club rooms and bar. I grabbed a quick sausage roll before kick off – a sausage roll can set you up for a good round. There are many culinary opinions on the humbled sausage roll. I have observed overly lite crumbling films of pastry, bite into this in the wrong wind conditions and puff! the air will fill with shard’s of flying pastry. A sausage roll loaded with vegetables, who are you trying to please? Buying a pre-round sausage roll you want firm pastry and sausage inside, not carrot and sweetcorn – it’s not a veggie filo after all. So hats off to the Helensville kitchen a good job well done!

Following a bit of banter with the fellow in the shop. He gave me good info about the course. Unusually so, people who know their surroundings tend to assume you should be just as clued up. He helped me into a trundler for the day. Shh don’t tell anyone.

Helensville’s front 9 loops around the outside of the course and the back nine loops inside. We talked about there being too many courses in the area to be sustainable for everyone. Maybe he was right; maybe we need to work harder to bring our game into the modern environment and more appealing to the world as it is today.

Helensville Golf club was a friendly old place, mostly everyone we met were keen to share a word or two. There had been a bit of rain during the week and winter was coming, so to speak. But the course showed no signs of this. An easy walk in the main through established tree lined fairways. The greens were in great nick, sand based and true to putt on from 1 to 18. Underfoot was damp but the fairways provided a great surface to play from.

I hit a lot of fairways today off the tee. Thereafter I struggled to get down for a par. One day all of the moving parts will move together. Once I got to the 14th I threatened to play well, but too late to make an impression.

Every golf course has it’s amen corner, 3 in a row that frame the course’s identity.

The signature 6th hole is lovely 163 metre par 3 over a water hazard to a 2 tiered green. Followed by the par 4 7th, OB all down the left, making for a squeaky bum tee shot to a tight fairway.

The 8th is a par 5 and stroke hole 1 – Out of bounds down the left side of the 475 metre slightly up hill hole – it sweeps around to the right- the approach shot into the green is tough to an uphill plateaued green which you won’t see unless you skirt with the OB on the left. A 5 there is worth talking about. Didn’t get a 5.

You can hear the cow bell from the 12th as you play around Helensville, reassuring you that there is life out there.


nice spot overlooking 18

I was playing off 15 following my anniversary tournament nightmare; I shaved 3 shots off this to post a net 68 on the par 71 course. 
The balcony at the upstairs clubhouse is a perfect spot to watch the players come up the 18th we drank a refreshment and took in the late afternoon sun, until a vicious hail storm chased us away home.

Northland, Top NZ courses

Kauri Cliffs Golf Club-Spectacular and World Class

2 Comments

Like a bullet leaving a gun I was out of bed in a flash , fully prepared to take on one New Zealand’s top golf courses. This could be New Zealand’s best & Kauri Cliffs Golf Club sits comfortably in the world’s top 100 golf courses.

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Much has been said about the location and the quality of this golf course. I had a mix of excitement and fear driving across from my hotel to the cliff top location on the North Eastern coast of New Zealand. It was a 40 minute drive of anticipation from Pahia.

Excited to be playing a true world class golf course. Fear that I may not have packed enough golf balls for the occasion! The drama builds as you find the remote winding dirt road towards the golf lodge. Through a working farm which surrounds the course you are in rural New Zealand.

Kauri Cliffs is an exclusive resort -the Billionaire owner of the course obviously loves the game and the beauty of this location. If you drove passed the course you may not notice it is a golf course. It has been crafted into the contours around it, like the big man himself put it there. Well done the the big man David Harman golf architect.

The people working here must love their life choices. You can feel the passion as you meet the Pro and the great staff in the lodge. The best piece of advice given “keep the cart out of the tussocks – you might disappear and be lost, it’s deeper than it looks”

My advice if you are going to Kauri cliffs, arrive early take advantage of the beautiful surroundings in the lodge and outside. The practice area is remarkable in itself. Oh and get a cart. I know the, “carry your bag king” would be disgusted but you will need all of your energy to take on Kauri Cliffs.

We had a windless day – this is critical to enjoying the 18 holes. A sea gale would make you wonder on each and every shot. Missing the fairway and most greens is not an option. Punishing rough and a course with with the word “cliffs” in the title should give you a clue.

Course handicap of 15 – 3 more than normal explains the difficulty factor. Hairy tee shots and precision required approaches shots are a norm at Kauri Cliffs. Pro Tip – stay on the fairway and hit the greens.

I was on fire off the tee, only lost 1 ball on my entire round! Success is measured in many different ways.

Ocean here we come.

The first 4 holes head you down towards the ocean. The 3rd commentary suggests “do not miss the green long” they are not wrong. In fact most greens should not be missed or you will be in big trouble. The 4th is named Cambo, tipping a hat to Michael Campbell, an NZ golfing great.

A short par 3 5th is called Change, to do with the wind direction maybe, but also the course just got some teeth. The drive off of the 6th requires the ball to leave the middle of the club as you face a massive gully carry – with a lovely bridge…

6th -Requires a good tee shot this one.

The 7th ahh haa – the 7th ahhhhh – the 7th arggghhh – the 7th … wow … the beautiful beautiful 7th, put the ball on the green or say goodbye to the ball. A lovely view of the pink beach below, doesn’t help with the nerves of hitting this par 3 over a bottomless gully. The ocean is encroaching on this course from now on. Hold on for a bumpy ride!

Staring down the 7th

I had a good look at birdie on 7 after a remarkable tee shot. The lip of the hole just missed my putt. Easy peasy par 3. I won’t forget my tee shot on here for a while.

We got to the turn and needed a sandwich, we ordered a BLT and they brought it out to us! What service, it probably took a shot off my score.

14

10 through to 13 are in a wetland situation, great but dangerous holes. When you finish with this part of the course and get to the 14th tee your journey has just begun. The run from here to 17 is spectacular. 4 holes of golf that should be on any bucket list. One of them is called Temptation. I’m not sure what the temptation is? Getting a drive in the fairway sets you up for a tempting shot into the ocean if you miss the green.

What ocean? NO FEAR HERE!

When you get onto the 18th you will be exhausted from concentration and the love of the game of golf at Kauri Cliffs.

It is not over, Tane Mahuta awaits you. If you know this giant god of the forest, the name is apt. A long carry is needed to get started and all your energy reserves are needed to get you up to the par 5 green 458 metres up hill.

Up the last – another nice bridge –

There are no photos ( in my collection) that do this course any justice. You have to be here to fully understand the beauty of Kauri Cliffs Golf Club. A golfing great on the world stage. Straight to number one on my list of New Zealand’s top courses.

Northland

Paparoa Golf Club – with well protected greens.

2 Comments

Paparoa Golf Club in Northland is a true rural experience in a lovely valley. A short 5kms up a gravel road near Maugaturoto.

I was on my way to play Kauri Cliffs and had some time to veer off State Highway 1 and play the 9 holes here in the Kaipara District.

The local livestock keep an eye on the fairways. The greens are very well protected on each hole. You hear stories of country courses with fences around the greens. Paparoa Golf Club is one of them, which made me wonder what the ruling was if you hit part of the fence. Play it as it lies no doubt – the fence is part of the course.

I was all alone at midday on a Saturday. Not a sole around, just myself. It felt great to be here as I toddled round on my own. Me and the golf course, it felt like therapy from the Urban lifestyle of the city.

Number 1 was stroke hole 1 a long dogleg downhill. The course is split down the middle by a country road. 4 holes on one side and 5 on the other. The back 5 are the pick of the halves.

When I crossed the road to get to 5, I noticed another sole man unpacking his clubs up on the hill. There was now 2 of us.

The 5th is a tricky number, teeing off to an angled fairway over a scrub. The green is small and elevated not easy to score on here.

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6th and 7th share the same part of the course up and back, the 7th is called Boomerang as a testament. A massive double fairway allows you to let rip off the tee.

look out for the rough

There is a strip of rough which technically divides the 2 fairways. Like a flattened punk rockers spiked haircut. It would be an awfully unfortunate shot to land in this cut of rough.

The Jump was the par 3 8th – a short uphill tester. As a result of the small green it made the tee shot hard enough. The 9th sweeps you back up the hill to the clubhouse.

On the 9th Tee the squeak of the gate to cross the country road divide grabbed my attention. My other solo golfer stopped to watch me launch my ball up the 9th fairway. We shared a manly hello and an unsaid respect for each other. 2 men washing away the troubles of daily life with the help of a golf course.

I was 7 over the card for the nine, right on my 13 handicap. I am beginning to realise 2 things, single figures may a distant goal and also that the score doesn’t matter some days.

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I felt revived getting back in the car for my drive further north. Much better for the experience of Paparoa Golf Club.

Northland, Top NZ courses

Waitangi Golf Club – Sign up for this Treat(y)

11th Green is something special

The Waitangi Golf Club is situated on one of the most beautiful and significant peninsulas in New Zealand. A firmly struck 7 iron from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds this is a special place to play golf.

I was staying at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort which is on the peninsula, only a quick run up the hill to the course. A perfect base for this trip to the north.

A room with a view at the Copthorne only minutes to the golf.

A friendly welcome in the proshop set us off with spring in our step. I played with a local friend and had a thoroughly great time playing Waitangi Golf Course. Course handicap of 13 today I was keen to post a good score.

The opening 9 holes is very much a parkland feel – plenty of aged trees and no real sign of the water. The downhill first was good to me with an opening par. This nine rolls you around the course and you would be oblivious to the ocean not far from here. There are some nice driving holes on the front 3rd and 5th both frame the surroundings. And 2 good par 3’s – the 9th is particularly challenging up hill into the prevailing wind.

Ninth Green.

The back 9 is something special, the 10th aims you right into the teeth of the ocean as a par 3 it a lovely hole. The 11th is a local favourite and has been the labour of love for the locals to get it to how it is today. This hole has to been one of the best in New Zealand. A par 5 which is not reachable in 2 for most of us. The green is perched inches from the ocean, just magic.

There is a cool video about this hole check it out here . THE 11TH!

start of the amazing back nine
Looking down the Par 5 11th.

12th looked easy enough a short par 4 – drive-able – surely – I opened the shoulders and got up to the green. On arrival and checking out the hazards around – it made me think I’d never play driver again. Ocean all down the left and bunkers just short to catch you out – this is your classic risk and reward.

12th Green

The walk around the back nine gives you great views over the Bay of Islands towards Russel. A special special nine holes of golf – I’d forgotten about my score card, out in 44 back in 44 for an 16 over the 72 par.

The best 9 holes of golf course in the land? It felt that way to me. The course is not pristine but in good condition – the location and the design of the back nine make it a winner. If you are anywhere near Waitangi get out and play this golf course.

Clubhouse on the hill

Aim for the Flag over the Waitangi Treaty Grounds
Southland

Riverton Golf Club – Southern Links in my troosers

Sunrise over Riverton
Honestly great value.

On the Riveria coast of Western Southland is Riverton. 30 minutes out of Invercargill. A seaside town with it’s own 9 holes of links.  A popular holiday spot with excellent beaches and an excellent golf course. 

An early start out on the coast we were expecting the empty car-park feeling once again. But no, there was a cross section of keen golfers all wrestling with bags to get out on this lovely Southland morning. 

Dew was our biggest hazard and with an unusually windless day on the coast it wasn’t shifting easily. A little bite to the air forced me into trousers for the round. I haven’t played in trousers for a very long time. I was dew a good round and maybe the trousers would be the catalyst for a low scoring day.

Troosers and no hat, uniform malfunction.

Fighting the dew and the bouncy greens made for tough scoring conditions. I managed to par the first, a 429 metre par 5. The trousers looked like a good choice.

Riverton is billed as links golf, mainly due to it being on the coast. The fairways undulated links-like but less trees would have made it more authentic. 

The trees would be welcomed on a windy day I am sure. This morning we had perfect conditions. The course was filling up with keen players onto all the holes with little regard for the formality of starting at the first. 

I had played 4 other Southland courses this week mainly without the distraction of fellow golfers. The influx of people spooked my game a little and I had to settle for no more pars until the 9th hole. 

Mind your language and the bull.

As with every coastal course that ever lived there is a hole called Seaward, which invariably heads towards the sea. I said this out loud to my playing mate, “why is it referencing bad language..?” “C- word” he thought he heard. “that’ll be what you shout if your ball ends up in the bull infested paddock running the length of the fairway.”

The 7th was stoke hole number 1 – 500 metres of par 5 with a small pond to catch your second shot. C-word was just about right.

There was another “Westward-Ho” on the card – the 2nd hole a short par 3 – presumably it faced west? It was a nice wee hole actually 115 metres and inviting off the tee. I had a 5 on here, Ho Ho Ho.

Links Golf on a good day.

Riverton Golf Club is a course to play on a good day. It has a nice feel of coastal golf. I am sure it is a busy wee place in the summer when the tourists flock here for the holidaying. It was my last course of the trip to the South this time around. I’m definitely heading back to finish off the other 19 Southland gems soon.

Southland

Winton Golf Club – CHAMPIONSHIP Quality in the Heart of the South

The town of Winton has 18 holes of Championship course in Central Southland. A marvellous and well-kept golf course, a good walking flat course, the greens were surprisingly excellent. 

Winton is a good walking course.

The opening nine holes had fairways presented to be quite wide and the rough wasn’t overly punishing so it made playing quite straightforward. The mature trees had to be watched of course. I only say this because I had good front nine only 4 over the card.

The back nine was punishing with narrow fairways, long rough ( or was that in my mind) I doubled the front nine form to be 8 over on the back nine – finishing right on handicap at 12 over the card. 

Easy to put the ball in the MIDDLE of the fairway

We played the course mainly alone until coming up 18 we met a few local gents ( in Swandris, if you don’t have one – get one) . Who took great pride in sharing a joke over our wayward tee shots. I haven’t met a Southlander who doesn’t find time for a yarn.

A more pricey honesty box situation due to the quality of the course and the full 18 holes on offer, but still a quarter of the price to find the same quality elsewhere in the country. Winton is a course you have to play if you find yourself in the area. The 16th was a canny wee number only 100 metres but ready to suck you in. 

The most expensive Honesty Box in the area worth every penny.

The hole naming committee at Winton maybe need to stay off the Speights whilst making decisions. There is usually a Westward Ho! ( heading west no doubt) We were confronted by the Colosseum on the 6th, alert and fearful of the pending Lions or Gladiators.

Come the back nine the committee were obviously in good spirits and bulletproof, Powerhouse and Dynamite so called 13 and 14. The 16th was Cassino which maybe a reference to the battle of Cassino in Italy, a cold and bloody affair where many New Zealand soldiers fought and were lost. Maybe they did get it right after all.

By the time we got to the 18th all they had left in them was Kia Ora, hello/goodbye/be well. Maybe it was fitting after all.

The last ahh Kia Ora
Finishing hole, Kia Ora! See you later Winton!
Southland

Nightcaps Golf Club – Nighty Night

A beautiful evening in Nightcaps

We were 20 minutes drive from Nightcaps and it was 5pm. The sun was due down at 7.30pm. It was an easy decision to zoom across for a quick 9 holes.

I know very little about Nightcaps, unless they involve whisky. A small town of 294, Wikipedia even records that is 165 males and 132 females. which added together is 3 more than the population? Obviously the counting was done by unscrupulous golfer, who’s score card didn’t quite add up to the actual number of shots.

We pulled up into the car park in a hurry to get on the course. There were 4 men standing around a flat deck Ute drinking Speights. I assumed they had just finished. Hellos were exchanged and I found out they were warming up before they took off. We jumped in front and took on the course.

Now Nightcaps golf course is 9 holes but they are one of only a few that actually have 2 distinct nines. The same greens of course but clever positioning of the tee boxes makes the challenge different on each nine. We played the back nine, because stroke hole 1 was on the front.

2 distinct 9 holes – with no 15th..

The 10th is a tough up hill 458 metre par 5 v’s the 330 metre par 4 1st. We might have picked the wrong 9! The view from the green when we got there was stunning as we looked across Western Southland. The Takitimu mountain range is a feature of this area and with 2 hours of sunlight left it looked incredible.

The gallery was excitable around the 2nd tee

Rural golf is gripping me this week. A near perfect setting as we weaved through the course. Plenty of dairy and freshly wrapped bails all ready for the coming winter.

Long Shadows up the 3rd/12th

We had to storm on through our round to miss the darkness that was coming. A bit of squinting into the sun was called for but the still night made for great conditions.

No time for BBQing tonight.

The tricky par 3 16th was followed by the pretty par 4 16th according to the course map on the back of the card.

The tricky par 3 actually 15th.

I have learned something tonight, to have respect for rural golf courses. They may not have paid green keepers and starters. But they have character and history that keeps communities together. Also they are never as easy as they seem. I could only muster 1 par on my card.

Where else would you be ? And we’ll be home in time for tea.
Rural Golf is all wrapped up in this blog!
Nighty Night Nightcaps I’m heading home for a Speights

The journey to play every golf course in New Zealand