Wattle downs Golf Club – Head down the southern motorway about 30 min out of Auckland. 5 minutes’ drive from the Takanini Interchange and you’ll find Wattle Downs Golf Club.

It is a 9 hole golf course – I had the impression it was not going to be worth a visit. I called to make a tee time in the morning. “Oh just turn up there is no one around” ( on a Sunday morning). My son was looking for his collared shirt. A a lion red tee shirt might be fine attire for the day. I was feeling a little judgemental for no good reason.

The course is surrounded by retirement villages, 18 holes might be a bit much for the old folks. The welcome in the shop was friendly and engaging. We were wished well, and given a guarantee the spits of rain would come to nothing. They didn’t by the way, fine conditions today, warm with a little breeze.

A good looking club house and well maintained course, this promised to be more than I expected. Lovely parkland setting and good people.

There are some cool doglegs to deal with, a couple of short par 4’s and some tricky par 3’s. One at 213 metres followed by 175 up hill. The last is a 305 metre par four sharp dogleg to the right. The clubhouse is dead straight ahead about 180 metres. A high slice around the corner would have to be spot on or you might end up playing through the golden wedding party at the The Slice Restaurant.

Play safe up to the corner and you will have 135 ish into the green.

  The bar was titled the Thirsty caddie – there was a great outdoor area to watch the players come down the last. Well worth stopping to enjoy the view.

The people were friendly everywhere, we were given some local knowledge (a little too late) when you tee off the par 3 6th hole, you leave you clubs on the 7th tee box which is right next to the 6th tee box. Once you have putted out on the 6th green you walk all the way back from the green to where you started. The following locals told us we should have teed off the 7th first, then teed off the 6th, finished the 6th green and then continue with your 7th hole – not sure how the Royal and ancient committee would cope with playing a future shot first? 

A good quick day out, I enjoyed playing Wattle Downs. I will go back now I know the layout. Of course the scoring will be much better. I was 9 over on the 9 holes. Shoulda woulda coulda had an eagle after driving the par 4 4th, but missed a 5 footer and the subsequent 3 footer for birdie. The nerves jangled somewhat but I nailed the par putt. Current handicap is a problem 12.2 at present with so many swing and set up changes I’m doomed.

Akarana Golf Course is my home course. I rose early on a Saturday and headed down to the scramble.

I was buoyed from a good range session in the week. There are new range monitors at the Ellerslie golf range. The longest drive game is cool and you can play golf at a selection of golf courses from around the world, including pebble beach. I played a Stockholm course ?? Not sure why but was level par after 14 holes. What could go wrong on the real course?

Akarana Golf Club is in Mt Roskil area only a 10 minute drive from the CBD. Probably the busiest course in Auckland. Akarana is well looked after and well sponsored by local businesses. I do love a named hole here they are named after the sponsors. ” Barfoot and Thompson – the 1st!” Some good commercial decisions have been made here. I’m a member at Akarana they are onto it in the bar. Busy atmosphere with good food. The club hosts corporate golf days all summer long and the membership is high. The place is in good condition commercially and physically.

I joined 3 fellow Saturday scramblers on the first tee – glad to play with someone new. You learn a lot watching other golfers play. I took the confident lead and smashed a drive down the centre of the 1st and made an easy par on the opening par 5. Pro – tip ..”distance and accuracy are key to great drive here.” There is a bunker that gets in your way if you have a good tee shot in you. BUT as a short par 5 you can still get out of the bunker easily and have a short iron in to the green. So give it a go off the tee.

My partners were all in golf carts for the day. I carry my bag… if I can’t do that one day due to age, laziness or injury I’ll move to a cart. But there is no way a grown ass man should be carting around. Golf is fickle enough without the exercise of carrying your bag around. A poor round in a cart seems as pointless as chocolate fireguard.

I had good start to what was the worst round I’ve played in ages. On 12.4 with a course handicap 13 today ended up shooting 17 over ( on the front 9. ) And 10 over on the back – 27 over par 14 over my handicap….. greens in regulation on the front 9 = 1. Frustration levels off the tee 10 out of 10. The following lack of confidence  in the irons 10 of 10 and putter usage frailty score 10 out of 10. This game is ALL in your head. I think the problem is the 2nd hole. The sponsored hole has naming rights by Davis Funerals. This was the first nail in my coffin.

Maungakiekie is my 2nd of the 20 golf courses in Auckland. New Zealand was in the midst of a heat wave, roads melting, train tracks buckling, sweat pouring from suited men on Queen Street and at Bunnings if you are looking for a stand up fan you’ll find nothing but out of stock signs.

It was a noon tee off in the heat of Mount Roskill. We decided to have a pre-match lunch at the course. My feeling is that if you are going to any golf course, BUY SOMETHING!
If we want our golf courses to survive we need to support them with the purchase of a pie now and again. I always buy a drink and tees at least. Contribute to the bar after your round. We bought 2 pies and drinks to see us off. I also bought a glove – you can find cheaper elsewhere but hey support the clubs.

Now I am not using this forum to be a golf course critic and assess service levels to provide Trip Adviser with more fodder. BUT note to every golf course – be VERY welcoming. Ask your visitors if they need course advise, or where they are from or what brings them to their course today?

Maungakiekie is the Maori equivalent of One Tree Hill. Maunga for mountain or peak. Kiekie is a native vine that was found growing on the hill, which is all but gone today. Is hard word to say, I won’t be repeating it again in recommendation for the golf course. It didn’t feel like a happy place and certainly not grateful for our business.

Onto the golf. Following a solid round at Howick last time out, plus I had a very intense range session which resulted in me straightening up my driver following Fred’s instruction. I also played 9 holes of Twighlight at Akarana ( my home club) – scoring was okay but ball striking was great! Positive signs for today’s outing!

The course is not pristine the fairways were pretty dry but not super hard. The greens were very true and in good condition but a bit slow for my liking – do you here the rhetoric of a man laying the foundation of excuses? There are ups and downs galore here which I love. It gave us a tremendous work out in the heat of the day.

The course is interesting, the first is all down hill and sets up a lovely golf course from the get go. The last is a killer, long and uphill all the way.

The heat was killing us but our spirits were on alert as we approached the 6th. I pared the sixth following a monster drive( thanks Fred).

On the card there was a hole listed as 6A. We had no idea what this meant, was it a choice hole? Could you take it or leave it? Maybe if you failed on 6th, could 6A be your mulligan ? Who knew ? I’d never see it before.
6A was a short par 3 back up towards the 7th tee box. We assumed this was added to give the poor bag carriers some interest factor as the 7th was a long walk back up the hill. Had we found the 19th hole? It was so bleedin hot that I would have settled for the 19th at this point in the round.

At the 10th ( now actually the 11th) we had a big drink and totted up the scores – not flash. The 10th Tee pro tip ( i’ll give you my opinions on the pro tip in due course) said “hit out over the hazard – it will require distance and accuracy to make the fairway… blah blah. We looked up and didn’t really see “the hazard” The sugary drinks and the exhaustion set in as we manufactured a hazard that didn’t exist. I teed up aiming left over the trees over my mirage of a hazard. A blocked slice send my ball onto the right hand fairway. My partner send his ball after mine also to the wrong fairway. We walked down to hopefully see the left hand – unknown – over the hazard – fairway situation. There was no left hand fairway is was just housing behind the trees. Lucky our golfing god was watching as we were both in the middle of the correct fairway and we didn’t end up in somebodies living room.

The 15th was interesting… it didn’t exist! Ahhh now it made sense, 6A replaced 15 which was seemingly under repair – there was not a 19th hole – and on all days we needed an early trip to the 19th.

I scored 85 on the par 70 my 12 handicap is climbing fast, I might visit Fred for some advice.

No warm welcome as I donated my hard earned foldies to the bar. We slugged cold drinks down after match to cool off. I fear for
Maungakiekie’s future. The green fee is low, the membership is dwindling and the service delivery is almost accepting it’s fate.

There are 18 more golf courses in Auckland to get my teeth into.

There are 20 golf courses in Auckland. What a treat awaits on the varied courses within 30 minutes of the city centre.

Overcast and 23 degrees at the outset. Full blazing sun and 27 degrees at the turn. Pulling up to Howick the car park was FULL not a space, even for a lime scooter. I circled until someone moved on. Every course in the country has a selection of reserved spaces, President, club captain, caterer, life member .. usually empty spaces … surely the club knows if these guys are playing today… We squeezed into a freed up space and unloaded the weapons for the day. We had plenty of time prior to our tee slot for putting practice. The practice green was ridiculously small no actual holes just 2 flags with rubber rings on the bottom. We messed around waiting and started to notice the topography. Sweeping undulating fairways, elevated greens, encroaching ocean. This looked awesome, dangerous but awesome. Partner for the day, Lochy was eyeing the 9th green. A tee shot over a gully to the green, no real drama except the closeness of the green to the pro shop.

We headed to the 1st tee – I take back my previous comments there is a lovely practice green over by the 1st.
The golf course is on the peninsula at the end of Bucklands Beach. There is some real estate money down in this part of Auckland, it is a beautiful suburb. After my shocker last week my handicap has moved north to 11.9, so 12 for the day. 1 more shot would be helpful but now further from my dream of single figures. 

I love this course, the greens are good, fairways okay but location and variation of the challenges really appeal to me. It is a Par 33 on the front 9 – with 4 par 3’s. A wee seat in the shade at half time to tally the scores. I’m playing on handicap, 6 over, nice I’m in it! My partner Lochy had a 50. Now Lochy has never beat 100. Howick is a par 69 for 18, this is his chance. The heat of day got stronger and temperatures rose, so did Lochy’s game. He was smashing his drives a long long way. His putting was coming together just when he needed it. I’m not a great one for keep score during the round but we stopped on 16 to assess the situation, 2 pars for me and I’d play to handicap at 12 over. Two 6’s and Lochy would break 100. No pressure. A bogey at 17 burst my bubble but Lochy had a 5.

Now, 18 is the easiest hole on the course ( says the index on the card) it is a par 5 with OB and ocean all down the left hand side. Who works out these stroke holes? Lochy skirted with OB on his drive and then really skirted with OB on his 2nd as it scuff up the fairway. But eventually he made the green in 4 followed by 2 putts later he has nailed a 6 and ends up on 98! What a legend! I fall off the pace to be 14 over and 2 over handicap.

Great golf -wonderful location – straight to the top of the list of Top Auckland golf courses I’ve played.
We celebrated with a beer ( ginger) and 2 bags of chips ( we missed the kitchen fryer by 5 minutes.) Lochy was pleased with his milestone and I had that feeling I was growing into a potentially good round some time soon.
We were left with  a parting post-it note on the car complaining we had parked too close to the next door car and they couldn’t get in to their car. My apologies to you whomever you are. You will be pleased to know I have kept the note and will gift it forward next time someone parks too close to me.