Waitemata 26 degrees full sun stiff SW wind during 1st nine easing to a light breeze coming home. Companion Lochy  ( my boy)

1st official round of the mission to play every golf course in NZ. Nestled in the Narrow neck beach suburb on the north shore close to Devonport.  Waitemata is a flat course with little or no interesting features. A well established course in a lovely parkland setting, a great walking course, established as one of New Zealand’s collection in 1905.

Interesting thing I lived in Auckland 14 years ago and resided in a street overlooking this golf course, but I never played it. My number 1 son went to his first school here so I have some fond memories of this area of the world.

The front nine is a par 34 – 2 par 3’s and no par 5’s. EVERY hole is straight and flat. Should make for easy scoring – apparently not 9 over the card – only 2 shots left for the back nine on today’s course handicap of 11. 
The tee boxes and greens are all a bit close together at Waitemata and the layout lends itself to great deal of near misses as some average golfers poke their way around. I’ve never heard as many “four!” calls in a nine holes of golf.  We did tee off late, 1.30pm – it’s a different class of golfer playing late in the day usually.

The first nine layout was not obvious, we got lost looking for tee boxes a few times. There was one hole which had a sign pointing out the next tee but it sent us the wrong way for a moment until a friendly local sorted us out. Funnily enough when we neared the tee there was a sign saying ” this way” nothing else just a re affirmation of something is this way.

The back nine has the odd dog leg and the interest factor increases, coming in is a par 36 with much shorter par 4’s and a couple of straight forward par 5’s – should be much easier than the front. Not according to my card – following a 9 over on the front, I went 1 better at 10 over on the back. Leaving me 19 over the card and 8 over my handicap. So much for single figure aspirations – staying under 20 might be a result.

The 11th is a dog leg right 290 metres – perfect for my power cut ( aka super slice) but no – you are prohibited by law to fire a driver around the trees onto the green. You will be prosecuted – with the right like mind judge there would surely would be no fine for using a life long slice to good effect…. I should have been arrested for imitating a golfer during the back 9.

1 course down, 1 handicap going up. This is going to be awesome!

Dear fellow golfers. come with me on this journey, to play every golf course in New Zealand, 3 putts at a time.

There is a reported 393 courses in NZ and this is declining as developers and councils carve up our greens and fairways to put up town houses. Some courses are on the brink of bankruptcy and will be lost to farmland. So I thought I better play them all now before it is too late.
You might learn a little about the course, the clubhouse food and beverage offering, the weather, the thickness of the rough, the new rule changes or nothing much at all about golf.

New  Zealand has the 2nd highest number of courses per capita – behind the home of golf… Scotland.. I am a Scotsman living in New Zealand so it would be only fitting that I get around each an every course in the country.
Why am I tackling this now? I have just turned 50 – I was a bit busy for a mid life crisis so maybe this is it. I loved golf as a young man and played a lot with my brother. He was much better at the game than me. But after the accident I didn’t play and trying to regain the aggressive and expert game that I once had is proving difficult.

I’m taking lessons for the first time, I was asked “what are your golf goals?” I never had any, I mumbled a reactionary goal to my golf coach, ” single figure handicap before I get too old”  ( I’m currently on 11.2 – don’t be fooled can’t play anywhere near that ) Fred, my coach,  said ” you are going to have some fun this summer” as he rips my swing to pieces and starts to rebuild.
I decided to get some golf goals

1. Play off of a single figure handicap- I have a ridiculous historic handicap which won’t go away- my scoring is currently around 85-90

2. Play every golf course in NZ – not sure how long this will take.

3. Never mention the accident again as a excuse.

4. Stop referring the birth of my kids as the accident.