Drive 30 minutes west out of Auckland and you will be in the Waitakere ranges, native bush surroundings and awe-inspiring Kauri trees. Waitakere Golf Club is in the middle of the forest where public access restrictions are in place to keep the Kauri dieback at bay. The disease is common to only the Kauri and is threatening the existence of these majestic trees.
Waitakere golf course has an excellent topography and a great native bush feel. It may also be under the threat of extinction. Towards the end of a blistering summer made for dry and hard fairways and greens of varying condition. It was not pleasant playing conditions.
I played this course in 3 hours in a massive rush, rock hard fairways was a bonus for my self-esteem – like driving up an airport runway. I drove the 10th par 4 ( and promptly 3 putted)
The view off the 10th – stunned Muppet drove the green.
Standing up on the first it is blind tee shot over a hill, that drops 50 metres down to the green. Note to self – remember to research the course before you venture out. I am finding that not knowing the course layout is costing me a few rookie shots.
I broke 80 for the 1st time this summer, the easy driving conditions and lady luck won the day. 9 over with a course handicap of 12.
The setting is lovely exceptionally undulating. Most greens provide a tricky approach shot. Even though the par 5’s were nearly drivable in 2 hits the greens were a bugger to get on, even close in.
The 9th is a cool hole imposing trees to avoid from the tee and a straight up the hill second to the elevated green. I enjoyed the challenge of the course, the back nine especially. The 16th took a bit of effort hazards on both sides of the angled fairway. The green is skinny and has two large pines framing it.
Waitakere’s signature hole is number 6. The tee box was up in the trees and you play off a driving range pad no grass. I thought that odd until I got to the 14th and could not find the tee box (it’s behind the 13th green) 20 metres into the trees. Another hidden tee box again off a driving range pad.
Signature Hole Number 6
You get what you pay for, really cheap round of golf at $25, not many members, no money in the pot – a beautiful place to be for 3 hours I was exhausted when I finished and wished the bar was open and welcoming to draw me in. – No such luck.
We are out today as a 4 Ball ambrose to play in the Charity golf day for the Carbine Club of NZ. A great charity which raises money, to support athletes with disability.
Pakuranga Golf Club hosts this event which starts with a great sausage sizzle and a bit of banter before the shotgun start. Our team, believe it or not, are defending champions.
Spirits were high and expectations firmly in place. Pakuranga golf club has some excellent photos in their club rooms of the development around the original course. The course is in South East Auckland only 25 minutes from town. In 1969 it was a farm and the course was developed that year into the lovely parkland course it is today. The photos show the journey from farm to residential take over around the course and the suburb.
The course is in excellent condition sand based greens with well established tree lined fairways, a true parkland course. Which is a phrase I am not really sure means anything. “Resembles a park” ( has trees) “inland” ( is not links) “manicured” (they cut the grass in the rough)
There are trees up every fairway and on some holes they really encroach on your drive the – the 2nd for example needs a high sliding slice to avoid the trees which seems appealing off the tee. Our 4 ball each managed a straight drive through the trees into an impossible spot. If you are playing ambrose this is idiotic. One of our 4 manufactured a shot that put us on the green and we were putting for birdie. If you are playing ambrose you can usually scramble out of even the worst spots.
A parkland course has one thing I like – no punishing rough – trees are a pain but you always find your ball and their is usually a mythical line out of the trees to get you were you need to go.
The course is a good mix of short and long. Par 5’s can be reached in 2 and some short par 4’s bring out the “open the shoulders beast” in you. The par 3’s are all short enough to attack.
All in all a course that is good to play and could be easy to score on once you know the lie of the land. We completed 18 without a bogie on the card, and 6 birdies. Minus our 9 handicap this should have put us in the prizes with a net 56 – not a chance – net 53 took it out. We won this tournament last year and took home a golf bag each. This year we took home some memories and a top up of the tan.
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?
17th Green and view up the last – spot the sky tower
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.
Nice part of Mt Roskill
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.
16th easy par 3 if you put it on the green
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.
Scorecards are always better looking on the outside.
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!
View from the putting green out over the course.
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.
I like a named hole , My drive found the willows in “willow Glen”
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.
Time for a beer after a sweltering round
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.
Shoulda read the signage Practice Green is lovely
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.
No pressure on 18 – the ocean is calling!
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.
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.
Look out for the Law
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.
The journey to play every golf course in New Zealand
