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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.