The day couldn’t have been better driving into Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club. The warm Kapiti Coast sun was high in the sky and watching down on me.

The night before I slavered over the history of this golf club and watched videos of the course. This is not my style. I prefer the turn-up, play, discover and enjoy model. But I had an inkling that this was going to be momentous. I have to admit there was a little goosebump in my hotel room as I thought about what was to come.

The club president was meeting up with me to show me around. Dave Buck is a storyteller and very good golfer who started his golfing life as a caddie at PBGC when he was 10 years old.

The entrance is unassuming just through the village, near but not on the beach. The welcome is friendly and interested, not like an exclusive club showing off its silverware. In a small community town steeped in history, this is a place for locals to meet and play and pick fun at each other and sometimes to wager on their abilities.

“Alex” is hole number 1, paying tribute to the designer, his name and his work are held in high regard across the globe.
This is the only golf course Alex Russell designed outside of Australia. A man from Scottish heritage, he had a pedigree for sure. The guile he used amongst these dunes to create PBGC would mesmerise even the Scots.

In the clubrooms, the history of how this club grew into a world powerhouse is on display, but not too much.

In 1949 the job was finished, Alex had created his masterpiece. Only 10 years later the first NZ open was played here, and the country took notice of PBGC. A total of 12 opens later is a story in itself.

I asked if there were plans for a future Open to return – no confidence in this idea was voiced. It would be a damn shame if we can’t get the Open back at the home of New Zealand golf.

“Alex” starts with a slightly blind tee shot as your introduction to the mind games you have signed up for. I made a good shot into the green – there was greenkeeper watering. He enjoyed a good bit of laughter as I got over my putt and a gust of wind blew my ball a further 15 feet back down the steep green. A sign of greens to come.

Dave told me only 4 greenkeepers work the land and still, it is an immaculate links beauty. The locals help out with additional work when required, like a real golf club.

I was regaled with tails of great players who have walked these fairways, – Tiger -Bob Charles – Peter Thompson – Cambo. But there are golfers from all around the world putting this golf course on their list. I heard of one American chap in the clubhouse who only had time for 1 game of golf in NZ – a good choice that man.

Tourism New Zealand has a plan to elevate Aotearoa as a world-leading golfing destination and they have chosen courses across the country to be poster boys for the campaign. PBGC is firmly in that plan and should, in my opinion, head it up.

The members often caddie for overseas visitors, this is a special offering not only to play PBGC but with someone on your bag that lives and breaths the place. Not many carry a yardage book or laser scope, just years of experience.

I started brightly with 2 pars in the first 4. I was loving being with Dave and was looking forward to pushing onto a solid score. The greens were firm and in impeccable condition, a joy to putt on with many challenges, Tiger 4 putted the 2nd so I was please with my solid 2 putts.

How many was that?

The 5th is a beautiful par 3, delicate and slim, hanging on its pedestal with deep hollows on all sides. Te Motu – “The Island”.

I ended up in the left-hand hollow from the tee, like a fool I swaggered up to the chip, unaware and underprepared – I made 2 excellent chips that ended back at my feet, still with no fear, the third chip ended up over the green and into the right-hand hollow. This story of chipping goes on, more like ping pong than golf. I’m not proud of the 9 I put on the card. I am proud of the fact that Frank Nobilo registered a 7 here, whilst leading the open. I haven’t scored 9 for a while but I do have some satisfaction that PBGC got me in the most unassuming way.

Dave had a wee chuckle going on as we left the green behind.

After the wake-up, I played well and really enjoyed, the combinations PBGC has for you. Tee shots need to be put the right place, seemingly normal approach shots need more care than you know and the devilish greens are firmly in control of your ball. Maybe the course was playing me rather than the other way around.

Having a local and expert on the course with me was worth a few shots off of the card. The advice was priceless. “Don’t miss left, and you don’t want to be right here, I would suggest the middle of the green would be a good place to be.”

Hole names are in both English and Maori. None more so than Morearea Iti – Little Danger. This is my favourite hole on the course. If you played it 6 times you would have a different plan each time. Dave and Leo, the GM, both agree that number 8 takes the cake. A small green stares you down, daring you to put your puny little ball on the little smooth surface. Not the most beautiful hole but a golfing challenge you will relish.

Others have different ideas on the hole of the day, which shows you the strength of PBGC right across the 18 holes.

The 8th is the story here, play the course as it was designed. Make the shots it is asking you to make. Fight against it and you will be in a world of hurt.

From the 13th at the bottom of the course, you see the whole brilliance of the place chosen to put this golf course. The view of the Tararua ranges from here is magical. “The Divide” number 13 needs an out of the screws drive across a swale then up to an elevated green. This hole is brilliant, miss short and end up in “Russell’s ravine” – however, the back of the green is even worse.

The 14th is a tempting par 3 downhill with a full view of the pot bunkers. On the 15th tee box, the hole askes for “Blind Faith” out over the dunes to a fairway you will see when you get there. What a great stretch of 3 holes. Surely the course has run out of ideas by now.

The 16th is not unlike the postage stamp at Royal Troon. There is no easy way to tackle the 126 metres in front of you.

The 17th is world-class, a split fairway is an idea not used often enough. Choose a safer and shorter route up the right but face a harder approach or try to reach the left-hand fairway for a much easier shot at the green.

Standing on the 18th, I felt a little disappointed that my round was coming to an end. But a birdie-able Par 5 finishing hole lifted my spirits. This hole is a favourite of many, historical finishes of the Open have been witnessed here. A plaque in the fairway shows where Grant Waite holed out for a double-eagle in 1992 using a 2-iron.

Holing out for a par on the last, I was only 2 over on the back nine, I felt like a champion, I would have gleefully started again and played another 18 holes, but we settled for a beer instead.

I met a Calgary couple who get out of their winter in the Northern hemisphere for 4 months and hole up here playing PBGC every day. If you are looking for a life hack that is one you should focus on.

The Jewel in the Crown

Is this the Jewel in the New Zealand crown? I am a sucker for a links golf course, but it takes clear design and vision to lay on a course that beats all others. The best courses in the world take you on a journey, and the very best make every moment of that journey worth the trip.

Hollows and humps, moguls if you will, dunes, pot bunkers, no need for bunkers, big greens, little greens, tiers on the greens and in the eyes after the 5th and Dave’s company all made this day out very special.

Golf is about today, the course, the weather, the company but it also is about history. It is about community and friendship. Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club is all of these things rolled into one helluva golf course, which must be the home of golf in New Zealand. The best golf course I’ve played in New Zealand and straight to number 1 on the list of New Zealand’s top courses.