The attractive rolling farmland that surrounds the Purangi Golf Club leads you to believe this country affair will be easily tamed.

The course is situated close to some of the great beaches on the Coromandel Peninsula. Hahei Beach is the gateway to Cathedral Cove. Cooks Beach is delightful and the legendary Hot Water Beach – it is legendary for people sitting in self-dug holes of hot water.

Catering to the locals and the holidaymakers this full-length nine-hole course is no pushover. 5,200 metres twice round, it is well worth feeding the honesty box with $20 for unlimited all-day golf.

In years gone by I believe livestock and fences were in place, I was expecting a rugged rural presentation. But wait, as I pulled up she was an attractive wee place and dressed to impress.

The greens were small – as expected in rural NZ – but very tidy, undulating and tricky to land on with your approach shots.

The first was a good opener, “MAUNGATAWHIRI” – there was a house on the edge of the fairway looking right at you. I’m sure the poor bugger who lived there has seen his share of golfers in his garden.

A simple little downhill par 4 at 274 metres -an easy way to get going for the day. I had a hard-fought and well earned triple bogey.

Purangi Golf Club is a very well presented golf course and the hole names were interesting enough.

The 2nd was called “Wrecker”, now we know this is a common name around the country for a golf hole. When it appears on the card as the second hole into your round, you have to worry.

There was a creek running through the course, it seemed to appear everywhere. The other natural hazards have to be managed carefully as you work your way around. Thankfully, some of the holes had good directional poles to keep you right. But some joker just put them in the middle of the fairway, which was accurate but may be a waste of a pole.

“The Gap” was truly that with trees offering you a space to find the green 155 Metres from the tee. The green wasn’t welcoming anything left and you are faced with a large drop off and a tricky chip.

The 4th was a long par 5 with the ever-present creek short of the green, guarding the silly 2nd shot aiming the green.

I was really enjoying this course, the surroundings, the difficult choices from tee boxes and tricky approaches all made for proper golf.

The 5th “Devil’s Point” was no Elbow. What the point was only the Devil will know. His plan for me was a double bogey. Scoring here is tough my friends. A nice looking hole only God could have made. I thought right them that there is no Devil just God when he is drunk. It made sense at the time.

“Pine Lake ” was my hole of the day. A par 4 at 327 metres. Firstly the lake of pines to be avoided from the tee were cool enough. A downhill shot at the green needed to avoid the creek ( of course) – an attractive part of the course too.

The 7th was a delightful par 3 ” The Dell” – I found a cool wee bunker next to the green.

Next, I had to mentally wrestle with “Temptation” – a shortish par 5 but needing a belter of a tee shot to an uphill fairway to have a chance to get up to the green in two.

There were Turkeys on the green. I was not surprised by anything that Purangi Golf Club had for me. I bagged a par and was happy with that. The course was teaching me a lesson for sure.

“Punchbowl ” is an uphill 159 Metres to finish you off. A delightful hole with a rustic bunker.

Well done to the team at Purangi Golf Club, you have a great golf course. I’ll be back when you fill in the creek.

The on-course toilet was presented well, so adding to the excellent day out.