I got out of the airconditioned car and stepped into a pizza oven. It was roasting in the Waikare Golf Club car park.
The chap in the shop had a history, 80 years he’s been attached to his club. His Grandad was the first president in these parts. I pleaded for a cart, even if it were only for nine holes. He said he would be gone soon, but he didn’t live far so gave us a cart and asked if we could park it up after our round. He’d come back later to put it away.
I was getting the sense that there was a love of their club here at Waikare. A golf course in the Waikato not far from Lake Waikare.
Waikato was burnt to a crisp, and so was Waikare Golf Club. But the greens were in excellent condition. The brown fairways and open nature of the course was a pleasure to play. Stocked up with drinks and sunscreen a good day out followed.
There are plenty of features at Waikare. The top of the course offers a fantastic vista and the collection of statues and pond life leaves you feeling like this is more than a dry old golf course.
A golf hole needs a name, a golf hole name needs some thought, Waikare has a collection of names to rival most. No “Westward Ho” in sight, no “Homeward Bound” and I’ll let them away with a “Devil’s Elbow”
“Rangitoto” starts your round from an elevated tee to a short 420 metre par 5. It’s not such a long way to “Tipperary” 317 metre par 4 2nd. The course is a par 70 at 5,160 metres. Not a long course with 3 reachable par 5’s – 2 of them in the first 3 holes. “Tea House” number 3 has a large landing area from an elevated tee box. An opportunity to start well before the heat sucked the life out my golf swing.
The 5th is only 299 metres, “Tomos” has 3 hollows (or Tomos) to catch your tee shot and give you coin flip stance in the process. I have played Waitomo golf course, so I should have known what a Tomo was, I soon found out when my ball ended up in one.
There are 3 par 3’s in the last four holes of the front nine. The first of these is “Whizz-Bang” my pick of the hole of the day. The carry to the green over the pond and the name win the day! This is a great part of the course.
“Bella Vista” starts the short back nine. Scoring should be easy looking at the card, but this course punishes poorly positioned shots. And there is always a pond to keep you on your toes.
I was looking forward to getting to the 12th “Devil’s Elbow” you know it is a risk or reward slog off the tee. A cracking wee hole at 254 metres with a pleasant and perfectly placed pond to sink a sliced drive.
I birdied the 13th “Waitare” the last of the par 5’s. By now it was a windless boiler of an afternoon. I was so glad of the cart.
“Outlook” up on the 15th tee has a great view across the countryside. Fully exposed to the heat, I made a mess of this hole and the classic 16th “Jerico” which has a lovely framed green with a pond short of the green to catch your eye.
The life was drawn out of me by the time I got to “Temptation” the 17th – we all know that this name for a hole is telling us to hit an iron off the tee to the 277 Metre par 4. Or just take on the tree and irrigation storage pond with a driver. I gave way to the temptation and managed an easy par.
Heading up “Clubhouse ” to finish my round I was certainly pleased to have visited this Waikato staple. I was for sure planning to come back when there was more green on the fairways, to see it at it’s finest.
The clubrooms were excellent and overlooked the course. No one was there when I came off the 18th, sweating buckets and looking for a beer.
A country course that is well looked after and a friendly place to play. The bunkers across the course were well placed, the water features too, the statutes really pulled it all together. Well done Waikare, I see you when it rains!