Roll Call: New Zealand

Roko_NZL · April 8, 2019, 9:09am

Hutt Valley/Wellington local here. Fairly new to the game but definitely keen to mix it up with any like minded folks.

BD8 · April 8, 2019, 9:15am

I’m in Sydney but very keen to play Paraparaumu, will throw a post up here when I finally get over there!

sliceroulette · April 8, 2019, 10:51pm

Welcome! I’m in the Hutt (work in city). Where do you usually play?

Roko_NZL · April 9, 2019, 12:48am

Yeah I live out the Hutt and work in town as well. Just getting into the game so trying out plenty out courses: Te Marua, Trentham, Pauatahanui etc. Haven’t played Royal yet!

sliceroulette · April 10, 2019, 9:18pm

If you’re thinking of joining a club, can I strongly recommend Pauatahanui. Get in quick and thank me later

sharls_in_charge · April 10, 2019, 10:17pm

I concur, a very fun course with a good vibe!

Miramar on a classic Wellington day is interesting.

sliceroulette · April 10, 2019, 10:52pm

Big changes afoot at Pauatahanui as well

I never feel more vulnerable than when on the front 9 at Miramar with a strong northerly. There are balls flying everywhere. That course is borderline unplayable at least 100 days a year.

sliceroulette · April 17, 2019, 12:49am

Further to the above cryptic statement…

sharls_in_charge · April 17, 2019, 1:21am

Well la-de-da!

pward28 · July 15, 2019, 10:16pm

Cheers Mate,

I am currently in Sydney on a work assignment from the States but going to travel to NZ from October 18 - October 25 to play some golf. Thinking of basing the trip out of Auckland and going up north for Kauri Cliffs, playing Titirangi in Auckland, and then going south to play Cape Kidnappers. That may be too much driving for a week so willing to toss out Kauri Cliffs and replace it with something else. Thoughts? If you would like to play any of those with me, please feel free.

sharls_in_charge · July 15, 2019, 11:15pm

For sure. A trip up to Northland is possibly worth is just so you can see some great country but it really comes down to your appetite for driving. If you’re just here to play golf then you could easily make it work. Main thing is figuring out which courses are your non-negotiables and working backwards from there.
Muriwai and Titirangi in Auckland would be two easy and worthwhile ones to knock off. Kauri Cliffs could be teamed up with a round at Waitangi and that would be good enough for a Northland sojourn. I could be tempted to join you for those if you could do the 19th & 20th, I have accommodation up there too. I’d also potentially do a post work Auckland round as we’ll be into daylight savings by then, hard to beat Muriwai at the end of the day. And if you’re going to mission down to Cape Kidnappers (which you most definitely should) then you can hit up Kinloch and / or Wairakei as well. That would be a pretty epic week of ticking off some very cool golf courses and you’ll get to see some great country too.

pward28 · July 16, 2019, 6:45am

Thanks for the recommendations on those and as I start planning this itinerary I will make sure to keep you updated as I am sure the 19th/20th would work out. I’ll be traveling with my girlfriend so I have to mix in a fair share of site seeing/tourist activities as well as golf. I most definitely want to do Cape Kidnappers, Titirangi, and now Muriwai. The drive up to Kauri Cliffs might be a good thing to do with her as it could be doubled as some site seeing as well. Are you based in Auckland?

sharls_in_charge · July 22, 2019, 4:14am

Ah right, you might be pushed to do it all if you have someone else to consider. Yup, based in Auckland.

thirsty1907 · September 11, 2019, 2:08am

@sharls_in_charge I am currently planning a business trip to NZ & Australia, looks like I will have a free day on the 16th November in Auckland, what are the chances as getting on a course as a single on a Saturday?
Any course recommendations?
I will probably be staying fairly central, last time I stayed at the Grand Mercure on Customs Street.

sliceroulette · September 11, 2019, 2:36am

Sharls will know better than me - but I’ve had a good time at courses out West - Huapai has a really fun back nine and a brewery just down the road. As it’s rural it might be a little quieter on the weekend but I’d definitely expect to get paired up. After midday might be your best bet, but daylight savings will be under way by then so you’ll have lots of time.
Muriwai has been mentioned a bit on this thread - it’s awesome, but quite a way further out.

sharls_in_charge · September 11, 2019, 2:59am

Gidday gidday.
Auckland is a big city so it pays to have a vehicle if you’re wanting a few more options to play.
Saturday mornings are usually blocked out for club members but most clubs are happy to find a way to slot you in if you call ahead and let them know you’d like to play. I guess it boils down to what sort of experience you’re after out of a course? All of the closer town courses are very parkland style and the majority of them are ok but you really could be anywhere in the world. Titirangi would be one that is different in the sense that it’s a McKenzie course, or at least what’s left of the good doctors work. It’s still challenging and fun though and worth seeing if you can get on. Here’s some drone stuff from Titirangi.
And at the other end of the spectrum is Muriwai, which @sliceroulette has previously mentioned. It’s a great, true links course and is set in a true NZ environment so you’ll get a really good golf and tourist experience. It’s about 30min out of Auckland but the drive is really nice and you can hit the Hallertau Brewery on the way home for lunch and some great beer / wine. It would be my pick of the two.
And here’s some drone footage from Muriwai.

There are a lot of great courses worth looking at:

Wainui
Akarana
Windross Farm
Gulf Harbour
…and about 15-20 more but I’d concentrate on trying to get onto Muriwai or Titirangi. Or both. It’ll be daylight savings by then so you could conceivably go all out and get it done.

thirsty1907 · September 11, 2019, 4:23am

Thanks for the advice guys, plenty of options for me to look into!

thirsty1907 · September 20, 2019, 2:26am

So my schedule has changed I now need to fly to Melbourne on the Friday so I wont have time for golf in Auckland, I do however have Monday afternoon free in Wellington so I am thinking to shake off the long flight with a round of golf there.
I’m not sure where exactly I will be staying yet and having never been there I have no idea about the area.
All I know is on the Tuesday I will be visiting a customer in either Porirua or Johnsonville so I assume wherever I am staying will be convenient for one or the other.
Any course recommendations?

sliceroulette · September 20, 2019, 3:18am

Wellington! My hood!

Depends how much time you have. Miramar is literally at the airport, so there’s an option, and I’d imagine Monday afternoons would be quiet there. It’s a links-style course which can get truly hammered in Wellington’s notorious wind, which can be particularly bad in spring. But it’s a nice enough track.
There aren’t any courses in J’ville or Porirua but there’s plenty of golf in the Hutt Valley which isn’t far. Shandon is a typical parkland layout with excellent greens and from memory they do cheap Mondays - 18 will cost you $NZ20.

If you’re willing to travel a little further, Paraparaumu Beach is an hour from Wellington city and ranked in the top 10 nationwide. My club Royal Wellington is about 40 mins from city in a different direction - let’s see how things pan out closer to the time, if the weather is good and work is quiet I could easily be talked into a round!

thirsty1907 · September 20, 2019, 3:55am

Thanks for the recommendations, my flights are already booked and I am due to arrive in Wellington at 1010am on the Monday so assuming there are no delays I should have the whole afternoon free.
Its Monday 11th November I will be there so will drop you a line closer to the time to see if you are free.