Waimarino Golf Club an alpine pleasure

By Neville Idour

On our North Island road trip the prospect of a round of golf in alpine skiing country was an intriguing thought and with fine weather to greet us we could not pass up the opportunity. 

Waimarino golf course is also known as the Ruapehu Golf Club or is it vice versa, and the course is set in a lovely environment. There is a wonderful variety of trees some of which are quite magnificent.

The club claims this is New Zealand’s second highest course at 580 metres above sea level so watch your ball fly longer in the heady atmosphere. For this modest golfer, sadly I didn’t notice it made much difference to my tee shots.

The Waimarino club has an interesting history having sprung from a joint venture of the Raetahi and Ruapehu Golf Clubs in the Ohakune and Rangatua areas in the middle of the North Island, southwest of Mount Ruapehu. 

At the first meeting on March 26, 1926, it was decided to purchase land owned by the Waimarino Racing Club. The initial course was 10 holes and the result of many hours of volunteer work. The land was used by a local farmer for grazing but on competition days the cattle and horses were removed,  although the sheep were allowed to stay.

The depression in the early 1930s affected development and membership declined. New holes were deferred. By 1937 the club had recovered with membership at its best since 1927. On club days the course only just coped with the numbers playing. 

World War II brought more difficulties and a large area of the course was leased to local market gardeners which helped with club expenses. Fees to members were lowered and prudent management allowed the club to survive.

In the late 1940s prosperity was again returning and plans to complete an 18-hole course were actioned. The club continued to flourish and in the 1960s a new clubhouse was built then extended in the 1970s to be what it is today.

The club was not afraid to invest in the course, hence all greens have irrigation, plus the club owns its own machinery, has a golf cart shed and a greenkeepers' workshop.

So to the course. Without being denigrating I guess you could describe the course as basic in terms of refinement of fairways. I was going to say rough and ready but that in no way takes away from the enjoyment of the course. It is actually the best course one should expect in such a harsh alpine situation and climate. 

In fact some links courses offer similar fairway conditions. It would be impossible to provide plush green fairways. However the greens were another story and were in excellent condition thanks to the aforementioned irrigation and the fine work of the greenkeeper.

Therefore there is 15 centimetre placing which I felt because of the conditions could easily be increased to say 900 cm to the nearest point of grass relief. This would not be unreasonable nor would it diminish the integrity of play. The other difficulty was finding some of the distance markers without walking over them. It would be an inexpensive investment to install clearly visible markers. Of course the other way is to place clearly marked stakes on either side of the fairway.

This would certainly add to the enjoyment as not everyone uses a measuring gadget. The simple fact is distances here can be deceptive with shots to the green being further than they appear.

One standout was the signage which was brilliant. When playing a course for the first time it is frustrating when finding the next tee becomes a project of its own. Waimarino left no doubt with a sign by each green pointing the way. Nothing flash is needed and here it was a piece of timber with  directions carved into it. Perfect.

The course layout provides a good variety of challenges. There are several doglegs which require good placement with your tee shots. Inaccuracy will often bring trees into play. The long 506 metre par five second hole is an early test.

The par three third has bunkers and a stream left, plus a macrocarpa tree right to swallow an inaccurate tee shot. The fifth, a dogleg left, has trees and out of bounds left. The seventh a short par four should provide the easiest challenge. The ninth a short dogleg left 396 metre par five requires a tee shot to allow negotiation around trees to a narrow sloping green.

To the back nine, the 13th at 281 metres requires an accurate tee shot to negotiate the left dogleg. The long par five 478 metre 16th will test the shot choices and reveal two towering trees beside the green which I named Twin Towers. 

The 17th is an attractive, shortish par three and the 18th is an excellent finishing hole. While not overlong at 393 metres there is water left to catch a hook and go too far right there are trees to block the green.

Definitely a most enjoyable experience that I heartily recommend. It is not every day you can play golf in alpine territory. At $30 affiliated and $35 non affiliated it is great value.