Waipu’s renovations reaping rewards

By Neville Idour

Our visit to Waipu Golf Club in Northland to see the completed renovations to the course revealed quite a transformation.

With the fairways now green from the installation of watering it is a whole new experience. I well remember playing the course when placing was the order of the day.

Before playing I spoke with Lillian Thomas in the pro shop who has been there for over four and a half years. She had seen all the changes so we asked how busy the course is.

“It is getting really busy,’’ Thomas said.

``It has always grown but since they have done the irrigation and a lot of work on the course it has just got busier and busier. When the weather is fine it is busy all day.”

There is a new season of golf programmes starting. There is a womens’ one which is similar to golf New Zealand’s programme of She Loves Golf. The Bream Bay Classic is the major tournament the club run plus other tournaments throughout the year. Membership is healthy with 394 men and 131 women.

Waipu-raised Adam Jones the founder of Grass, a golf course construction company, was responsible for the transformation from rough dry fairways to fairways to compare with the best links courses.

With extensive experience overseas and in New Zealand, Jones was the right man for the job. From work at courses in Ireland, Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Pegasus in Christchurch and preparing Gulf Harbour in Auckland for the World Cup in 1998, his qualifications were just the ticket.

From the elevated clubhouse and practice putting green, the views are spectacular of the wide sweeping coastline and even most of the 18 holes. Just the tonic before teeing off.

The first hole is a generous 329 metres to a drop down green. The second a par five is a dogleg right of 430 metres. There is good variety on the front nine.

The par four third hole has challenging rough right to an elevated green. Four, a long par three, has a difficult green to hit with steep sloping sides. Don’t overshoot the green on five while six, the signature hole, has bunkers to avoid. Seven, eight and nine feature elevated greens, uphill climbs or a steep sloping green.

Enjoy the views on 10 before heading downhill. Hole No 11 is a dogleg with a water hazard while 12 is a dogleg right. The par three 13th plays steeply up to the green while the long par five 14th heads back down. Hole No 15 is up to a narrow green and the par four 16th heads back downhill. The short par three 17th has a treacherous undulating green. Finally the 18th, a 318 metre par four, plays uphill towards the clubhouse and a large two level green.

Certainly this is an enjoyable layout with views to constantly delight, but it is a good workout if you are walking. However there are carts available as a preference.