Courses 9 & 10: Matron and Rangatira

11 December 2010

The summer Solstice had a small field this year, only 7 turned out and I had a big task defending the Brown Jacket playing off a 12 handicap. The Solstice handicaps are always interesting and the defending champion will never retain the jacket, especially when it's half what you play off when you win!

Marton Golf Club

This time we ventured up State Highway 1 and started at the Marton Golf Club.



This was where we played in the morning the last time I was the defending champ. Last time I started with a hiss and a roar with a birdie on the par 5 1st, it wasn't as easy this time.

Marton is a pretty standard country golf course; built on rolling land, relatively flat and full of trees. It was quite a good little course and had very good watering that meant the fairways hadn't burnt away like many other courses in the area. The round was quite a good one, I was pretty happy with 89 and that was good enough to place me 6th after the first round (I fully expected to be 7th!).

My scorecard:



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Rangatira Golf Club

Just north of Hunterville in the Rangatira Golf Club.



It's not a very challenging course, the holes tend to be flat and straight. However, it's very picturesque, set on the side of the of a gorge and played on 3 levels, 6 holes on each level. It is fun getting down to each level. Both the 7th and 13th tees are very elevated to fairways below. By the time you finish the 18th hole you're a long way down from the club house and there's a cable car to get you back up - I'm not sure how many golf courses in the world can boast having a cable car?

This is a picture across the gorge...



And this is a shot while riding up the cable car...



It's not often in a Solstice that I have a better round in the afternoon (after a big lunch of a Rat Hole burger and couple of pints) than the morning, but today I did. Rounds of 89 and 87 would have won the jacket for me in the Winter 2010 Solstice so I was pretty happy with the way things went.

Congratulations to Bucky for winning the Summer 2010 edition of the Solstice. He played off a 24 handicap and shot 89, 84 for 92 (or so) stableford points. It's very hard to beat that!!

Another great Solstice event - thanks Grunta for organising again.

My scorecard:




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Course 8: Titahi Golf Club

12 September 2010



The Titahi Golf Club is located in the hills on the southern side of the Paramata Harbour and it has the claim to fame of being the home course of Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion.



We turned up to play on a wild, wet Sunday around lunch time. A round of the club champs was just finishing in torrential rain and 4 of us hardy golfers were seriously considering an afternoon watching Sky Sport at the local pub. We went in to check out whether the club even wanted us on the course - we did receive odd looks along the lines of "why on earth would you want to play in these conditions?".

Anyhow, we decided to play and it was very wet under foot. On the third hole one Tucky sent his ball down a gully and ended up sliding down to find it (see the result below...)



It was a tough day on the course, very wet and heavy underfoot. Even so, I had a blistering front 9 of 39 (with a double bogey on the 9th). It's only a 9 hole course and on the second time round things weren't nearly as good, starting with a quadruple bogey on the 10th!

The sun did eventually come out which made the wet feet easier to deal with and we all enjoyed a day of taking nonsense and a walk in the fresh air.

The photo below is my old mate Matt Archibald teeing off on the third hole. Looking 45 degrees to the right is a great view of the harbour (shown in one of the photos above).



My scorecard:



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Course 7: Waimarino Golf Club

16 July 2010

The Waimarino Golf Club is on the road between Ohakune and Raetihi, under the shadow of Mount Ruapehu.



We took the kids away in the school holidays with another family and went skiing. After 2 days on the mountain we took the opportunity to slip off for 9 holes at Waimarino (it took a while to track this course down online before we left as I assumed it would be called Ohakune or Raetihi). I guess there's a question whether this actually counts to my challenge? I only played half the course. Worst case is I'll need to head back and play it again at some stage (and maybe I'll play better than the scorecard below).

For this round we took the boys out and gave them a taste of country golf. The Waimarino course is a typical NZ country course, built on rolling farmland and with plenty of trees. Of course, the sight of Mount Ruapehu in the background is a little different and quite spectacular.





Unfortunately the photos don't show the mountain in the background - the glare off the snow must have had something to do with it?

My Scorecard:

Not a spectacular 9 holes - a 7 and 8 really hurt! I'm really struggling on the par 5s at the moment...



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Course 6: Takaka Golf Club

27 January 2010

We took a family holiday to Golden Bay with some of our oldest friends at the end of January and found the great little 9 hole Takaka Golf Course right on the beach.

In the end 3 dads and a number of sons wondered around the 9 holes enjoying the views and hijinks of 5 boys aged 7 or less. In the end my round was very average but it was great to get out again with my son and to have him continue to learn about golf.

The highlight had to be the par 3 9th hole where we let all the boys have a turn. Young James (7 years old) showed everyone up by having a par. Not even us dads could match that!!

My scorecard:



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Course 5: Kapiti Golf Club

6 January 2010

Hiding up behind Paraparaumu is the 9 hole Kapiti Golf Club. I played here a couple of times during January 2010 with my 7.5 year old son who got a set of golf clubs for Christmas.

This round of golf, while fun and enjoyable at the time has greater significance to me know. It turned out to be the last time I would ever play golf with my father, something I have been doing for many years and thought would never end. It was the first and only time that my father, son and I would ever play golf together.

Kapiti is a pretty easy course, as can be seen from my scorecard. We had a lot of fun.

My scorecard:



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Courses 3 & 4: Featherston and Martinborough

The Solstice - That Time Again! 19 June 2010

Twice a year at Solstice time instead of dressing up like a druid I jump into a mini van and head off with 10 other golfing amateurs and play 2 courses in the lower North Island. Grant has been organising this event for the past 11 years and each time it's a surprise where we will end up. It's also a big day away, 36 holes and a long van ride home. This year we played at...

Featherston

The first course after crossing the Rimutaka hill, this is a relatively easy course to play. It's flat and the greens are slow with little break. I've now played Featherston twice and enjoyed very good scores each time (for me). Be careful around the third hole, the course shares a boundary (and aroma) with a pig farm. The pigs also make quite a noise at feeding time!

My scorecard:



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Martinborough

Our second course of the day was the Martinborough Golf Club. This is located on the outskirts of wine country and another relatively flat, tree lined course. You start with two par fives, something a little different, and there are a number of challenging holes on this course. The greens were the exact opposite of Featherston, well formed and fast. I had four 3 putts in this round but still managed to play well.

My scorecard:


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The Solstice is always a long day. 36 holes split with a big lunch and couple of pints. The handicapping is always dubious but aftera 6 year drought I managed to come home with the coveted Brown Jacket. I need to thank Grant for the very generous handicap! I can guarantee having 10-15 strokes taken off my handicap for the summer Solstice to ensure that I don't win again in a hurry - maybe I should offer to drive the van home....

Course Number 2: Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club

The second course detailed in my quest to play them all is Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club. I played here most recently 0n Good Friday (2 April 2010). It's a course I have played many times, my father has been a member there for 35+ years and we played here every Boxing Day against our great friends and old foes the Archibald family.

This round was one of my worst in years. Not sure why, it wasn't a bad day and the wind wasn't a factor as it can often be. I shot 102, putted like a donkey and hit shots that are beyond comprehension. However, as they say, a bad day on the course is better than a great day in the office and it was great to get out with a couple of old mates - even if they did make me look like a beginner!

There were little highlights during the round for me but I did manage 3 pars, including the 18th - something that will get me back playing again very soon!

The 18th green.

My scorecard:

(Not that I think anyone should look at it!)

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27 December 2010

I had the opportunity to get out at Paraparaumu again. This was one of the few rounds where I played off the blue tees and I struggled through to a 96. The front 9 wasn't too bad as it included 2 shots out of a bunker. However, I couldn't buy a putt all day!