Paraparaumu Beach and Wairakei
Plenty of room to play at Wairakei.
New Zealand is not an end destination for golfers. This is a sad but true statement. For a country blessed with so many natural wonders – miles of unspoiled coastline, clear blue lakes, snow-capped mountains, rolling valleys – New Zealand deserves better golf courses. The authors would nominate New Zealand as the country with the greatest potential for having truly great courses to be built over the next decade. The land is that good and there is plenty of it.
Until that day arrives, and it will, there are only two courses guaranteed to please every far traveling golfer – Paraparaumu Beach GC and Wairakei International. A third course, Titirangi GC in Auckland, is a solid MacKenzie course but its slow start might leave several golfers unimpressed.
Both Paraparaumu and Wairakei are on the North Island of New Zealand. Beyond that the courses could hardly be more different.
Paraparaumu Beach is a links course that measures 6,600 yards from the tips but plays shorter when it is at its best (fast and firm). The greens are small and are often elusive targets in the wind (remember: you are a one hours drive from ‘Windy’ Wellington). The course is less than 1/2 mile from the ocean. Alex Russell, fresh from his success at Royal Melbourne (East), was the designer in 1946. To his credit, the course is vastly different to the Melbourne course, as the property is vastly different – he did not try to force his ‘mark’ on either piece of property.
The rolling links at Paraparaumu always play fast and firm. Pictured is the world famous 13th.
The strength of Paraparaumu Beach is its collection of one shot holes (the 2nd and 16th are the equal of the world renowned 5th) and its medium and long par fours. The weakness is its three shot holes – all three are reachable at around the same 500 yard mark and fall over the only dull ground on the course.
Otherwise, Paraparaumu is a neat course that charms the golfer with a series of original and unique golf holes. Under the authors typical Holes to Note section, the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 11th, 13th, 16th, and 17th would appear. That is nine holes, which would be amongthe most of any course profiled on this website. The 13th hole is the most photographed hole in New Zealand. It is a massive par four of 440 yards played downhill over rolling terrain. So rolling in fact that on the same, calm day, the author hit a three wood into the green in the morning round and a nine iron into the green in the afternoon session. As the golfing gods would have it,the author birdied the hole afterthe three wood approach.
The narrow but deep green on the one shot 16th at Paraparaumu is difficult to hit in the wind and is a prime example of how a sub-150 yard hole can still be vexing.