[Scott Macpherson]

For all you GCA buffs......

Question; What is the southern-most links in the world?

Answer; Oreti Sands Golf Club (Aka Southland Golf Club) in New Zealand.

For those who have never seen any photos of this wee gem, you may be interested in the following photos....

Originally designed by Australian Sloan Morpeth in 1970, but he died before the links was completed. The new holes and changes will bring this course into the 21st century and look to complete the challenge Morpeth hoped to create. The new holes (2,3,4 and 17th) will open in March 2009. At that point the hole numbers and routing will change too.

You will not see any flags on the new greens as no holes have been cut yet. But the grow-in is going well, and the support from the local community and small membership has been outstanding.

Visitors will all be very welcomed at this golfing haven.

How much does it cost to play? NZ$20 (about US$10, or £7) FANTASTIC value for money.

2nd hole. Dogleg right. This is the approach. Here the green sits in the tussocked dunes.


3rd. A short par 3, about 150 yards to a table top green. That is Stewart Island in the background.


3rd green looking back towards the tee.


4th Hole. The approach shot. The Lupins are all due to be trimmed back prior to the course opening.


Current 4th hole, this will be the 6th when the new routing opens. New bunkers are left of the green


New Par 3. 190yards.  This will be the 17th Hole. Prevailing wind if off the right!

[Melvyn Morrow]

Scott

There can only ever be one “TOC”

Its as far south as you need to go and ditto going north

Of course I maybe biased – I think.

[Tom Yost]

...
How much does it cost to play? NZ$20 (about US$10, or £7) FANTASTIC value for money.
...

Looks like they will make it up in ball sales!!!

[Scott Macpherson]

Yes Tom, it can blow pretty hard down there. Some joke that you can smell the Penguin poo on Antarctica on a really windy day!

And when the Club Championships come around, the winner may be decided by who loses the least balls 

Gotta love real links golf huh?

[Adam Clayman]

I'll assume this is farther south than Dunedin?

How does Otago play? Built in the late 19th century by a bunch of Scot immigrants, one would assume it was inspired by the auld sod. Is it?

[Scott Macpherson]

I'll assume this is farther south than Dunedin?



Adam,


its about a 2.5hr drive south to get to Invercargill from Dunedin. Say about 200km, and than another 15mins south to get to Oreti Sands.

PS- Those are some of the nicest photos I have ever seen of Balmac! (It is not a links though)

[RJ_Daley]

Very interesting, Scott.  Are those your photos, Adam.  I quess this is the 'Atlas' portion of GolfClubAtlas.com. 

[Adam Clayman]

I took them from their website.

About ten years ago, when I first got a puter and was online I was a frequent visitor to MSN's Game Zone. There I met and played spades with a woman who said she was the GM at Otago. (I may be mis-remembering as to her title).

[Scott Macpherson]

[/quote]

Looks like they will make it up in ball sales!!!
[/quote]

Tom;

That's probably true except this place is so 'pure' (wild?) in the links golfing sense, that they don't have a Pro shop. Just a little clubhouse where they will sell you a nice cool beer after you have walked back having run out of golf balls!

But....there is no guarantee the clubhouse will be open... so the locals will often have a couple of 'cold ones' in their bag.

Speaking of ball loss, there is a story at the club (and I can't find it in the Club history) that a few years ago the finals of the mens Club champs had to be played on a day when the wind was blowing and the guy who eventually won was the guy with who lost the fewest balls. He lost 12, and the runner up lost 14! 

scott

[Grant Saunders]

Scott

Here are some more pics of the course to ad to this thread. Good to see the new turf looks to have taken well.

Having not personally played the course but having visited it several times for work, I feel that this course represents many of the principals that are embodied by people on this forum.

- It is situated land that that is interesting, challenging and provides a wide variety of fun shots

- It is on sandy soils and therefore plays firm and fast

- There are no frills attached. ie there is golf and a friendly atmosphere

- There is very much a sense of escapism, especially when walking the new holes, you could be the only person on earth

- There is no overwatering, over grooming and overly extravagant maintenance to be found. The course is maintained by 2 people and a part timer and there is only irrigation to the greens. Volunteers chip in when needed

- It is affordable. As Scott Mentioned, $20 NZ, $10 US, 7 GBP, you will be hard pressed to find better value for money anywhere

There really is an element of rawness to the place. It is like stepping back 20 years when you drive into the carpark. The course itself reminds me a lot of Brora in the "rough around the edges" feel to the place.

It pays to remember that this is a country course and those that approach it expecting a highly polished manicured course will find themselves very disappointed. But those that head here with the goal of playing fun, testing golf as it should be will thoroughly enjoy it.

(All hole numbers are based on current routing)


1st Tee Par 4 325 metres

1st Green

2nd Green Par 5 485 metres

Looking out towards the dunes

6th Green par 4 325 metres

8th Green Par 3 207 metres

9th Tee Par 4 410 metres

11th Green Par 4 375 metres

14th Green par 4 368 metres

18th Tee par 5 506 metres

18th hole middle of fairway

18th Green

[RJ_Daley]

I was following your descriptions to try and find the course on Google maps and it seems there is one more course in that Invercargil area south on hwy 1 in Greenhills the Bluff Course, though maybe not a links (can't tell as satellite photos there doesn't home in).  And one more even in longitude with that Bluff Course further east and just south of Fortrose which looks to be linksland but a real paddock of a layout. 

But I thought I might have found yet another location for a great links dunesland sort of course further south yet, and actually that whole coast looks pretty golfy...have a look:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Stewart+Island,+New+Zealand&sll=-46.698435,168.931274&sspn=1.100089,2.285156&ie=UTF8&ll=-46.623594,168.831668&spn=0.004303,0.01708&t=h&z=16

What sort of yearly temperature swings do they see there abouts?

[Grant Saunders]

RJ

Try this link for a view of the site. You may have to scroll around just a little bit. The new holes are located in a line almost straight below the clubhouse in the image.


http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-46.449305,168.24581&z=15&t=h&hl=en

[Scott Macpherson]

Grant,

Thanks for the photos. Sounds like you have to take your Clubs down there one day and play it. Surley your boss will let you do that.... call it 'research'.

RJ-

The Google Map Grant provided does not show the new holes. Also, I have been reliably informed that the Bluff course could best be described as 'hillside'- definitely not links.


scott

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