This updated course profile can be read in conjunction with Scott Coan's recent post soliciting interest for the 2012 GolfClubAtlas.com Boomerang to be played at Paraparaumu Beach in March 2012. For people from North America who would be traveling a distance for this event, throw in four days of golf at Paraparaumu, add in Cape Kidnappers, Kauri Cliffs, Titirangi, Wairakei, Kataia, and presto, you have a wonderful driving tour of the North Island. Cap it off with some of New Zealand's famous white wines, Pinot Noirs from Felton Road and a hike through the Milford Sound
on the South Island and that's a 'bucket list' trip.
Until recent, Paraparaumu was a staple on the GOLF Magazine world top 100 list. It still should be and I doubt that many of the panelists are fully aware of the extent of the work that has been accomplished here in the past seven years. Leo Barber and crew have done a FANTASTIC job as highlighted by the club photographs that they kindly let me use in updating the GolfClubAtlas.com profile. These stunning club photos capture the ideal rumpled land over which the game is played at Paraparaumu. In addition, they also highlight the wonderful Alex Russell green complexes, some of the best of which don't have any bunkers.
Russell's resume glitters with his fingerprints all over some of the best courses in this part of the world: Yarra Yarra, the underrated Karrinyup, both courses at Royal Melbourne (especially the East which he designed solo), and here at Paraparaumu Beach. As Paraparaumu is an outpost course, sometimes it is hard to gauge it relative to other world class courses. Yet, it has many of the best attributes of this web site's favorites. For instance, similar to Royal Hague, the sandy land was so good that the architect didn't feel compelled to layer feature upon man-made feature over it. Both courses have a combined sixty bunkers between them. Similar to Kingston Heath and Merion, the architect squeezed every inch of character out of the ~120 acres. Similar to Prairie Dunes, the greens are none too big and quickly identify who can control the flight of his ball on windy days. Yes, there are no ocean views or coastal holes or lighthouses ala Turnberry. Conversely, Turnberry's smoother fairways aren't near a match to Paraparaumu's crumpled ones and who would counter that Turnberry's green complexes are better?
Bigger, glossier courses may be built but few will ever be able to compete with Paraparaumu Beach, so good was both the land and Russell's work. Anyone attending the GolfClubAtlas March 2012 Boomerang will be able to attest to that first hand!
Cheers,