Paraparaumu Beach (2012 GCA Boomerang)

[Matthew Delahunty]

18th - 445m Par 5

The closing hole is a short Par 5 where many golfers will be looking to finish with a birdie. From the tee, one has to contend with some traps on the right which aren't really in play for most golfers. There's a couple of traps built into the ridge on the left. The real danger is leaking a drive right as the adjacent practice fairway is internal OOB. If you can get a good drive away, the second shot invites you to open the shoulders and get home in two. There's a trap about 40m short of the green on the right and another closer to the green. There's a further trap on the left guarding the entry to the green. The green is large for a par 5 and hitting the green is not a guaranteed two-putt if you don't get the disance correct.

[Mac Plumart]

Matthew...thanks!

[Thomas Dai]

Matthew,

Thanks for this informative post. Splendid photos. Sometimes you see photos of a course and you just want to play and if I get the opportunity to visit NZ I'd love to play Parapararaumu. I really like the 5th green. Shame about the vile looking tower block behind, is it, the 11th tee? Whoever allowed that to be built ought to be forced to spend a lot of time at the bottom of a ruck!

Leo,

Your additional photos are terrific, thanks for posting them.

All the best

[Matthew Delahunty]

Thomas,

The tower is to the left of the 10th tee.  It's an eyesore and out of character for the area which is a seaside town 45 minutes from Wellington.  Leo Barber told us it was a product of the 1980s.

Paraparaumu Beach is well worth the trip.  I don't know if I'd travel halfway around the world just to play it as a golfing desintation but New Zealand is a such a beautiful country with so much to see, so I'd link it in with a 2 week holiday travelling around the country and fitting in 2 or more rounds at Paraparaumu and a round at Cape Kidnappers (hopefully I'll get a review up of that soon - when my busy work scheduled allow).

Cape Kidnappers probably shades it, but you can play about 8 or 9 rounds a Paraparam for the price of one at Kidnappers.