New Zealand GC, Surrey

[Richard Pennell]

I had the considerable pleasure of visiting New Zealand GC for the first time this spring in the company of Tony Muldoon. Its one of the lesser known of the heathland courses in the area, but one of the oldest nonetheless. It retains that traditional feel, too. The course is in fine condition, with firm playing surfaces that complement the varied and interesting approaches and surrounds to the greens. The heather is obviously a priority at New Zealand, where it is cut short enough to find your ball easily while removing little of the challenge and uncertainty of the recovery shot. The quality of the turf and heather, together with the understated style of presentation reminded me most of Swinley Forest, but perhaps playing a little firmer for the time of year. I can’t remember ever playing so many bump and runs on an inland course. But perhaps that’s because I hit so few of the greens

I’m not sure exactly who is responsible for what at New Zealand. I know someone on here will be able to shed more light. Steel’s guide has it listed as Muir Ferguson, while Doak calls it Tom Simpson. Simpson certainly worked on it, but to what extent I don’t know. Anyway, it’s a very appealing course visually, as I’m sure my photos will fail to illustrate adequately! Here they are…enjoy

The opening teeshot.


The approach to the 1st green.


Second shot to the dogleg right 2nd hole.


Approach and green of the 152 yard 3rd.


Second shot to the 4th.


Approach at the 6th.


Undulations in front of the 8th green.


Tee-shot at the 127 yard 10th.


Tee-shot at the 13th.


Note the central bunker, which apparently resulted from Tom Simpson’s love of the famous John Low bunkers on the 4th at Woking.


Further protection at the 13th comes in the form of this diagonal swale and the greenside bunker.


The approach to the 15th, with an interesting contour along the left edge of the green…


…and from the back-right edge.


The short 16th – 188 yards.


Teeshot at the 17th…


…the hole swings almost 90 degrees left, which makes judging the distance of your teeshot critical. Too short and the trees block your line, but too long and the contours at the green will push everything left…


…the green complex (and Tony).


And again.


The approach to the final green.

[David_Tepper]

Richard -

Thanks for the New Zealand pix, which brought back some distant memories for me.  The course looks in very nice shape.

I played the course in 1985, sort of by accident. I showed up one morning at St. George's Hill, hoping to play there. But the course was busy with an outing. The club secretary was nice enough to phone New Zealand, which I had not heard of, to see if I could play there. I could, I did and I enjoyed it very much.  

DT

[Mark_Rowlinson]

What a star!  I've sung the praises of this place for many years, and I'm very glad that you have posted pictures which do it justice.  It may rank anywhere between 50th and 300th in the UK, but that is its joy - anywhere between Beau Derert and Delamere Forest.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Greetings Richard, great post (wasn't it Mark's praise that got us there in the first place?).  I don’t have that much to add  but...

New Zealand is one of the prettiest courses I’ve played.  My taste is generally for the natural look so it’s a real compliment to say that the beauty here sits well and doesn’t seem at all forced or (dare I say it) landscaped.


Bunkers have consistent style, neither to deep nor too easy


Looking back form 9th green gives a good idea of what you get.


Another view of 10


The fairway bunkers are a proper tribute to the ‘Principals nose’


17AND 18 make for a great finish, here’s another look at those undulations.


Richard in action.


In summary I would compare my experience at New Zealand to my feelings about North Berwick. There are tougher Heathland/links tracks but there are few that can match the fun to be had here. Recommended.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

It's always a relief to find that an out-of-the-way course one has at some point recommended has pleased someone. I'm so scared of the wisdom and discernment of GCA buffs that I'm afraid now even to recommend TOC, North Berwick or The Addington....  Now, have you tried Hankley Common for heather to push New Zealand into 99th place? I don't say it's better - just different.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Richard the oracle has spoken. Can we extend a general invitation to the group to join us when the GCA World Tour of Heathland Courses reconvenes next April at Hankley Common? (Or do I recall you've already played it on Marks recomendation?).


So many courses so little time...

[Bill_McBride]

My impression from the photos is that New Zealand shares a design characteristic with Hoylake that made it such a treat - the close-to-the-ground greens with bunker tops above the level of the greens.  Those slopes down from the bunkers to the green surface make all kinds of crazy shots possible and sometimes unavoidable.  You'll hit what you think is a good shot, carom down off that bunker slope, and go over the green.  Or kick sideways into another bunker.

Contrast that with elevated greens where the bunker tops are level with the green surfaces - not as much an element of risk or excitement!

New Zealand looks like a great home course for Londoners.

[Mark_F]

What a beautiful course.

It reminds me in some way of Tony Titheridge's thread on Royal Melbourne East - the property looks a little flattish, but with some marvelous undulation on and around the greens.

Interesting too that a number of the Heathland courses that have been featured here appear to be quite well treed, but not to the extent of being overgrown and affecting play and obscuring features all that much.

Is this true?

[Tony_Muldoon]

Bill you’re absolutely right about the similarities between NZ and Hoylake. I’ve never enjoyed the ground game so much as at those two courses.  At NZ the ground route always involves using the bumps and hollows (the front of the 18th at North Berwick just flashed into my mind) and positively called out at you to play a ground shot even on that comparatively windless day.   Needless to say the ground and the maintenance are ideally suited here.

The highlight of the round came on the 15th when I was off by the bunker on the right of the green and Richard was short left. I had the perfect view of his running approach along the contours on the left hand side of the green.  As soon as I saw it I just knew it would run up and down those before turning right and dying in the hole!

It would be a great club to be a member of. The membership policy is unique and perhaps someone else can expand further.  However the policy is to only allow members who live more than 15 miles from the club, resulting in an empty course.

Mark, on most of the Heathland courses I’ve played I’ve seen evidence of the chainsaw.  Famously Walton Heath has had a big clear out over the last decade.  Worplesdon and the Addington would appear to be the ones most in need of a major haircut.     You could argue that a true ‘Heath’ when animals grazed would have been much more open than these and today typically you do tend to play between corridors of Pines and Birch and yes for the most part they are kept well back.  Often there’s a buffer line of Heather to maintain to help keep the trees out of play.   I would say most of these clubs inherently understand firm & fast and the issues with trees.



Can anyone shed more info on who is responsible for the design of the course?

[Mark Chaplin]

I agree New Zealand is a fun course to play, not too tough but enough trouble to keep the mind engaged. It is a relatively unknown course purely because the members like to keep a low profile and there are many high profile venues in the area.

One interesting point is the locker room, with it's real old gentleman's club feel. When a member "retires" their replacement has their name plate placed under the plate of the previous occupant. One or two of the lockers would give you serious concerns as to your life expectancy.

[Richard Pennell]

Glad everyone's enjoying these. I had a great afternoon at New Zealand, and thinking about how I'd come to want to play there, I'm pretty sure it was from Mark's recommendation. As is the next round of photos, from Royal Ashdown Forest. I hope someone sees these and decides to get out to these places, because that's one of the things about this site that I love. For instance, I can't wait to go and see Burnham & Berrow after Sean's latest photos. Same goes for Pulborough. When someone introduces you to a special place, like Pennard or The Addington or Liphook or wherever, its like being let into a secret.

Mark Chaplin - the only regret I had was not popping into the locker room. Tony went in to change his shoes and I know he was kicking himself that he didn't have his camera handy!

[Mark_Rowlinson]

It's not an easy course to photograph because it is basically so flat, but what your photos have captured brilliantly is the feel of the place, the nature of the bunkering and the subtlety of the greens and their surrounds.  I drove very close to Crowborough the other day, but didn't have time to stop.  You can see a great deal of it from the little roads that cross the course, so you can get an idea of what it's like before deciding whether or not to play it.  You'd really love the 2nd and 6th, but there's much else besides.  It won't be as expensive as some to the south of London.  I'd love someone to report on Piltdown (bunkerless) - it has many advocates.