Michael Donaldson
I’m not sure there’s any better road trip than getting together with your mates, throwing the golf clubs in the back of the car or van, and heading away for a few days of beer, banter and birdies (or bogeys, depending on your skill level!).
New Zealand is blessed with almost 400 golf clubs — you could play every day for a year and not see them all.
Over the next few issues, I’m going to take you on some of my favourite road trips.
I’m a bit lucky when it comes to golf. A few years ago, I wrote a book called Country Courses that featured 18 off-the-beaten-track courses in places like Te Puia Springs on the East Cape, Nopera Bay in a remote part of the Marlborough Sounds and Ringa Ringa Heights on Stewart Island.
And I’ve just done another book with a good mate — and golf travel buddy — Phil Hamilton. It’s called Sweet Spot — 36 iconic golf courses that celebrate the best of New Zealand.
That was another research-heavy project, with golf trips up and down the country.
Let’s start with one of my original and favourite trips: The Far North.
The heart of this trip is 90 Mile Beach Links, aka Ahipara.
Ahipara is one of my favourite beaches in New Zealand. It’s so laid back and beautiful and the golf club is similar, super-relaxed. It’s truly a slice of Kiwi hospitality.
The course is special too — a true links experience with sand-based fairways and lots of dunes.
For the good golfers, it can be a test of patience and shot-making and has a reasonably high slope index of 125; for the rest of us hackers it’s a bit of a laugh if you want to have a bash on a typically “winterless north” day, chasing a scruffy second ball through the sand dunes and admiring the views before an ice cold beer.
The course is so cool, you could base yourself in Ahipara and play it a couple of times or more, but there’s other nearby courses to make the weekend special.
An hour up the road is Houhora.
It’s not magic, but you’d go just to say you’ve played the northernmost course in New Zealand!
Depending on your appetite for driving, Waitangi is a special place to play.
Also worth a visit is Carrington Estate on the Karikari Peninsula on the other side of Northland. They often have some great deals on golf and accommodation.
And if you want to go real fancy pants, there’s Kauri Cliffs in Matauri Bay.
It’s *gulp* $450 a round but with panoramic views out to the Cavalli Islands, this cliff top location is New Zealand’s equivalent of the Kapalua course in Hawaii.
www.sweetspotgolfbook.com