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Steve Alker adds to his amazing record in playoffs PAGE 3 INSIDE // CHARLES TOUR HEADS TO INVERCARGILL // DUNEDIN’S LINKS JEWEL

EDITORIAL

pgueorgieff@yahoo.co.nz

Shaun Norris, a golfer to admire S

By Paul Gueorgieff Editor, Golfer Pacific NZ

ometimes you take a shine to a golfer. That was the case for me when a DP World Tour event was held in Scotland last month. The player was Shaun Norris from South Africa. He’s not the most well known professional golfer in the world but he has had his fair share of success. He has two wins on the DP World Tour which were both in South Africa. He has also won nine times on the Japan Tour, twice on the Asian Tour and four times on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. He’s no youngster at age 44 but clearly a very capable golfer. My moment of admiration came in the Nexo Championship which was played at the Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen. Norris was the first round leader after equalling the course record with a six under par 66, which included an albatross on a par five. He holed his second shot from 244 metres with a three

wood and afterwards revealed it was the fifth albatross of his career. But on the final day of the tournament he was making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. As he prepared to hit his approach shot into the fifth green he felt something under his right foot and scraped it away. He then hit the ball and went on to make par -- before officials stepped in. Norris had been the tournament’s third round leader but his foot scraping movement proved costly and it was immediately noticed by television commentators. Norris had scraped away a replaced divot and the television commentators were sure this would result in a two-shot penalty. That was confirmed and Norris was a few holes later advised of the penalty by a referee. The incident proved controversial as the divot had not been properly replaced but it was subsequently ruled as improving Norris’ stance. Norris went on to finish seventh in the tournament, six

shots behind the leader but there was no doubt the penalty removed his momentum. But what impressed me was there was no argument from Norris. He was clearly disappointed at the penalty imposed on him but he took it on the chin. Norris admitted the penalty “scrambled” his mindset for the closing nine holes as he began chasing those lost shots. “It’s hard to get past it and to try and forget about it because you try and stay positive all the time and something like that happens and just breaks your confidence,” he said with a sigh. “The other problem is trying to stick to your game plan and not forcing the issue after that, which makes it hard. “It is harsh. I thought maybe a worse case, maybe one shot penalty. But rules are rules and everything happens for a reason. Hopefully there’s something bigger on the horizon.” This was the second time in less than year that Norris had taken my notice. The previous occasion had been in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Johannesburg

in South Africa last December. Norris, who had won the same tournament the year before, had scored a brilliant eight-under par in the final round which would see him go into a playoff with fellow South African and rising star Jayden Schaper. In the playoff, the par five 18th, Schaper bravely chose to play a hybrid club from the bunker. He got the ball as clean as a whistle and it finished on the fringe at the back of the green, not too far from the pin. It was truly an outstanding shot. I was impressed at the reaction of Norris. He raised his hands above his head and clapped and kept clapping until Schaper saw him doing so. It was great appreciation for a great shot and one that would prove the winning of the tournament for Schaper. For many others it would have been a slump of the shoulders rather than sincere applause. Well done to Shaun Norris.

NEW ZEALAND EDITORIAL Paul Gueorgieff pgueorgieff@yahoo.co.nz Ph: 64 4 565 0385 Mob: 64 27 227 1038 Peter Thornton pete_thornton8@hotmail.com SOUTH ISLAND EDITORIAL Neville Idour 0274771423 pmidour@hotmail.co.nz SALES & CLUB PACKAGE GOLF TRAILS & NOTICEBOARDS Leigh Smith smith.sun@bigpond.com Ph: 0061 7 5504 6334 Mob: 0061 433 163 043 LAYOUT & DESIGN layout.golferpacificnz@gmail.com PUBLISHER Golfer Pacific NZ LTD PO Box 51338 Tawa, Wellington 5249, New Zealand ACCOUNTS Leigh Smith smith.sun@bigpond.com SUBSCRIPTION $60.00 per annum including GST smith.sun@bigpond.com Ph: 0061 5575 7444 Mob: 0061 433 163 043 NEW ZEALAND MAIL ADDRESS PO Box 51338 Tawa, Wellington 5249, New Zealand COVER PHOTO: Steve Alker poses with the trophy after his win in the Rogers Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Photo credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images. COPYRIGHT All material published in Golfer Pacific NZ is subject to all forms of copyright. Contents of this newspaper cannot be reproduced in any way, shape, or form without the permission of the editor. Views expressed in editorial contributions do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of this newspaper, its management. New Zealand Golfer Pacific is published Golfer Pacific NZ Limited. The company’s registered office is unit 10/7 Aruma St Chevron Island QLD 4217.

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By Paul Gueorgieff, editor Golfer Pacific

teve Alker is no stranger to winning in a playoff. The Hamilton golfer achieved such a feat in Canada last month when taking out the $US2.5 million Rogers Charity Classic at the Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club in Calgary, Alberta. Alker’s win came on the first playoff hole after his opponent Y E (Yong-eun) Yang of South Korea had taken two shots to clear a hazard and ended up with a double bogey. Alker had hit his third shot on the par five 18th hole to within seven feet and had the luxury of two putts for the win. As almost seemed inevitable, he holed the putt for a birdie. The win was Alker’s second of the season on the PGA Tour Champions which is for golfers aged 50 and older. The previous win this season had been in March. That was the $US2.2 million Cologuard Classic at La Paloma Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. Ironically, that also went down to a playoff. On that occasion Alker, who these days lives in Arizona, beat Irish golfer Padraig Harrington and once again victory came on the first playoff hole. That win was in itself extraordinary. Alker had won the very same event the previous year when he once again prevailed in a one-hole playoff, on that occasion over club professional Jason Caron. So that’s now three playoff wins on the PGA Tour Champions which in itself is almost unbelievable. But wait there’s more — and far more dramatic. Going back to 2014, when Alker was playing on the Web.Com Tour, the equivalent of the second-tier Korn Fer-

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Steve Alker (right) and Y E Yang of South Korea shake hands on the 18th green after playing in sudden death in the Rogers Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, last month. (Photo credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images).

ry Tour, he won the Cleveland Open in Ohio. Once again it took a playoff to decide the winner but on this occasion it took an incredible 11 extra holes before Alker prevailed. That remains a record for the Korn Ferry Tour or its equivalent. Alker’s opponent on that occasion was Dawie van der Walt of South Africa. They traded pars on the first 10 holes before Alker broke the stalemate with a birdie. The PGA Tour Champions has been a transformation for Alker. The week after his win in Canada he won again in Michigan in the United States. His Canada win was worth $US350,000 and his Michigan win was worth $US330,000. The 55-year-old has now won 13

times on the PGA Tour Champions and his earnings on the tour are about $US14.5 million. In New Zealand dollars that’s more than $24 million. Alker won his first tournament on the PGA Tour Champions in November, 2021. That was his ninth start on the tour and at that stage it took his earnings on the seniors’ tour to nearly $US900,000. That was more than he had earned in his career on the top tier PGA Tour. His win in Canada last month was not just notable for the playoff win. On the second day of the three-day tournament Alker had shot a tournament-equalling record of a nine-under par 61. That bolted him into the lead after two rounds but he still needed another

September 2026

good score in round three. He ended up with a five under par 65 which tied him with Yang who had shot a brilliant seven under par 63. Alker had a chance to win the tournament on the final hole of regulation, but he missed a lengthy birdie putt with Yang looking on from the clubhouse. “I had a chance in regulation,” said Alker, who had a great drive before hitting his second shot over the green. “I had a flush five iron, but I just pulled it left of my target and then the chip wasn’t very good, so it was kind of a sloppy finish with a five iron into the green, but I got it done. What can you say? You just try and find a way to get it done.” Alker admitted Yang’s disaster on the playoff hole was not the way one likes to win. “You never like to see someone make bogey,” said Alker. But he was nonetheless delighted to notch another win. “It was great,” said Alker, who had finished in a tie for fifth at last year’s tournament and in sixth the year before. “There’s no pressure, though. I had two putts to win, so I think the putt becomes a little bit easier after that.” In the final round Alker had two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine of the par 70, 7,086-yard (6479 metres) course before getting hot with five birdies in a six-hole span from the 11th to the 16th hole. “Yesterday I shot six under (on the back nine) and I was kind of thinking about that,” Alker said. “There’s birdies out here to be made. I had a nice stretch there. Those are not easy holes, so birdies there were great and kind of got me on a positive note.”

GOLF NEWS

Steve Alker adds to his amazing record in playoffs

Charles Tour heads to Invercargill in December GOLF NEWS The clubhouse of the Invercargill Golf Club where the Charles Tour will be venturing for the first time in December.

he Charles Tour, New Zealand’s professional golf circuit, heads to Southland for the first time in December. The tournament will be held from December 17-19 and will be hosted by the Invercargill Golf Club. The 54-hole event will carry prize money of at least $50,000 and takes the Charles Tour calendar to seven events across 2026, reflecting the continued appetite for professional golf around the country and the shared commitment of Golf New Zealand and the PGA New Zealand to giving players opportunities to compete across Aotearoa. Golf New Zealand general manager championships and golf operations, Dave Mangan, said: “Golf New Zealand is excited to bring professional golf to the deep south. The Langlands Invercargill Golf Club is a great test of golf and was a wonderful host of our New Zealand Amateur Championship in 2025. “We have been looking to bring a Summerset Charles Tour event fur-

ther south than Christchurch for several years now, so for the club to put up their hands, its great and I have no doubt that they will put on a great event with their famous southern hospitality for our leading domestic professionals and elite amateurs.” General manager of the Invercargill Golf Club, Boston Walker, welcomed the announcement and said: “The Langlands Invercargill Golf Club is incredibly proud to bring the Summerset Charles Tour to Southland for the first time. It’s a special moment for golf in our region. Southland has a deep love for the game, and top level professional tournaments rarely come this far south, making this event genuinely significant for our golfing community. “Welcoming the Charles Tour is a powerful step forward for golf in Southland. It gives our players, families, juniors, and supporters the chance to experience professional golf right here at home, and it shines a national spotlight on our course, our club, and our region.

“We’re excited to work alongside Golf New Zealand and PGA New Zealand to deliver a world class tournament and to represent Southland with the pas-

sion, pride, and hospitality our region is known for.” Founded in 1897, Invercargill Golf Club is one of New Zealand’s oldest golf clubs and long regarded as one of the finest in the south. The club hosted the New Zealand Open in 1960, won by Peter Thompson, and was permanent host of the SBS Invitational, a 72-hole amateur strokeplay championship involving all 15 golf districts, from 1977 to 2012. Frank Nobilo, Craig Perks, Michael Campbell and Ryan Fox all competed at Invercargill before turning professional, underlining its pedigree as a proving ground for the country’s top talent. Laid out on natural links terrain amongst native New Zealand bush and wildlife, the championship course features gently undulating, sandy-soiled terrain with tree-lined fairways and well-bunkered greens throughout, making it a fitting venue to welcome the Summerset Charles Tour to Southland for the first time.

One of the holes at the Invercargill Golf Club. Photo credit Invercargill Golf Club.

September 2026

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September 2026

The R&A now has full ownership of DotGolf GOLF NEWS

he R&A, one of two world golf governing bodies, is now a 100 per cent owner of the New Zealand-based global golf technology company, DotGolf. The R&A had acquired a 50 per cent interest in DotGolf in August, 2023, but has since purchased the remaining 50 per cent stake from Golf New Zealand. DotGolf works with national federations around the world to build tools that help grow the game. DotGolf, which employs 55 people, will continue to operate as a standalone business with its own execu-

tive leadership, governance, and operations. DotGolf’s aim is to create technology that makes golf more accessible, enjoyable and sustainable worldwide. This acquisition will enable The R&A to invest further in DotGolf’s technology to support these goals. Since The R&A’s initial 2023 investment, DotGolf has expanded internationally and now has multi-language capability. It currently has 21 national golf federations customers and supports over 2.5 million golfers. Mark Darbon, chief executive of

The R&A, said: “The R&A’s purpose is to open golf to the world and we are committed to making long-term investments in technology, data and digital capability to benefit national federations and golfers worldwide. This acquisition is an exciting next step and we look forward to seeing DotGolf continue to develop tools that keep growing the game. “I would like to recognise Golf New Zealand’s role in establishing and growing DotGolf since 1999. DotGolf has always had national federations at its heart and Golf New Zealand has

been pivotal in designing the platform around the needs of national federations. We thank them for their partnership in building something that has genuinely benefited the game.” Golf New Zealand chief executive Jeff Latch said: “We are enormously proud of the achievements of Dean Murphy, Matt Smith and the team at DotGolf for taking a Kiwi tech company successfully onto the world stage. We look forward, as a customer, to seeing DotGolf continuing to grow and through its products enabling federations like us to grow the game of golf.”

Great news for Pegasus — Wolfbrook’s fast track bid rejected By Neville Idour

he ongoing saga surrounding Wolfbrook Developments’ plans to turn Pegasus golf course in Canterbury into a concrete jungle has hit a brick wall. Infrastructure minister of parliament Chris Bishop has rejected Wolfbrook’s ridiculous request to fast track a 1,000 home development on the Pegasus course. It is hardly surprising this ugly monstrosity drew outrage from residents and people throughout New Zealand, as the ramifications from a go ahead could have had far reaching consequences for other communities in the country from fast-track approvals. Approval to bulldoze the golf course could have been

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a disaster for the area with a 1,500 house fast track development already approved opposite the golf course on the other side of state highway one, adjacent to the relatively new Ravenswood development. Taking that into account, plus the additional 1,000 homes at Pegasus with single road access, and the recipe for a chaotic disaster is a reality with access for emergency vehicles impeded and any evacuation on a single road too distressing to contemplate. Not to mention that pretty much all services are at capacity or stretched. Health and education are at capacity in Pegasus, plus water, drains and sewers. The Pegasus residents’ group, who have led the oppo-

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sition to Wolfbrook, is delighted with the decision and apparently there is no appeal process, meaning Wolfbrook would have to reapply at significant cost. The residents group is hoping Wolfbrook will now sit down with them and agree to a fair deal to allow them to place the course under the management of a proven golf course operator. It has been reported that Wolfbrook paid between $6-7million to buy Pegasus. The residents group is hoping it can settle on a fair price so Wolfbrook can move on and so can they. No doubt all involved, plus golf fans throughout New Zealand, are hoping for an outcome that sees Pegasus golf course restored to its former glory.

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New Zealand Open delivers record crowds, global reach and major regional impact

Wellington golfer Daniel Hillier, who won this year’s New Zealand Open, teeing off during the final round of the tournament at Millbrook Resort. Credit: Photosport.nz.

his year’s New Zealand Open delivered one of the tournament’s most successful editions to date, generating significant economic impact, record audience engagement and strong community outcomes across Queenstown and New Zealand. More than 32,000 fans attended the event, including the largest single-day crowd experienced in recent tournament history — a powerful reflection of the event’s growing popularity and reputation. As measured by independent research agency YouGov, the 105th New Zealand Open generated a total economic impact of $33.9 million of which $12.1m was from international visitors

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and the remaining from regional visitors. The Queenstown Lakes District region saw more than 40,000 bed nights across the tournament period, further reinforcing the event’s importance to regional tourism and hospitality. Tournament chairman John Hart said the results highlighted the continued evolution of the New Zealand Open into a truly world class sporting and entertainment event. “The New Zealand Open continues to grow in every sense — from the crowds at Millbrook, and the global broadcast audience, through to the economic and community impact we are able to deliver,” Hart said.

“To achieve these results says a great deal about the strength of the tournament and the support we continue to receive from fans, partners, volunteers and the wider community.” Hart said the tournament’s ongoing success was a reflection of the collaborative effort behind the event. “The New Zealand Open has become far more than a golf tournament. It is an event that delivers for tourism, business, community and New Zealand’s international profile, and we’re incredibly proud of what continues to be achieved together.” Daniel Hillier’s victory this year was a moment of genuine national pride, with the Wellington professional becoming the first

September 2026

Kiwi in nine years to lift the Brodie Breeze Trophy. Hillier’s win helped the tournament’s profile reach new heights in 2026 with domestic television audiences across Sky Sport and Sky Open increasing by 23 per cent, while the championship reached a measurable global audience of 4.6 million viewers across more than 100 countries and 38 international markets. Tourism and hospitality minister Louise Upston, who attended the New Zealand Open, is celebrating the success of the 2026 event, highlighting its positive impact on New Zealand’s economy and future tourism opportunities at a time when golf is enjoying a heightened international profile. “I’m thrilled to hear the New Zealand Open is continuing to deliver for New Zealand, providing a strong boost to the local economy while reaching millions of viewers around the world,” Upston said. “Every broadcast hour is an opportunity to showcase our spectacular landscapes, premium visitor experiences and world-class golf courses to potential visitors. The event continues to strengthen New Zealand’s reputation as a leading golf tourism destination and is proving to be a real drawcard on our major events calendar.” Digital engagement continued to surge, with the tournament generating 157 million global social media impressions and growing its social media following by 36 per cent across official channels. Off the course, the tournament continued to deliver meaningful outcomes for both the environment and local the community. More than 50,000

NEWS single-use bottles were eliminated during tournament week, while over 13 tonnes of waste was diverted from landfill through sustainability initiatives implemented across the event. The New Zealand Open charitable trust also made a positive impact, with more than $80,000 raised throughout the tournament and over $50,000 distributed back into local community initiatives. A key driver behind the tournament’s success remained its volunteer programme, with 551 volunteers from six different countries. The programme achieved a 71 per cent volunteer return rate from 2025. Hart also acknowledged the role of Millbrook Resort in helping deliver a world class tournament experience both on and off the course. “Millbrook Resort continues to be an extraordinary host for the New Zealand Open and an integral part of what makes this tournament so special,” said Hart. “The quality of the golf course presentation, the stunning backdrop of the resort and wider Queenstown region create a truly world class environment for players, fans and broadcast audiences alike. Millbrook has helped elevate the New Zealand Open into one of the most unique and recognisable tournaments in world golf.” The 106th New Zealand Open, presented by Millbrook Resort, will return to Queenstown from February 25–28 of next year. The tournament is expected to once again attract thousands of fans and visitors to the Queenstown region for one of the country’s premier sporting and entertainment events.

Dunedin’s links jewel GOLF NEWS

One of the glorious views from the Dunedin Golf Club. By Neville Idour

t’s not often one gets to play a “world first” golf course, let alone in Dunedin the ”Edinburgh of the South.” But that is what you can do when you play the Dunedin Golf Club at Chisholm Links, the southern most 18hole true links golf course in the world. The course was developed on reserve land during the depression years of the 1930s with the original name of Ocean Beach Links. Formerly known as Chisholm Park Golf Club until 2016, it was then rebranded as Chisholm Links. Subsequently in December, 2024, it was officially renamed as Dunedin Golf Club with Chisholm Links remaining the name of the golf course. As of early this year the Dunedin Golf Club name was to reflect the Scottish ties of Dunedin with her sister city of

Edinburgh in Scotland and also the fact that the course represents a true championship links layout test of golf. Www.golfrankings.co.nz has ranked the course No 1 in Dunedin and No 23 in New Zealand. It is top 10 per cent world ranked among true links golf courses. It may have had humble beginnings but leading New Zealand golf course architect, former tour professional Greg Turner says Chisholm Links is pretty special as it offers classic links golf on excellent land for golf. He says that “after Paraparaumu Beach, it’s the second best links course in New Zealand.” Of course overriding the experience is the stunning location. The scenic Dunedin beaches and peninsula are seen at their best as one is playing their shot on several of the elevated fairways. The undulating terrain and

coastal situation tend to offset the lack of length from all tees. However don’t be fooled as in a decent head wind you have to allow for a significant loss of length from the tee or for fairway shots with woods. The first hole sets the scene nicely from a raised tee block with the green after a dogleg right. So keeping the tee shot left of centre, if not a big hitter, is best. From here the mainly open and undulating terrain takes over. The higher reaches of the course traverse holes 8, 9, 10 and 11 and you will enjoy some of the most spectacular ocean views to be found on any golf course anywhere. The course is not long and from the championship black tees it is just 6071 metres. Blue tees are 5,628 metres, white 5,407 metres and yellow 5,013 metres. So on a nice calm day you can expect to be well rewarded for con-

sistently good golf on a course that is usually firm and fast and renowned for its coastal views, rolling fairways and true greens. The course has also hosted PGA events in the past and this writer can well remember playing in one of the pro-ams. Chisholm hosted three Australasian PGA Tour events in 2001, 2002 and 2004 along with a New Zealand Amateur Championship in 2003. The professionals spoke highly of the course, in particular enjoying the unique character of the layout. The club currently has 400 members and the annual fees for a course of this class are a snip. Full annual membership is $1,095 for 46 year olds and more. Just $795 for 31-45 year olds, $650 for 25-30 year-olds and a giveaway $480 for 18-24 year-olds. Under 18 juniors pay only $160. Green fees are also user friendly. Monday to Thursday is $45, Friday to Sunday $65 and a members guest $35. There are also 12 hole rates and carts are $50. There is a fully stocked golf shop and a modern clubhouse which is a great venue for functions, from weddings to corporate conferences. Finally, the definition of a links golf course: Where the land links the sea. Dunedin Golf Club at Chisholm Links certainly fits that perfectly. So if you ever have the opportunity, grab it. You won’t be disappointed.

The rolling fairways of the Dunedin Golf Club.

September 2026

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September 2026

Ten of the best long par threes in New Zealand

GOLF NEWS

here is nothing quite like the challenge of a long par three. It looks simple enough on the card: one shot from tee to green, no fairway to negotiate, no strategy beyond picking the right club and making a committed swing. But anyone who has stood on the tee of a stretched-out one-shot hole knows the truth. A long par three is golf in its purest and most unforgiving form. You are one swing away from triumph or disaster. You know the feeling. You are on a golf trip, a rescue or long iron in hand, the wind doing just enough to make you second-guess yourself. Somewhere behind you, a mate mutters that it is only a par three. Ahead, the

green sits waiting, usually guarded by sand, water, scrub, a steep drop-off, or all the above. Get it right and there will be high fives all round. Get it wrong and there is nothing quite as deafening as the silence as your ball disappears, never to be seen again. Here is a tour of 10 of the best long par threes around Aotearoa, from north to south, as rated by Golfer Pacific writer Peter Thornton.

1. Hole 7 – Kauri Cliffs (183 metres from the back tees)

At Kauri Cliffs, the seventh is the sort of hole that makes you reach for your phone before you reach for a club. Set high above the Pacific Ocean, it has all the drama you expect from one of New Zealand’s great coastal courses: ele-

The views don’t come much more spectacular than the par three seventh at Kauri Cliffs in Northland.

vation, ocean, wind and that nagging sense that the target is both generous and impossibly small. The view is spectacular, but it is also distracting, and that is part of the test. You know when you hit your tee shot here it is one you will remember for a long time. This is a long par three that asks you to focus when everything around you is trying to pull your attention elsewhere. The best shot here is a brave one, started on the right line and trusted all the way. It lays claim to being one of the best par threes in the country.

2. Hole 2 – South Head Golf Club (198 metres from the blue tees)

South Head has a rural charm that

makes it feel wonderfully removed from Auckland city, and the second hole gets your attention early. Long par threes near the start of a round are especially cruel because there is no chance to ease into things. You are barely warm, the swing is still settling, and suddenly you are asked to produce something solid. This hole rewards a clean strike from an elevated tee. It is the kind of early-round examination that can set the tone for the day: hit the green and you walk on with confidence; miss in the wrong place and you can easily be walking off with a double bogey. The green is a good target and it slopes from back to front meaning that when you hit the dance floor it is not gimme two-putt.

Looking back from the green of the par three second hole at South Head in Auckland.

September 2026

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A glorious view of the green at the par three 14th hole at Titirangi.

The par three 15th at Kinloch which measures a massive 224 metres from the blue tees.

3. Hole 14 – Titirangi Golf Club (185 metres from the black tees)

4. Hole 15 – The Kinloch Club, Taupō (224 metres from the blue tees)

Titirangi is a different proposition again. As the country’s only Alister MacKenzie design, it has a subtlety that can catch visitors by surprise. It is known as the “longer short course in Auckland” and one of the best features of Titirangi is that all four par fours are different tests that point to the four different parts of the compass. The 14th is not simply long for the sake of being long; it has that MacK-

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enzie knack of asking a player to think while also making the shot look inviting enough to attack. The green complex, the angles and the surrounding trouble all create doubt, especially if the pin is sitting in a place that tempts you to aim a little too directly. It is framed beautifully by bunkers and there is not an easy up and down anywhere around 14. The 14th follows the famous par five ‘Wrecker’ and it is a great stretch of holes in the heart of a brilliant back nine.

This must be the hardest par three in the country. Kinloch is not a place where you can fake your way around. Jack Nicklaus’ only signature design in New Zealand asks questions on nearly every shot, and the 15th is one of the sternest. By this point in the round, you have already been pulled across firm fairways,

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bold contours and greens that demand precision. Then comes a long par three that feels part mental test, part survival exercise. In the distance there is a stunning view of Lake Taupō and when the wind gets up it can play even harder. You are more than 200 metres away and anything down the left-hand side of the hole is dead. If you make par here it is worth celebrating with a beer in the clubhouse after. Most good players will still be happy with a four at 15.

GOLF NEWS The par three sixth at Cape Kidnappers which measures 206 metres from the blue tees and the Pacific Ocean dominating the views.

pressure. This hole captures that perfectly. It’s a great compliment to the par five 14th which must rate as one of the best par fives. Take a moment to enjoy the view on the 15th tee, it is a beauty.

6. Hole 6 – Cape Kidnappers (206 metres from the blue tees)

The elevated tee of the par three 15th at Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary.

5. Hole 15 – Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary (175 metres from the blue tees)

Just down the road, Wairakei offers a different kind of challenge. The original resort course in New Zealand is still so many people’s favourite and for good reason. There are great holes all over the layout and it is an

environment unlike anything else in the country. The 15th has that classic Wairakei feel: peaceful until it is your turn to play. From an elevated tee, the hole asks for commitment, especially if the flag is tucked or the breeze is swirling through the trees. Part of Wairakei’s charm is that it makes you feel relaxed while quietly applying

Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay has no shortage of world-famous holes, but the sixth stands out because it delivers so much of the cape experience in one swing. After working your way in land for the opening five holes, this is the first time playing on the cliffs with an endless view of the Pacific Ocean. The land, the exposure, the cliffs, the wind and the sheer theatre all combine to make the tee shot feel bigger than the number on the card. This is not a hole for half-commitment. You need to choose your club, pick a target and accept that the elements may have the final say. The setting is extraordinary, but the hole itself is more than a photograph. It is demanding, strategic and deeply memorable. A good shot here gives the sort of sat-

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isfaction that lasts well beyond the round, mainly because you know exactly how easily it could have gone the other way. If you hit a solid shot in here you can make a par that you will talk about for ages, but if you are left and short you are dead and right is guarded by bunkers and a tricky up and down. A great hole.

7. Hole 12 – Waitara Golf Club (179 metres from the men’s tees)

Waitara Golf Club is exactly the kind of place that reminds you why golf is so often at its best off the beaten track. Humble, unpretentious and great fun, it offers the sort of experience that makes a round feel like a discovery. At just $20, it is hard to think of better value anywhere, and it perfectly sums up what makes golf in Taranaki so rewarding. Waitara is a genuinely good links course, with its best stretch winding alongside the coast and opening up superb views of the Tasman Sea. The 283 metre par four 11th is a delight, but it is followed by the real standout: the par three 12th. Long enough on the card and even tougher into the wind, it

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The par three 12th at Waitara with Mount Taranaki in the background.

The beautiful setting of the par three ninth hole at Clearwater which measures 176 metres from the blue tees.

asks for a proper links-style shot into a green guarded by bunkers, with a grass bank waiting at the back. Par here is a very good score any day of the week. The short dog-leg 13th then keeps the interest high, with a two-tiered green and a steep drop-off at the front and left. Waitara is a thoroughly enjoyable stop and should be on any golf tour of Taranaki. You will still be talking about these holes over a pint after the round.

where the safe miss is before pulling the club. The optimistic player aims straight at the flag. Both can work, but only one tends to produce fewer double bogeys. Clearwater’s challenge is in making you commit when the penalty is sitting in plain sight.

10. Hole 12 – Invercargill Golf Club (173 metres from the blue tees)

8. Hole 9 – Clearwater Golf Club (176 metres from the blue tees)

Terrace Downs in Canterbury is golf with the volume turned up. The Southern Alps dominate the backdrop, the Rakaia Gorge gives the place a big country feel, and the course itself has a sense of scale that makes even a routine shot feel more significant. The 10th continues that theme. Coming straight after the turn, it asks you to reset quickly and produce a clean strike before the back nine has properly begun. The elevation, weather and visual drama can all make club selection tricky. It is the sort of hole where you might pull one club on a calm day and two more when the breeze gets up. That uncertainty is part of the appeal. Long par threes are rarely comfortable and this one at Terrace Downs tests your nerve early on the back nine.

Clearwater in Christchurch has famously hosted many tournaments of significance, like New Zealand men’s and women’s opens. Most of the time the best players made this hole look easy, it is not. The par three ninth is a different beast again: flatter, more open, but no less exacting. The course sits in a landscape where wind is often part of the conversation, and a long par three over or around water has a way of exposing any doubt in the swing. It is the classic closing hole to a front nine: a chance to walk to the turn with momentum, or a reminder that golf rarely gives anything away cheaply. The smart player knows

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9. Hole 10 – Terrace Downs (195 metres from the black tees)

It has been a long time since I was down at the Invercargill Golf Club, but my memories are of just a genuinely good golf course. It is not surprising that it has hosted many national tournaments over the years. Invercargill rounds out the journey with a reminder that great long par threes are not limited to the country’s most photographed courses. Down south, golf is often played in conditions that sharpen the senses. The 12th at Invercargill has the kind of straightforward honesty that good club golf does so well. It asks for length, flight control and a willingness to accept that par is always a good score. The hole may not come with cliff-top drama or resort-course theatre, but it has something just as valuable: a genuine test that members understand and visitors remember. This par three has a narrow entrance to the green. A greenside bunker to the left and a small pot bunker on the front right of the green are a challenge to the player to hit an accurate tee shot. On a still day it is demanding. On a windy day it can feel like a completely different hole. Either way, walking off with three feels like a

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small victory. That is the enduring appeal of the long par three. It strips golf back to its essentials: judgement, nerve and execution. There is no lay-up, no recovery plan tucked safely down the fairway, no chance to build the hole gradually. You stand on the tee with one shot to solve the problem in front of you. Around New Zealand, from Kauri Cliffs to Invercargill, these holes prove that length alone is not what makes a par three memorable. It is the setting, the timing, the weather, the danger and the story you tell about it afterwards. Anyone can remember a birdie. But the long par three you somehow parred with a flushed hybrid into the wind? That is the one that follows you all the way home. Of course, we can’t include every course and there are many which are worth a notable mention. The new eighth at Middlemore, the 12th at New Plymouth, the 14th at the Christchurch Golf Club, the second at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, hole No 3 at the Waipu Golf Club, the 16th at Royal Wellington, No 17 at the Hokitika Golf Club and the second at Lakeview Golf and Country Club near Rotorua are all fantastic long par threes that could have easily made this list.

Finding good value courses in Auckland GOLF NEWS The approach shot into the par four 10th at Waitakere. It is a 303 metre hole from the blue tees, and you hit your second shot into a green that drops in elevation. By Peter Thornton

n recent years, the Auckland golf landscape has changed. It used to be easy to find a course for a green fee of around $50 within an hour’s drive of the city. I lived in Wellington for three years and have come back to find that many of those courses are now charging around $70 or $80 or more for a round. It obviously pays to be a member of a club. Many people are doing it tough financially. We took a tour of some of the most affordable golf clubs in the wider region which proved to be a great day out. In no order, here are five of the best value Auckland clubs that should be on your list to play.

1. Waitakere Golf Club – West Auckland

It had been a few years since I’d played the Waitakere Golf Club so when

I got the call up to join some mates for a hit on a Sunday afternoon, I didn’t hesitate. Waitakere is an awesome course and without doubt one of the most unique in the greater Auckland region, if not New Zealand. It’s hard to find but it is a true hidden gem. Waitakere is nestled amongst native bush in the renowned Waitakere Ranges and is adjacent to the Cascades Kauri Park Reserve. It has shaped the games of some of our greatest players – most notably Frank Nobilo who won 14 times around the world. He grew up learning his craft at Waitakere. You realise you are playing somewhere different from your first tee shot. The hole called Elevation has you tee off to a steep drop off with the green around 50 metres below the tee box. When you hit your drive, your ball seems to hang in the air forever. The start at Waitakere is tough. The second is rated as the hardest hole on

The par three 11th at the Waitakere Golf Club is a quirky hole. It is only 105 metres from the blue tees but a large tree guards the green.

the course and then you are hit with two par fives that have an endless climb to the highest point on the course. You rarely find a flat lie around here, so the course is always asking you to adjust and think about your shot. It is also a great test of your golf fitness. The sixth is one of the signature holes at Waitakere. You tee off from an astroturf mat in the middle of the bush to a green which is slanted from front to back. My three favourite holes were the following. The par four ninth called Everest. It’s a short par four that has a sharp dogleg to the right. You are hitting straight up the hill to one of the smaller greens on the course. The par three 11th is a quirky little hole. It’s only 105 metres from the men’s tees but the green is guarded by a large tree in front. It is a narrow green so if you miss with your tee shot you are left with a tough up and down. The par four 16th called Roadway is

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a cool hole where you need to be accurate off the tee. Trees line the left hand side and there is a penalty area on the right of the fairway. The green is narrow and guarded by two large pine trees at the front left. The course is only 5140 metres long but that belies the challenge it presents. It is a great test from tee to green. We’ll be back to play here again because it’s great value. At $50 on a weekday and $55 for affiliates and $60 for non-affiliates on the weekends, it is well worth the trip to west Auckland. www.waitakeregolfclub.co.nz

2. Wellsford Golf Club – North Auckland

You never want to head away on a golf trip without any sort of idea of where you are going to hit the ball. The Wellsford Golf Club is a course I had driven past 100 times on state highway one but never stopped in to play so I was pretty keen to have a

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NEWS

The second hole at the Wellsford Golf and Squash Club measures 332 metres from the white tees.

The third hole at the Wellsford Golf and Squash Club is a 251 metres par four from the white tees. It finishes with a sloping, two-tiered green.

look. On a quiet Wednesday morning, a good mate and I decided to take a day’s leave and venture north to play the Wellsford Golf Club for the first time. Wellsford is approaching its centenary as a club. The club came into existence as the Fairview Golf Club in 1930, the first site being on the Fairview property opposite the present course. Subscriptions were ten shillings and six pence for ladies and one guinea for men. In 1935, the present site was purchased, and the club boasted a nine-hole golf course, which was later increased to 12 holes and finally 18. On our visit in squally rain and wind, it was a good test. Like many rural courses, you look at the scorecard and at 5,104 metres from the white tees and it seems gettable. But it has humbled many good players over the years. The layout opens with a par three – which is unusual. I can’t think of many other courses that open with a par three (Arrowtown Golf Club used to before they

doubt that the members would love to see visitors come here and struggle on their home track. We both agreed that we’ll be back. It was $50 for non-affiliates

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flipped the nines). You soon figure out what Wellsford is all about. Short holes – like two and three - that can play quite tight and they have tricky greens to negotiate. The third, for example, has two tiers that punish any balls that come up short. There are a couple of cool par threes at Nos 5 and 7 that measure 150 and 160 metres respectively. It feels like you are hitting through a chute to a narrow target. Early on the back nine the 180 metre par three 11th is called Wrecker and plays straight into the prevailing wind. The club’s signature hole is the par five 13th. The tee shot has a steep drop off and if you get hold of it, your ball will have serious hang time. It is a 470 metre hole and par there is a good score. Coming home there are a couple of cool holes at 16 – a 337 metre par four down the hill – and the dogleg left 18th that is short but turns the corner sharply. After you have played here, you will be better for the experience. There is no

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and $40 for affiliates. It’s easy to get to with the new motorway north and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable round. www.wellsfordgolf.co.nz

GOLF NEWS The par three second at South Head Golf Club. It measures 183 metres from the white tees and is one of the best long par threes in the greater Auckland region.

The par four 11th at the South Head Golf Club is an excellent hole. It is 314 metres from the white tees. You need to find a narrow fairway before landing your approach on an elevated green.

3. South Head Golf Club. Northwest Auckland

He recommends that first timers to South Head look at coming out midweek to enjoy more time on the course. “The secret is out, and we can get busy on the weekends. The layout and conditions of the course are exceptional. Combined with great value green fees to account for the travel - a day spent golfing at South Head is well worth the drive.” Craig is right. At $55 for all golfers for 18 holes, it is one of the best value clubs in the greater Auckland region. And it is a fantastic layout. The hardest hole on the course awaits at the par five eighth. A 443 metre hole from the white tees that often plays straight into the prevailing wind. The par four 11th is a beautiful hole. After your tee shot you are left with a seven iron to the elevated green. The par five 17th is a stunning hole that frames up beautifully from an elevated tee. At 376 metres, it is not a long par five and on our visit it’s playing downwind. The par four 18th is a great finishing hole. It’s only 289 metres from the whites but your second shot needs to be precise to a green that slopes from back to front. Over a steak and cheese pie and a

South Head is around an hour’s drive northwest of Auckland city. It’s a decent drive but it is worth every minute. The course is a great blend of quality and challenge, and it’s the perfect place for the feeling of getting away from it all. As we arrived at the course, the carpark was full on a Friday morning, and the sun was shining over the course. Playing here is walking in the footsteps of a legend. Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest to have ever played the game, has walked the fairways of this humble country course. Back in 2006 – 20 years ago this year – Woods famously visited the club to caddy for Steve Williams on the day of Steve and Kirsty’s wedding. According to folklore, Woods spent most of his time on the bag, but he did pull out his three wood to drive the green on a couple of the par fours, just for fun. That places South Head in an exclusive club in New Zealand, alongside the famed Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, as the only two clubs Woods has played in this country. And the history of his visit here is displayed on the clubhouse walls. Williams has been the club’s pa-

tron since 2008 and is proud to be affiliated with South Head. And you can see why. It is a great course with a friendly staff and membership which makes playing here a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Much of the course has not been touched from the original design of the layout by Jack Eccles in 1969-70. One of the best holes arrives early in the round. The second is a 183 metre par three from the white tees that on our day is playing straight into the teeth of the wind and is a good challenge. It must be one of the best long par threes in the Auckland golf scene. There is another great hole two holes later – at the par three fourth. I hit a five iron to around 20 feet and made the downhill right-to-left putt for birdie. As I am walking down the fifth, I remember the advice we were offered ahead of the round. “The course is most challenging over the first 11 holes that loop out and back to the clubhouse,” says Craig Mowat, the executive officer at South Head. “Enjoy the struggle in the knowledge that the final seven holes will reward you with spectacular views and more opportunities to salvage a good score.”

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pint of the local, Liberty Juice Bro Hazy Pale Ale, we reflected on the highs and lows of a memorable day out. www.southheadgolf.co.nz

A framed photo of Tiger Woods and his former New Zealand caddie Steve Williams which is proudly on display at South Head Golf Club.

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The beautiful setting of the par four 13th at Clarks Beach Golf Club. It measures 335 metres from the blue tees and is a good test early on the back nine.

A beautiful sight. The Clarks Beach Golf Club is a hidden gem. It is located on the surrounding Manukau Harbour and is a good test.

4. Clarks Beach Golf Club. Southwest Auckland

The course opens with a straight forward par five. The first time I played here I hit driver and eight iron and then made the putt for eagle. There is also a short par five at the fourth so if you play well, you can get off to a fast start. There are a couple of cool holes heading into the turn where there is water in play around the green and the front nine finishes with a great par three. It is only 144 metres from the white tees but with out of bounds all down the left hand side, it gets your attention. The par three 12th is one of the signature holes at Clarks Beach. It’s frames up beautifully with the ocean as a backdrop and the small green is surrounded by bunkers. Coming home there are two par fives where, if you get a good drive away, then they are a good birdie chance. Clarks Beach is a course that is in good condition and it’s a fun challenge for players of all abilities. It is $58 for affiliated golfers, $68 for non-affiliated and there is a special on Thursday where it is only $30. Pack up the car and take the drive southwest, it will be a great time with your mates. www.clarksbeachgolfclub.co.nz

Situated on the shores of the Manukau Harbour, Clarks Beach Golf Club is a great day out and a decent challenge. It is around an hour’s drive from Auckland City, but when you get there you feel like you are in a different land and quiet part of the city. The course is always in good condition, and the locals are welcoming. It is a busy and bustling club on the weekends and there is always something going on. Clarks Beach is one of the younger clubs in the greater Auckland region. In 1983, the seeds of Clarks Beach Golf Club were planted at a public meeting held in the pavilion of the Waiau Pa Bowling Club. The meeting, chaired by Mr K Hosking, drew 40 enthusiastic locals who shared a common dream: to establish a golf course that would serve not only as a sporting venue but also as a vibrant community hub. Forty three years on that dream has become a reality. The club plays an important role in the local community. The course is a good challenge for club golfers and a great chance to post a good number for the better players.

5. Onewhero Golf Club. South Auckland

Just over an hour from Auckland city is the Onewhero Golf Club. It’s a tree-lined and undulating layout that is a lot of fun and a good challenge. If you go off-line, you will find yourself hitting out of the trees all day and scram-

bling. There are also a host of tight doglegs, water hazards and lateral hazards to make things interesting. There are nine greens that have bunkers guarding them and they can get the greens up to a good speed. It’s in good nick. You quickly realise that Onewhero challenges every part of your game. The course opens with a good test – a 331 metre par four that dog legs slightly to the left and the fairway narrows for the bigger hitters. There is a gulley short of the green and you need to be precise with your second shot. There are several short par fours – like six or eight – that are challenging with the shape of the holes. The front nine finishes with a par three before you enjoy the signature stretch. The 12th is a beast of a par five, the 13th is a 140 metre par three and the 14th is another tricky par three. All three holes have a water hazard to carry or just short of the green. The course finishes with a long straight par five to ensure you get that feeling of earning your beer in the clubhouse. Like Clarks Beach – around 45 minutes away – Onewhero plays an important role as a hub for the local community. The locals are friendly and love seeing new players take on their home track and hanging around for a beer afterwards. The course is $60 for non-affiliated players and $50 for affiliates. If you are a guest of a member, it is $35 and there is a $40 special on Fridays (not including public holidays).

A glorious shot of the Onewhero Golf Club.

The Onewhero Golf Club lies in a rural setting just south of Pukekawa. The mature 18 hole course is a tree-lined layout that is well maintained.

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Andrew Dewhurst is a former radio sports broadcaster, a former general manager of the Huapai Golf Club in Auckland and is currently team manager for the New Zealand Breakers basketball team. He and his wife Karen and Wellington couple Craig and Carolyn Murphy embarked on a six-week golf trip to the United Kingdom this year. Andrew recounts the trip which was not all about golf.

GOLF NEWS

A six-week golf trip to the United Kingdom and all that came with it T

From left to right Andrew and Karen Dewhurst and Carolyn and Craig Murphy.

wo couples, six weeks, 4,665km of driving, 15 locations, and 10 rounds of golf – including a bucket list course. I still can’t believe we made it happen, but we did, and both couples are still together and on good terms. This was long in the planning but created memories that will last a lifetime. A warning, this is not a story reviewing golf courses and nothing more. I have included amazing villages, cities and regions to enjoy, as well as wonderful places to eat and drink. I will also highlight lessons learned along the way, things that may help in your own planning - the first of which are: * Take your time in planning – research early, we planned for two years. * Talk to locals – Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or emails and letters to clubs. * Canvass your own club membership for existing contacts. Our travelling party was me and my

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wife Karen (Auckland based) and Craig and Carolyn Murphy (Paraparaumu based). Craig and I are members at Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club, and I am also a member at Huapai Golf Club in Auckland. Craig and Karen are siblings; we have holidayed together for years. Craig and I love golf while the girls enjoy nine holes, so it made sense to combine golf with an interest in travelling the United Kingdom. We agreed, however, that golf was part of the trip, not the sole purpose – well, maybe it is more accurate to say Craig and I did what we were told and reduced our golfing expectations. We settled on a balance of time on course versus being out and out tourists. First stop London. Craig and Carolyn had not been back to London for over 25 years, so we agreed no golf – it was family time for us catching up with our daughter Grace, West End shows, meals out and seeing the sights.

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From left to right are Andrew Dewhurst, Liz and Robin Coupland and Craig Murphy in Archerfield on the Golf Coast — a true tour highlight.

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GOLF NEWS 20

On the first tee at St Andrews. Andrew Drehurst (left) with playing partners James, Chris and Chuck.

St Andrews Swilcan Bridge.

* Don’t overdo the golf. Enjoy the journey and keep yourself physically and mentally fresh for golf. * Visit Decimo restaurant for a great atmosphere, stunning Mexican fusion menu, and great London skyline

in Europe and provided us with a great deal in a Volvo XC90 – a car large enough to take four of us, our baggage, and two sets of golf clubs. * Don’t compromise on the rental vehicle – you will want comfort, get

views. www.decimo.london After a week in London, we hired a seven-seater from SIXT car rentals and began the road trip. SIXT were fantastic, they have a growing presence in New Zealand, and they are everywhere

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something big and comfortable, with built in Google maps to navigate the United Kingdom. We started our anticlockwise journey around the UK, up the M1 motorway to York. A fantastic medieval Viking

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NEWS city, York was a great first stop to soak up some history and architecture. Two nights allowed time to take in a guided walking tour of York and enjoy a meal out. Next up, four nights in Edinburgh via Hadrians Wall. We visited the incredible Housesteads Roman Fort to see the Wall – it was fantastic and worth the 15-minute walk up to the ruins. Edinburgh was much anticipated (Karen and I had never been) and served as the base for golf in three stunning locations – the aptly named Golf Coast between Edinburgh and North Berwick, Edinburgh itself, and golf’s holy grail – the Kingdom of Fife. Earlier research set up our first golf at Archerfield, a 45-minute drive from our hotel and 10 minutes from North Berwick. Craig had contacted Robin Coupland through a fellow member at Paraparaumu Beach. Long before we left home, we had our first tee time booked with Robin on the Fidra course. Robin and his wife Liz spend their northern winters in New Zealand, he is the author of several books, including the superb fishing tome Dry Flies and Wet Socks – Fishing for wild brown trout in Scotland and New Zealand. Robin was a wonderful host, and we returned the next day to play Archerfield’s pure links

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Dirleton course. The hospitality and quality at Archerfield set a high bar early on the trip, with the club extending a warm welcome from the moment we arrived. I highly recommend Archerfield, in the heart of the Golf Coast. Be open minded where you play, don’t ignore the more affordable club courses. Play with locals – you will enjoy the round and the banter so much more. www.archerfieldgolfclub.com Two days ahead of Edinburgh, we entered the ballot for The Old Course at St Andrews. The days of turning up at 4am and waiting in your car are long gone, replaced by an online 48-hour ballot, with early notification to enable you to make plans. With seven cracks at the ballot (four nights in Edinburgh and three in Crail), surely we would be successful in ticking off a bucket list course? More on that later. Edinburgh was stunning, highlights being Edinburgh Castle, a tour of the preserved underground 17th century street Mary King’s Close, lunch with family connections at Chez Jules and a sumptuous dinner at The Palmerston – the menu changes daily to reflect the locally sourced fresh seasonal produce (www. thepalmerstonedinburgh.co.uk).

Next stop was Crail, in the heart of golfing Kingdom of Fife. Along with our continued entries in the ballot for The Old Course (four down without success), we were hosted by Keir from The Links Trust in the Tom Morris Bar and Grill and enjoyed a round on The New Course. St Andrews for the first time was a shock, it was amazing to turn the corner and see a location seen so many times on television, but I couldn’t believe how busy it was. The first and 18th holes on The Old Course were dotted with people playing, caddying, watching or just walking (there was a long queue at the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th awaiting photos between golfers). Next to the Tom Morris Bar and Grill you find the busiest of all courses, the Himalaya’s – literally a giant undulating putting green with two 18-hole courses – for £4 anyone in the family can get a putter and ball and play on the hallowed turf. Keir was a superb host, although he could not wish away the gale force winds that led to one of the most difficult rounds Craig or I had played. We were struggling to stand at times, let alone swing. Welcome to Scottish links golf. Having missed the ballot every day to this point, we thought we had missed

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out on The Old Course. However, Keir convinced us to try the 24-hour individual ballot. You must be on site, enter the draw, and hope for a call-up the following day. The downside was not playing together, but we realised we may only be here once and put our hats in the ring. That evening I was 28 and Craig 33 on the list, our hearts sank – surely no chance? Next morning, I woke early and checked online – I had jumped to 14 in the first hour. Shower and shave and I was up to 11. My heart sped up a little and I rang the club. Eddie in the starters’ hut said not to panic, but to make my way to the club in the next hour and that, yes, it was likely we (Craig was also moving up the list) would get on mid-morning. We grabbed a cuppa, packed our gear and Karen drove us the 20 minutes from Crail. On arrival I was eighth and, in an hour, I was next in line. At that point the queue stopped moving – for another three hours! Bacon baps helped pass the time and Eddie was amazing, keeping us up to date, understanding what it meant to us. Finally, my name was called, I will do my best to describe the experience. It was all I hoped for and more, from the nervous first tee shot in front of a

GOLF NEWS An hour at The Jar warmed our spirits.

watching gallery (a pull to the left of the Swilcan bridge on the 18th), to the final par putt through teary eyes on 18 (must have been my hay fever playing up), playing The Old Course was just magical. It wasn’t the score (I shot 81 with seven three-putts playing off an eight handicap). It was surreal, a golfing Disneyland, with every tee box hinting at another amazing ride. Pinch me moments were everywhere as I recognised tee shots, fairways, bunkers and greens. I birdied 16, drove two of the short par fours (both three-putted), got up and down from the Bobby Jones bunker on 11, smashed a perfect (blind) tee shot over the hotel corner on 17 and finished with a textbook par on 18 in front of another gaggle of onlookers. If golf means anything to you, if the history of the game and where it all began occupies any part of your heart, my advice is do all you can to tee it up on The Old Course. The £355 (NZ800) green fee never once entered our minds; it was worth every penny. Craig’s experience was equal-

ly wondrous, he loved every minute alongside his American playing partners and caddies, shooting an impressive 76 along the way. Budget for a couple of bucket list courses. You will not regret it, choose your favourites and fork out the (big) bucks to enjoy a couple of them on tour. After four games in five days and The Old Course experience, we put golf on the backburner as we drove from Crail through the Highlands to the Isle of Skye. There were numerous great courses along the way, notably the Boat of Garten, but we turned our attention to the incredible countryside, a stunning drive alongside Loch Ness (no sign of Nessie), and regular stops for coffee, pastries, and exploring the many villages along the way. Skye was wonderful, a great antidote to the crowds of London and Edinburgh, a beautiful seaside cottage in Harrapool and wildlife on a puffin boat tour of the smaller islands. I absolutely recommend a few days at Skye to slow down and breathe – there is an interesting coastal golf course on Skye but time precluded us from teeing it up.

Slow down and enjoy the scenery – Skye was amazing, as was the stunning Seabird Cottage at Harrapool. From Skye we headed back through stunning Highland scenery towards Glasgow, which was a bit ho-hum. We did enjoy the superb Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum but in hindsight we should have stayed two nights in Lanark, 45 minutes south of the city. Our only bed and breakfast experience on the trip, The Station House and cooked breakfast was memorable, as was the UNESCO World Heritage classified Old Mill in New Lanark. We did enjoy the nine-hole Wee Course at Lanark, one of the oldest inland golf clubs in the world. The girls played too on a mix of par threes and a couple of short par fours. We then drove an hour to Ayrshire, another hotbed of Scottish coastal links. Our destination was Royal Troon and the Portland Course. Golf aside, Troon was a bit of a letdown. The town was worn out and tired, our accommodation needed some tender loving care (do not book The Penthouse Kingsley Collection on Booking.com!) and our experience at Royal Troon was not great. We were treated a little like second-class golfers - maybe because we were not on the championship course? Wrong score cards were handed out, pre-booked engraved tags were not done, and we were waved in the general direction of the first tee. The girls were made to feel unwelcome in the clubhouse as we finished our round, it was our one and only experience of anything like golf snobbery. The course, however, was superb, with local caddie Daniel excellent company, and Craig chipped in for eagle on 18 to cap another good round. Troon was saved by an afternoon whiskey tasting at The Jar on the high street. Patrick from Lochlea Brewery and manager David regaled us with great stories and tasting of the Lochlea range – a bottle of which made it back home to New Zealand for my dad. Immerse yourself in local experiences. We are not whiskey drinkers, but

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when in Scotland … . We were royally treated – and luckily able to walk back to our accommodation www.thejartroon.com Sadly, it was time to leave Scotland and head further south and a spell of driving the Volvo rather than the golf ball. There were highlights nonetheless as we toured some incredibly beautiful parts of the UK, including: * The Lake District – we enjoyed two nights in stunning boutique hotel at Lake Windemere. The scenery was amazing, and the area is dotted with beautiful villages and great restaurants and pubs. * Chester – a hidden gem. What a great stop on our way to Wales. A medieval town with an intact city wall that you can walk, historic architecture, great pubs and nice retail precinct. From Chester we journeyed into Wales for three nights at Johnston Cottages near Haverfordwest. With multiple cottages to choose from and an indoor pool, it was the perfect base to do some exploring and get the clubs out again. Following a post on online social network LinkedIn, Hedd Adams-Lewis kindly offered to host Craig and I at Cardigan Golf Club. And it was stunning – incredible views from high on the peninsula overlooking the bay, an interesting layout (made more challenging by the strong winds buffeting the course), lovely greens, and wonderful hospitality from Hedd and the club. A little like Archerfield, this was amongst our highlights on tour and underlined the value in playing with a local, we hope we can return the favour to Hedd when he finds time to get to New Zealand in future. The following day dawned beautifully so we checked online for courses close to Johnston Cottages and found an online £36 green fee at Haverfordwest. After a morning exploring the local town and markets, Craig and I enjoyed an interesting parkland course, made all the better by joining up with a couple of local fellas for the back 9.

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Cardigan Bay was stunning with views that went for miles.

It was again time to put the clubs away for a few days as we headed inland from Wales and two nights at Cirenchester in the beautiful Cotswolds. You feel like you are on the cover of a biscuit tin or in

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a holiday jigsaw – we visited Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the Water, and Craig and Carolyn caught up with old friends at Jeremy Clarkson’s pub (sadly The Farm was closed on a Monday).

We then hit the road to Cornwall via a stop at Bath. While only for a few hours, Bath is well worth the visit – a little like York and Chester, Bath has plenty to see, a great retail district, great architecture and plenty of history. Cornwall was much anticipated however, for the beautiful coastal towns, beaches and the chance to play Trevose Country Club. Matt Hampel is a friend from his time spent in New Zealand. The former charity Indian Ocean rower is these days back in Cornwall and invited us to enjoy the coastal links of Trevose and his restaurant, The Atlantic Kitchen in St Merryn – I am not sure what was more stunning, the golf course or the burgers. A members’ course with a warm welcome for visitors, Trevose stretches out down the hillside from the clubhouse to the coast, not far from the village of Padstow (famous as the home of Rick Stein). A beautiful links layout with great views and undulating greens – it was a delightful test for Craig and I, one we thoroughly recommend. So too was The Atlantic Kitchen. I enjoy a lot of burgers so consider myself something of an expert, but I was not alone in the view that the burgers, sides, and chef made sauces and condiments were amongst the best we had tasted. It simply must be on your itinerary if you

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are in that part of the world. Trevose Country Club was beautiful, welcoming and a great challenge. While there you must visit the town of Padstow (get there early before the crowds) and sample the burgers or roast chicken at Atlantic Kitchen in St Merryn– your taste buds will not regret it. Sadly, that brought an end to our golf on tour – or did it? After four weeks on the road, our final destination was Southampton and a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. Time to slow down, relax, and catch our breath before flying home. But a quick Google discovered a lovely course at our first port of Stavanger. We had our clubs, we had time, and when would we next get the chance to play golf in Norway? A quick email enquiry led to a 9am tee time in perfect conditions – blue skies and 20 degrees. We jumped ship, caught a 15-minute uber and teed it up with a couple of locals, sharing plenty of stories and connections between New Zealand and Norway. What better way to end the trip of a lifetime – although we are already planning the next one! Think outside the square with golf – be open to playing unusual, unique, different courses. Golf is not just about the game.

It seemed like a good idea at the time … GOLF NEWS 24

By Peter Thornton

olf has a ruthless way of finding you out. It does not matter who you are playing with, what job title you have or how confident you feel walking to the first tee. Sooner or later, the game taps you on the shoulder and reminds you exactly where you sit in the natural order. For me, that moment arrived at Owaka Golf Club, the mainland’s southernmost golf club, on a ninehole country layout tucked deep in the Catlins. I was working as communications and media manager for Golf New Zealand, spending much of my professional life around elite players, major tournaments and championship courses. We had travelled south with former New Zealand Open champion David Smail as part of a golf promotion. David was the star attraction: a world-class player with a swing that made the game look ridiculously simple. I was an 18 handicapper with a dangerous tendency to believe the next round might be the one where it all came together. The night before, we did what you tend to do in small-town New Zealand: we went to the local pub. The hospitality was outstanding, the stories were better, and the jugs of Speight’s arrived with the sort of regularity that makes good decisions increasingly unlikely. I had put my name down to play the next day and thought I might sneak quietly into the field, have a hit, enjoy the occasion, and perhaps ask David for a tip or two as we wandered around a friendly country course. Then came the news that changed everything. I was in the feature group, with David Smail, in front of what felt like the whole township. There was a real sense of occasion. A professional golfer of David’s calibre does not roll into town every day, and the locals quite rightly wanted to see how he handled their patch. They were also about to see how I handled it. Spoiler alert: not particularly well. Owaka was golf in its purest form. Club president Murray Hewitson gave the sort of welcome you only get at a small club where everyone pitches in. The most important pieces of equipment, he said, were

David Smail. Photo credit: Golf New Zealand.

a beanie and a towel to wipe the mud off your ball. There was no full-time greenkeeper. Volunteers did the work. Sheep helped keep the grass down in summer. The annual subscription was less than some city clubs charge for one round. It was humble, honest, and completely brilliant. The course had character in spades: blind tee shots, hidden hazards, slow and lumpy greens, and one bunker on the entire property. But while David was plotting his way around with the calm of a man who had seen every type of golf course in the world, I was trying to remember how to breathe. Phillip Leishman’s television golf show was also there to capture every moment, so it was a very different feeling playing golf in the spotlight. I still remember that first tee shot with a grimace. The hole layout moved right to left on a short par four. Any of my mates will tell you I don’t hit the ball right to left; everything goes the other way. So I stood there with a rescue club in hand, trying to look calm.

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Locals surrounded the tee box and lined the fairway. I was a bit dusty, it was a fresh south Otago morning, and I hit my tee shot about 50 metres. It was a sign of things to come. The crowd rode every high and low, clapping David’s impressive approaches into the small greens and groaning audibly whenever I duffed a chip. At one point, an older lady tried to offer comfort. “Don’t worry about it dear, lunch is coming up soon,” she said, gently pointing me towards the club’s famous cheese scones. My golf that day was a mixture of hope, panic and apology. I sprayed shots into places I had no business visiting and discovered parts of Owaka that were probably not included on the course map. The second hole summed up my day. It was a blind par three where you could only see the top of the flag. David worked it out quickly. I stepped up, swung with purpose, and sent my ball into the unknown. It was never seen again. That is the wonderful cruelty of golf. You can spend your working life writing about the game, talking to the best players in the country, and standing inside the ropes at national opens, then be reduced to a nervous wreck by a 120-metre shot over a rise in south Otago. I did have a couple of moments to redeem myself. I made two birdies on the back nine — the nine holes were played twice — and they may have drawn the biggest roars of the day. Perhaps the locals were just as surprised as I was. From memory, David signed for a two-over-par 72, which said plenty about Owaka’s quirky greens and hidden traps. The course record remained intact. For the club, the score was irrelevant. What mattered was that a player of his standing had come to their place, respected it, and enjoyed the experience. For me, it was a reminder of why golf in New Zealand is so special. It is not just about marquee courses, manicured fairways, or names on leaderboards. It is about clubs like Owaka, kept alive by volunteers, sustained by community pride, and filled with people who love the game enough to give their time to it. And yes, the cheese scones were special. I will never forget that day because golf took me somewhere unexpected, put me beside a champion, gathered a township around the first tee, and quietly reminded me not to take myself too seriously.

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Slow play disease slammed — time to eliminate it By Neville Idour

h no. Not again? Yes, because the professional game is setting such a poor example with the pace of play, particularly on the PGA Tour where it has reached ridiculous limits at times. When three of the game’s more influential players come out with scathing assessments of the insidious disease of slow play it is time to listen and take a close look at the whole issue. Slow play has been a big problem on the PGA Tour causing rounds to stretch into unbearably long marathons at times. Even at the recent Open Championship in England it took Scottie Scheffler’s group and Cameron Smith’s group around 5-1/2 hours to complete their first round. Ouch. While many players will blame large fields and tough course conditions, nothing could be further from the truth as winner Ryan Fox, Sam Burns and senior statesman Colin Montgomerie will categorically prove otherwise. Let Montgomerie have the first bite at the cherry. He said: “When Lee Trevino won the 1971 Open Championship he completed his rounds in under four hours, playing in three balls. Christ almighty, last night it was five hours 40 minutes. TV hates it. Spectators hate it. Too long chats between caddy and player. It goes on forever. The book comes out. How many times do they get the bloody book out. Once the ball is placed on the green it should not be marked again to get the line. Then there is aimpoint. Don’t talk to me about that. Oh god, it does my head in, the slow play.” Montgomerie is spot on with all the things caddie and player get involved with on the greens as well as on the fairway. The R&A has a pace of play policy that includes warnings, fines and penalty shots but Montgomerie doesn’t see players facing any of them. “They say there’s a deterrent for slow play. Was anybody penalised yesterday? No. Something’s got to be done because it’s too slow. Far too slow. That’s the bee

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in my bonnet.” Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton also complained about the slow play, as did Sam Burns who actually joined the PGA Tour’s pace of play committee because he wanted to effect real change that would have long lasting benefits and improve the fans experience. Sadly just a few months in the role and Burns was frustrated. Then he was punished for mistakes that weren’t his, so he walked away from the committee, explaining in pointed terms that the pace of play policy was pointless and flawed. Burns said: “When slow guys play with me it’s like this is great because I can be slower and he can make up for it. Then a rules official would put our group on the clock and I would say no, don’t lump me in to this.” Burns then joined the speed of play working group which the PGA Tour formed in April, 2025, to curb slow play and reward the pros actually playing quicker. But a year later hardly any of that has happened. Officials still put the entire group on the clock instead of isolating whoever was slow. Burns was tired of absorbing blame that wasn’t his, so he left the committee, but explained his solution which the committee refused to implement. So how do you ensure that the slow player gets punished and not the quick player in the same group? Many players have expressed their frustration, but Burns’ solution is simple. “Don’t put the group on the clock. Put the slow player on the clock.” Kevin Kisner, now an NBC broadcaster agrees. So what does Burns do while he waits on a slow poke. “Just tell my caddie I can’t believe this guy is slow. This sucks. What’s he doing? He’s been standing there for two minutes. Just hit a club. I don’t care. Hurry up.” Ironically Burns and Fox were paired in the final round of The Open at Birkdale and the commentators jokingly crowned Fox as the unofficial czar of slow play with Burns as his vice president. Matt Fitzpatrick also piled in calling

the pace of play pathetic and every year nothing changes. Brooks Koepka said: “I would start stroking guys.” Ryan Fox, not surprisingly, hits the nail on the head when he assesses the problem. “My biggest pet peeve and I think a lot of guys on tour would say the same thing, especially those that are fast, which is just not being ready,’’ Fox said. “There is too much of it on tour and that annoys the hell out of me.” Fox took just 22 seconds to nail the testing winning putt at The Open. “It’s someone’s turn to go and they haven’t even talked to their caddie about what they are going to do. Or they haven’t even had a look at the putt when they could while others are putting. Then they do their whole routine, taking two minutes to do the whole thing.” Who can forget Tiger Woods never starting his routine of assessing his putts until it was his turn and always taking maximum time to finally putt. Players have ample time to prepare before their turn but most don’t seem to do so. Fox added: “Unless you’re in someone’s way, mostly you can do your work when someone else is doing theirs, then be ready when it is your turn.” Fox sets the pace.

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NEWS

“Forty seconds over the ball is fine. A minute to get ready then another 40 seconds (think Patrick Cantlay)? That’s the problem. Deliberation takes way more time than necessary.” When Fox played with his father in corporate events he was always mindful of not holding up his playing partners. He is so quick that Scheffler, playing in the same group, joked that Fox was not part of his group, basically admitting he himself is not more than average, if that. Fox: “It’s not that difficult to pick a club and shot. Usually a couple of clubs to choose from into the green. I see and pick the shot quickly, and the less time I have to think about it the less time there is for bad things to creep in.” Jon Rahm, who was particularly impressed with Fox, believes his performance shows other golfers that playing quickly is possible without hurting performance. It is certainly time for real action to occur regarding slow play. Players such as Cantlay, who almost can’t play, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark and amongst the women Carlotta Ciganda are often cited for their deliberate slow play. Of course there are others, but the point is, unless the respective tours do not enforce the rules and penalise the serial offenders nothing will change.

World news in brief By Neville Idour

GOLF NEWS

Lexi Thompson expecting first child

Great news for Lexi Thompson and husband Max Provost in announcing Lexi’s pregnancy. They are expecting a baby girl in February. Thompson wrote on Instagram: ”The greatest blessing of our lives is on the way. This little miracle has already filled our hearts with more love than we ever imagined, and we can’t wait to meet you. “The best chapter of our lives is just beginning and we are so blessed and grateful. Baby girl, we already love you more than you will ever know.”

Faldo says get rid of tees

Six-time major championship winner Nick Faldo says getting rid of tees would identify who the best drivers of the golf ball are today. The driver has become very easy to hit. In Faldo’s day there were only a few players who had the skill and power to have an advantage over the rest.

Now everyone can be long and straight. Back then the size of the driver head, which was much smaller, was the difference and going back further driver heads were made from wood. Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman were two exceptional drivers of the golf ball. Wooden tees {pegs) started being used widely roughly 100 years ago, before which golfers created their own teeing grounds of sand and dirt. I well remember watching the incomparable Laura Davies at Pegasus during the New Zealand Open many years ago hitting her driver edge into the turf twice to create an elevated tee. It was quick and effective.

LIV Golf’s future resting on deal

LIV Golf is reportedly close to securing $US250-300 million in fresh investment for 2027 and beyond. Multiple blue chip investment firms have submitted written commitments as part of a proposed financing syndicate dubbed LIV 2.0. A deal is expected to be finalised early this month. The pro-

posed new structure would also see LIV players become majority owners of the league. Many fans will be hoping for the success of LIV 2.0 as fan attendances have been huge with record turnouts in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and Asia. Sellouts have been common. No doubt the PGA Tour boffins will be grinding their teeth hoping LIV Golf fails, so they can get back to complete dominance of world golf.

What’s wrong with birdie fests?

Absolutely nothing, as long as it isn’t every event. There is nothing like variety. A six under par one week, 15 under and then 25 under par other weeks. Brutal rough gauging each week would become tiresome, especially for the players. On the other hand a driver smash fest would also lose its’ appeal each week. Par can become irrelevant depending on the course and the quality of play. We want to see players chal-

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lenged fairly so that whoever plays the least and best consistent golf wins. Is there anything wrong with that?

The five most hated professionals

I don’t like the word hate so maybe we should think disliked. As rated by one news source from a fan survey here they are. 1. Rory McIlroy. Shock horror! Why? Because he is also one of the most loved if that makes any sense. However he has something of a polarising image in the United States. It probably stems back to the 2025 Ryder Cup when fans heckled the Europeans from the start. McIlroy responded to some fans, then after the event criticised fan behaviour and blamed management and Keegan Bradley for it. He was probably spot on. Outside the US, McIlroy is one of the most popular and loved players which says a lot. 2. Wyndham Clark. At the 2025 US Open at Oakmont, Clark missed the cut and damaged two lockers in frustration. The club banned him and fined

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NEWS him and he also required anger management sessions plus he made a charitable donation. He agreed, apologised and the ban was lifted. But the fans weren’t so forgiving. 3. Patrick Cantlay. Surprise, surprise? Not really. Actually thought he would be higher on the list. This goes back to before the 2023 Ryder Cup when he stupidly refused to wear a United States team cap as a protest against the players not getting paid to represent their country. Tells you plenty about him. No wonder they lost. He should have been left on the sidelines. 4. Matt Kuchar. His infamous caddie pay furore has cemented his reputation. At the 2018 Mayakoba Classic he hired a local caddie David Ortiz after his regular caddie couldn’t attend. Kuchar won and earned $US1.296 million, but paid Ortiz a miserable pittance of $US5,000 instead of the standard 10 per cent of $US129,600. Eventually Kuchar apologised and paid Ortiz the $US50,000 he requested, still pretty parsimonious. He also pledged a donation to Mayakoba Classic charities. It could have all been avoided if he had just paid the 10 per cent. Deservedly his nice guy image was tainted from the first payment. 5. Billy Horschel. This is a surprise be-

cause he doesn’t come with any controversies to his name. His biggest faux pax was slamming Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson, all major champions, for joining LIV Golf. He said they went for the money, putting a few noses out of joint.

Korda’s outfit criticised

Nelly Korda was in superb form with her convincing win at the first women’s major championship, the Chevron Championship. Unfortunately much of the talk centered on her racy sleeveless Nike top. Some women were hung up claiming her outfit looked more like gym wear than golf wear, highlighting a persistent problem of women knocking other women down. Back in the 1980s when there was no dress code on the LPGA Tour, outfits were daring and fashionable with short shorts and collarless shirts, items that would be taboo at many golf clubs today. How could so many find Korda’s top so outrageous? She is athletic and slender and looks terrific in her Nike gear. Are we still hung up on dress codes? Why weren’t the knockers celebrating her spectacular golf which regained her the world number one spot rather than

dragging her down for showing some skin. Maybe there is some jealousy there.

Lucas Herbert could return to the PGA Tour

Following his record breaking victory at LIV Golf UK, Lucas Herbert hinted he could return to the PGA Tour if LIV Golf folds. He said: “You need somewhere to play as a professional golfer. So we are just doing due diligence and conversations have been held without me being privy to them. I don’t know the results. My preference would be to still be playing out here if that was still an option.” Ripper Golf Club captain Cameron Smith has said that while LIV’s future is “up in the air” he hasn’t looked at plying his trade anywhere else.

Sir Bob Charles 90 years young

It is 63 years since Bob Charles won that memorable and historic Open Championship and he has reflected on the difference between then and now. “I can relate to the game as we played it 50 to 60 years ago,” Charles said. “But today players are hitting the ball 350 yards from the tee. With the equipment they are using today the golf courses should be at least 1,000 yards longer.” He feels the technological advancements have gone too far and are ruining the game. He thinks back to the days when Jack Nicklaus was the longest hitter averaging 275 yards from the tee while Charles himself averaged 245 yards.

Average scores for pros and amateurs

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Golf technology company Shot Scope data has revealed the average scores for professional and amateur golfers of various handicaps. They make interesting reading. Par five scoring is heavily biased towards the lower handicap player probably due to the extra length they gain. Scratch golfers average a score of 4.8 whereas a 25 handicapper averages 7.0, a double bogey. Whereas on a par three a 25 handicapper is only 1.2 shots over par. Every ability of golfer has a higher average on par fours.

Matt Fitzpatrick no fan of Fedex playoffs

Before the second leg of the Fedex playoffs, the BMW Championship, Matt Fitzpatrick questioned the need for the end of season playoffs. The top 70 play the St Jude, the top 50 then play the BMW and the top 30 are left play the Tour Championship for the $US10million jackpot. However Fitzpatrick believes it is unfair because it doesn’t reward season long consistency. “I think the player who has played the best all year from January to the last event deserves to be the Fedex Cup champion. That’s how it should be.”

Something he “would have killed for’’

After winning The Open Championship,

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Ryan Fox admitted it was something he “would have killed for” when he was battling to make it in the professional game. Reflecting on his lineage where his grandfather Merv Wallace captained and coached the New Zealand cricket team, and father Grant won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, Fox mused: “I don’t know if this tops their achievements, but it’s certainly right up there. “If you had given me my career up till yesterday, when I first turned pro I would have jumped at it. Yet in my second year on the Aussie tour I was pretty close to giving up. With three events left I was not enjoying it. After badly missing the cut at the Aussie PGA, dad came over and caddied for me and said why do you play this game? Let’s just go out this week and try to have some fun, which it wasn’t for me at the time. I think I finished fifth and made enough to keep my card for the year and then played really well the following year.”

DeChambeau: Something fun coming

Ever upbeat Bryson DeChambeau is putting on a positive front regarding the survival of LIV Golf. As the 2026 season has ended he has teased there is “something fun coming” for LIV Golf 2.0. “I think there is a lot of potential moving forward.” Ten events are planned across five continents for 2027. “As much as we are transitioning from LIV 1.0 to LIV 2.0 I have great thoughts about what could happen next year. I wish I could be more up front about it. But ultimately I’m proud of what we have done.” Time will certainly tell if his optimism is well founded.

Ridiculous Fedex Cup moneyfest

The hypocrisy about the money being showered to golfers has reached a zenith with the overall bonus payouts of almost $US100 million for the PGA Tour Fedex Cup. No one can point the finger at LIV Golf now with the PGA Tour trying to outdo it. However what is noticeable is that the payouts are heavily weighted in favour of the top few players. Scottie Scheffler banked $US23million, Matt Fitzpatrick $13 million, Wyndham Clark $8 million, Cameron Young $6.5 million, Si Woo Kim $5.4 million. Rory McIlroy, who finished 11th, won a comparative pittance of $985,000 while Ryan Fox in 30th took home $460,000. Those players who finished between 51st and 125th took home between $100,000 and $195,000. Keep in mind this is bonus money. Scheffler has won almost $US21 million in PGA Tour prize money. Cameron Young has won $14.4 million, Fitzpatrick $14.27 million and Ryan Fox $5.54 million. The disparity between the top and the rest is huge. Where will it end?

Club golfer’s pace killers GOLF NEWS

By Neville Idour

aving looked at the slow play disease infecting professional golf, we should briefly also consider some pace of play killers for us mere mortal club players. First up, what is worse than the sleep (annoyance) inducing, never ending pre-shot routine. There is nothing wrong with a simple, brief, repeatable pre-shot routine. But it should be all over in 10 seconds then hit the damn ball. Apparently Ryan Fox was recently timed at six seconds. Who wants to be a Patrick Cantlay clone? Next up we have the huge search party snoozefest looking for the ball in the overgrowth. The rules say you have three minutes maximum. New

golf balls are still being made and I’m sure the pro shop will have ample used balls to choose from, so drop another ball and play on. Then we have the honour observer on the tee, which is okay for matchplay, but not otherwise. Don’t you dare hit out of turn. Wait for the player even if he is last to finish on the green, a minute later. Oh please? Just tee off when ready, whoever is first on the tee. It is called ready golf. Yay. On the fairway if you have a difficult situation taking up time when it is your turn, suggest others play before you. If all in the group are in tune to play ready golf the whole experience will be seamless and much more enjoyable, whatever the quality of golf. Now that we have played our approach shot to the green, where will we deposit our golf bag or park the

golf cart? Surely it is common sense to park or leave them on the edge of the green leading to the next tee so you can clear the green as quickly as possible for any following group. So now we have reached the green and marked the balls what happens next? As the first player is assessing his putt the other players should be assessing theirs as far as possible so they are ready when it is their turn. We don’t want to mimic Tiger Woods who never seemed to do any assessment until it was his turn and would then take the maximum time to putt after surveying it from everywhere. Padraig Harrington is another player who can make putting a mini marathon. The green method of aim point has become popular with many players much to others consternation. However, aim point shouldn’t take any

longer than plumb bobbing or gauging the line by crouching and looking. If it does then don’t bother. If we have a lengthy putt and leave it handy to the hole, say up to two feet, finish off if possible rather than mark it. Australians are very good at finishing out rather than waste time marking it. Maybe there should be a rule for tap ins. No marking. Having putted out, clear the green when the final putt drops and don’t stop to pull out scorecards until you reach the next tee by which time you will all know each others score and can enter them while others are teeing off. It is all about enjoyment, not just for ourselves, but those playing with us and others following us. If we can avoid all the pace killers mentioned and follow the example of Ryan Fox golf will be much better for all.

Who is the greatest? Let the statistics tell the tale. JACK NICKLAUS

TIGER WOODS

MAJOR WINS

MAJOR RUNNERS-UP

MAJOR TOP 10’s

CAREER GRAND SLAMS

PGA TOUR WINS

286

PGA TOUR TOP 10’s

199

117

TOTAL PRO WINS

110

RYDER CUP APPEARANCES

18.5

RYDER CUP POINTS

14.5

$5.7m

PGA TOUR MONEY

$121m

he top three statistics would seem to favour Nicklaus in any discussion. However, some pundits will still favour Woods. The money differential is ridiculous, reflecting the rampant inflation

through the years. One wonders where Scheffler’s career earnings will end up. He has already amassed $US120 million. What do readers think? Who is the greatest?

September 2026

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Does Scheffler show his true colours?

By Neville Idour

n the July issue we ran a piece headlined: Scheffler shows his hidden colours. Well after his complete meltdown at the BMW Championship in the United States last month, maybe we can update that headline to: Does Scheffler show his true colours? His tantrum was totally unacceptable for any golfer, let alone an almost revered world number one professional golfer. The funny thing is and also hard to believe he would serve up this excuse, that he had hand, foot and mouth disease. Sounds like he should have been in quarantine. But whatever he offers as an excuse it just doesn’t wash. Let’s recap what transpired in the third round. The front nine went okay and he reached the 10th at two under par,

birdied the 11th, then the wheels began to fall off. His approach to the 12th landed in deep rough by the green on a downslope. The lie wasn’t too bad with par a possibility. He hit the ball too hard leaving him 17 feet for par. The commentator said he wouldn’t be happy and he wasn’t. He completely lost it grabbing the club face and slamming the grip end of the club on the ground. Once, twice …. and the club came out of his hand. He picked it up, disgusted he swung through the grass angrily. Then while walking towards the green Scheffler threw the club into the rough. It bounced twice before he picked it up. Of course fans wondered if he would be penalised for this outburst. Not on your Nellie. Unbelievably the PGA Tour does not have a strict code of conduct policy. There is no official warning for throwing

a club, nor do players get penalised for repeated breaches of the expected standards of decorum. So Scheffler got away with it. He didn’t speak to news media afterwards. So why this frustration? After all, this from a man who pocketed over $US50 million in prize money alone in 2025 and has already amassed $US53 million in 2026. Some people are never happy. When you consider Joaquin Niemann was penalised two strokes for throwing a club and kicking a flag at the 2026 US Open and other players being penalised for lesser acts, no wonder fans are bemused. The reasons for Scheffler’s frustration were clearly that he wasn’t playing as well as he expected to, after his 65 on cut day. His putter wasn’t cooperating either. You would think he would know by now golf is like that. It is not a game of

NEWS

perfection it is a game of control of shot and temperament. Sadly he seems to have an expectation that he should prevail because he is number one. Clearly, after this episode and the one at The Memorial in June when he let fly at hapless caddie Ted Scott, Scheffler needs to take stock and realise his example is the worst possible for young fans and aspiring professionals. Can anyone remember any of our New Zealand icons Sir Bob Charles, Michael Campbell, Ryan Fox or Steve Alker indulging in such outbursts? I certainly can’t. Nor can I remember any other number one golfers imitating Scheffler. Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Norman, Faldo. It would be anathema to all of them. They were all gentlemen on the golf course. Time to look in the mirror Scottie.

They’ll be shouting go Fox On The Run at the racecourse

aming of racehorses can be quite an art, some people love it and others find it difficult. All sorts of reasons and circumstances lead to horse names. The most common is a mixture of the names of the horse’s sire and dam. One recent naming of a weanling trotting colt has come about in intriguing circumstances. Ashburton owner Doug Stuart owns a yearling colt by French stallion En Solitaire out of the broodmare Sophie Turner, in partnership with his Rangiora based harness racing trainer son Andrew, who is a

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social golfer and former rugby player. Recently Doug was staying in Christchurch with his good friend Struan Cain during the thoroughbred Grand National carnival. Struan is a former general manger of the Christchurch Golf Club and prior to that Harness Racing New Zealand and he is one of those that loves naming horses. During Grand National week Doug (a non golfer but keen sports fan) mentioned to Struan that he was looking for a name for his horse. Before the week was up

September 2026

and prompted by their many discussions about Ryan Fox’s Open success and his fast pace of play, Struan came up with the name Fox On The Run. The horse has now been registered with Harness Racing New Zealand and all concerned are hoping the horse will show the same ability on the race track as Ryan does on the golf course. It should also be noted that Doug has a share in a pacer named Aphibarnrat which is the surname of Thai professional golfer Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

Fedex Cup playoffs a borefest? By Neville Idour

GOLF NEWS

any golf columnists have been quite scathing about the first Fedex Cup playoff event the St Jude Classic, which in reality was anything but classic. Oh yes there was $US20 million up for grabs, but so what. Most of the players are swimming in money and many of them, safely ensconced in the top 30, were assured of making the next top 50 event and possibly the final top 30 shootout. Obviously not all of them care enough about the playoffs. Rory McIlroy had been living it up on vacation partying in Europe while many of the big names came into St Jude rusty after three weeks off — and didn’t it show in some cases. Who would have predicted McIlroy finishing 25 shots adrift of Scottie Scheffler? Ridiculous. It ended up a Scheffler benefit with the rest of the field seemingly playing in another

event. What stood out on the television coverage was the sparsely populated fairways almost throughout. It wasn’t until the final day, and then only for the final group of Scheffler and Burns, that we saw a substantial crowd. Obviously interest in the event was hardly what was hoped. It is becoming quite clear that since the advent of the signature event phenomenon that the men’s game is now much more about the four major championships plus The Players’ Championship. Sure the playoffs are still a big deal for the fringe players and journeymen, but seemingly not for the tour’s elite players who can bring their wheelbarrows along to fill with more money, money, money. Scheffler’s 2026 money tree is already well past $US20 million, while next cab off the rank Cameron Young has over $US14.3 million. Ryan Fox is 22nd with at a more modest $US5.4 million.

So it is a sorry state of affairs when the so called showpieces of the PGA Tour season are referred to in almost scathing terms by many commentators. Golf Monthly writers were pointed. Nick Bonfield said: “I found pretty much everything about St Jude boring.” Conor Keenan was more succinct. “The word stale comes to mind. The entire PGA Tour format needs a serious rejig.” Matt Cradock said: “The playoffs need to be scheduled better, nearer to the final major, or get removed completely. LIV Golf does it better with the winner of the season long standings being the winner. While Scheffler’s dominance didn’t help interest, I can’t remember a less appealing big tournament watch or poorer television coverage which showed too much of Scheffler walking from A to B and too little, if any of some leading players. Surely we can expect better next time.

Gary Player praises DeChambeau By Neville Idour

ary Player is never short of a word when he thinks it is warranted. His latest social media video with Bryson DeChambeau certainly surprised the golf world. There the 90-year-old was, standing beside DeChambeau sharing some unexpected news. DeChambeau is to make a surprise return trip to South Africa to play another event in December. There was celebration as DeChambeau officially confirmed he will headline the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, marking his return to the DP World Tour. “Mr Player, it’s official. I’m coming back to South Africa to play in your event,” DeChambeau said. For Player this represents a massive coup. Said Player: “I am absolutely delighted that Bryson will compete. The South African crowds loved watching him

play earlier this year and it is wonderful to welcome him back. Bryson’s passion, power and commitment to the game continue to inspire fans around the world.” Player further praised DeChambeau as a “true global champion of golf” by returning to South Africa where he delivered one of his most memorable performances of the year. The host venue, the Gary Player Country Club couldn’t be better tailored for DeChambeau’s aggressive aerial attack. The course stretches to 7,800 yards making it one of the longest and most demanding layouts internationally. The tournament was originally launched in 1981 as the five-man Million Dollar Challenge, and has evolved into “Africa’s Major”, a high stakes $US6 million showpiece, which kicks off the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai season. The field will feature a mix of European regulars and PGA Tour guest players.

During their chat Player said with a grin that the venue is practically built for DeChambeau’s power game.

September 2026

“I think you will love this golf course, as it is long and should be right up your alley.

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Women’s Open had an attendance of 55,000

he Women’s Open celebrated its 50th playing in style at Royal Lytham & St Annes last month with the highest attendance since global insurance and financial services organisation American International Group (AIG) became its main sponsor and some of the best broadcast and digital engagement figures in the championship’s history. A total of 55,000 fans attended the championship, which was being played at the historic Fylde links for the sixth time, and just under 4,500 children under the age of 16 attended for free across the week through The R&A’s longstanding kids go free initiative. Last year, 47,000 fans attended the championship at Royal Porthcawl. Television audiences have also surged this year with daily record average audiences on Sky Sports across all four days of the championship up 18.4 per cent. There was also a significant increase in live viewer hours supported by the new early window coverage in the first two rounds introduced for 2026. There were 8.1 million live minutes watched across the Women’s Open digital channel (R&A TV and YouTube), which represented a 181 per cent increase on last year. Across all the Women’s Open channels

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there was an overall 218 per cent growth in total impressions from 2025 and a 39 per cent growth in total engagements. The championship’s social media channels were up by 41 per cent. Engagement is 20 times higher than it was five years ago. Mark Darbon, chief executive of The R&A, said: “As part of our strategy to open golf to the world we are committed to staging inspiring championships and this the 50th AIG Women’s Open has undoubtedly achieved that aim. We have seen just how much the AIG Women’s Open means to fans with our highest attendance in recent years and fantastic engagement across our broadcast and digital audiences globally. “With the incredible support we receive from AIG, we are working to elevate the AIG Women’s Open and ensure that it is at the pinnacle of the women’s game for players and fans alike. We have seen some amazing golf this week from the world’s best women’s players at one of the sport’s most renowned links venues and it is gratifying to see that reflected in the excellent engagement we have seen across the board.” The 2027 AIG Women’s Open will be played for the first time ever at Royal St George’s from July 28-August 1.

Shiho Kuwaki wins Women’s Open on second play-off hole

Shiho Kuwaki.

hiho Kuwaki of Japan holds aloft the trophy after winning the Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes at Lancashire in England last month. Kuwaki, 23, won on the second hole of a play-off with Esther Henseleit of Germany. Both had finished on five under par after the regulation 72 holes.

September 2026

It was Kuwaki’s first win in a major championship and she became the fourth Japanese player to win the Women’s Open following Ayako Okamoto (1984), Hinako Shibuno (2019) and Miyu Tamashita (2025). The playoff was the fifth in the history of the tournament.

XDL DRIVING Long Drive into Velocity Entertainment Hawke’s Bay LONG DRIVE

DL is delighted to welcome Velocity Entertainment to the XDL & New Zealand Long Blacks Family as the official XDL venue for the Indoor Championships in the Hawke’s Bay Region. The appointment marks an exciting new chapter for sport in Hawke’s Bay as Velocity Entertainment becomes home to a new XDL DRIVE ZONE. Under new ownership, Velocity Entertainment is continuing to develop its Hastings venue with a vision of becoming one of Hawke’s Bay’s leading destinations for entertainment, competition and experiences. Already home to trampolines, laser tag, arcade entertainment and hospitality, the addition of XDL introduces a new competitive sporting dimension to the venue. The partnership reflects Velocity Entertainment’s ambition to bring new experiences and opportuni-

ties to Hawke’s Bay, giving local families and competitors access to activities and sporting pathways that may otherwise require travelling to larger centres. The team behind Velocity Entertainment added: “When we took over Velocity, our goal was never just to operate what was already here. We want to keep bringing new experiences, new reasons to visit and new opportunities into Hawke’s Bay. XDL gives us the chance to introduce something genuinely different while creating a pathway for local competitors to progress from Velocity to national and potentially international competition.”

gion to compete nationally and internationally.”

Building a Regional Pathway

The new XDL DRIVE ZONE will provide local athletes and competitors with a dedicated environment to train, compete and develop their skills in XDL. Hawke’s Bay is now officially part of the growing XDL network, establishing its first XDL Hawke’s Bay Regional Team and a pathway towards the New Zealand Long Blacks National Teams. For XDL Founder Olna Ford, the partnership represents much more than another sporting venue. “Velocity Entertainment has said yes to something that is creating opportunity, pride, joy and prosperity for the Hawke’s Bay community. They are not simply taking on a license — they are becoming part of the XDL and New Zealand Long Blacks family and helping build a genuine pathway for athletes from the re-

Concept design for upcoming XDL DRIVE Zone.

From Hawke’s Bay to the World

With Velocity Entertainment joining the XDL network, local competitors will have the opportunity to progress through regional competition towards national championships and ultimately the international stage through the XDL ESWF World Series. Further details on the Hawke’s Bay XDL DRIVE ZONE, competitions and registrations will be announced through Velocity Entertainment and XDL. Hawke’s Bay is not simply joining XDL — it is helping shape the next chapter of the sport. Velocity Entertainment is now the home of XDL in Hawke’s Bay.

The Tee Bay: A New Legacy For East Auckland “I’m really excited to be working with these fabulous ladies. They have created something really special, and we’re excited to bring XDL opportunities, qualifying events and new experiences into the venue.” For XDL, The TEE Bay is another important piece of a much bigger vision — creating accessible, technology-driven environments where people can compete, socialise and experience the excitement of Long Drive and target sports. For East Auckland, The TEE Bay is something new. For XDL, it is part of the future. And together, we’re creating the next chapter.

DL Founder, Owner of the New Zealand Long Blacks and Aussie Long Ballers, Olna Ford, says she is incredibly excited to see The Tee Bay come to life — bringing a first-of-its-kind indoor experience to the people of East Auckland. The TEE Bay represents more than simply a new place to hit a golf ball. It is part of a changing landscape where sport, entertainment, technology and community come together under one roof. “I’m genuinely excited for the locals of East Auckland. The TEE Bay is a first of its kind, and seeing it come to life is incredibly exciting.” With six TrackMan bays, cinema-style VIP rooms, a back-to-back VIP experience, and an upstairs entertainment space with SKY and pool, The TEE Bay has been designed to offer something for everyone — from families and friends to corporate groups and competitive players.

XDL Qualifiers are Coming

The relationship between XDL and The TEE Bay is also set to move into an exciting new phase. XDL is working closely with The TEE Bay on upcoming XDL qualifying events, creating opportunities for local players to enter the XDL competition pathway and potentially earn their place on a much bigger stage. And there is more to come…A major announcement is planned for December, with The TEE Bay set to play an important role in what XDL is building for the future of indoor competition.

The Fun + Competition is Indoors

With upcoming XDL announcements set to place an even greater focus on indoor championships and competition, Olna says the timing could not be better. “With what we have coming up and the focus towards indoor championships, The TEE Bay Olna is particularly proud of owner Amy and Manager Marina, describing them as two fabulous, with incredible endurance, creating something special for East Auckland.

September 2026

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September 2026

GOLF TRAILS

NEWS FROM AROUND THE REGIONS AUCKLAND

HARBOUR

Northland and Harbour Auckland Golf prevail Golf – Northern Event over Wellington A

uckland and Wellington Played recently at The Taupo Golf Club.

Women’s Team

Auckland held a strong lead after Day 1, but Wellington came out firing on Day 2 and took the advantage at the turn. Cool heads and composure proved decisive, with Auckland steadying late to secure the overall win.

Junior Boys

All square after Day 1, with tight, competitive matches across the board. Auckland arrived on Day 2 with real intent

he 2026 Generate Kiwisaver - Great Northern Battle delivered exactly what we’ve come to expect! Close contests, incredible sportsmanship, and plenty of pride on the line as Northland and Harbour battled it out across four divisions. The vent was played recently at Waipu Golf club. The overall trophy went to Harbour, who claimed 319.5 holes to 291.5 across the day to be crowned 2026 Great Northern Battle champions.

— winning the first three matches and taking an unassailable lead and the overall victory.

Men’s Team

Auckland carried the advantage into Day 2 but faced determined Wellington opposition. After nine holes, every match was separated by, at most, one hole. 7 of the 8 matches went to at least the 17th — a testament to the quality on display. Evenutally, nAuckland prevailed to claim the overall win and complete the clean sweep.

Division results:

Junior Boys – Tied 4 matches each, with Northland winning on countback (72.5 holes to 71.5). Men’s Masters – Another 4-all draw, with Northland again taking the division on countback (72.5 holes to 71.5). Open Women – Harbour were impressive, winning 6.5 matches to 1.5. Open Men – Locked at 5 matches each, but Harbour edged the countback, 92 holes to 86.

September 2026

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WAIKATO

BAY OF PLENTY

Hamilton Take Weekday Pennants Title on Home Turf

oming into the final round, Tieke, Cambridge and Hamilton were separated by just eight points, setting up an exciting finish to the competition. Playing on their home turf, Hamilton fired to the front with an outstanding team score of 300 nett, with Kim Cairns, Mary Kavanagh, Jean McDermid and Chrissie Courtman combining for the winning total.

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The result saw Hamilton not only take the honours for the day, but also claim the 2026 Women’s Weekday Pennants title with a final aggregate of 1,226, just four points ahead of Tieke on 1,230. Cambridge finished third on 1,239. There were also some excellent individual scores, with Jean McDermid (Hamilton), Diane Meyer (Waikare) and Jan Stenhouse (Waikare) all recording nett 72.

BOP Golf – Eagles A

great day at Te Puke Golf Club for the Bay of Plenty Eagles Secondary School Tournament!

September 2026

While the sunshine was out, the fresh winds made for a challenging day and tested every player’s game.

TARANAKI

WELLINGTON

Otaki Open

Vanuatu Golf Open local winner

aranaki’s Jack Van Prehn and Brodie Ferguson have enjoyed the hospitality and culture of the Vanuatu commu-

nity while competing in the Vanuatu Amateur Golf Open. Jack took out the title and has come home with a fabulous trophy.

Owen Lloyd from Te Marua GC and Amy Yu from Royal Wellington Golf Club, winners at the Ōtaki Golf Club 36 Hole Open, which was played recently.

September 2026

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TASMAN

AORANGI

Mid vs South

2026 Rarangi Open – Champions Crowned! Played recently at Rarangi Golf Club! Men’s Gross Winner Elijah Barney – Nelson Men’s Nett Winner Michael Gibb – Awatere

Women’s Gross Winner Lizzie Neale – Nelson Women’s Nett Winner Jennifer Rutherford – Motueka

he annual Mid vs South representative fixture played recently delivered another exciting contest, with the Mid Team overcoming a closely fought first round to record a 42-point victory. Following the morning round, the match was finely balanced, with just three points separating the two teams, setting up an exciting afternoon of golf. After an early frost delay, players were rewarded with excellent course conditions, allowing both teams to showcase some quality golf throughout the day. Mid produced a strong performance in the second round to gradually extend their lead and secure the win.

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September 2026

Final Scores: Mid: 610 points South: 568 points The Mid vs South fixture continues to be an important event on the Aorangi Golf calendar, bringing together players from across the district in a day of competitive golf and friendly rivalry. Congratulations to the Mid Team on reclaiming the title, and thank you to all the players, volunteers, and the host club for making the day another successful representative event. For more information relating to memberships, email and login issues, contact your club.

September 2026