It's here in the far south near Invercargill that there's the truest links course in New Zealand. Oreti Sands at Southland Golf Club, features in, True Links by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell who suggest there are only 246 true links golf courses in the whole world and the Kiwis are very fortunate in having nine of them in Godzone.
It's true to say that Muriwai Golf Club is something of a hidden gem for international travellers who thought they'd done their homework on Auckland and therefore plan on playing the Dr Alister MacKenzie designed Titirangi. The Robert Trent Jones Jnr's Gulf Harbour or prestigious Royal Auckland.
Fortunately for a group of wealthy Americans who were sailing around New Zealand in a cruise ship they had been told about Muriwai. And while talking to them at the 19th I learned that they'd stopped off at places like Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs which they immensely enjoyed. And yet it was Muriwai that gave them their best "golf experience".
As to why that should be? The best answer I could get was that it exceeded their expectations of club golf in New Zealand. A links-style course, a good test of golf and the casual Kiwi ambience of the clubhouse camaraderie.
It's this casual Kiwi culture which keeps me in Godzone. And it's why I've included in my artistic impressions lesser-known courses like Arrowtown with its antique farming implements as landmarks on the golf course. The rural view from the clubhouse at Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula. And although Millbrook Resort couldn't possibly be described as unknown there's something about their 19th hole which feels so casual Kiwi. And if only they had a better selection of malt whiskies I could have enjoyed the best of both worlds.
It was at Titirangi that I was introduced to club golf in Godzone. Titirangi (Fringe of Heaven) was the obvious choice since it was only a couple of miles from where I lived.
The wee village of Titirangi differs from Muriwai Beach in that it's adjacent to the Waitakere Ranges. A chain of hills to the west of Auckland and when viewed from the Waitemata Harbour it always reminds me of the view of the North Shore mountains from Vancouver's CBD. And while thinking about these two vistas it has just struck me that, just as North Shore, Vancouver has its famous Stanley Thompson designed Capilano. Titirangi is blessed by the fact that it was designed by another famous golf course architect, Dr Alister MacKenzie.
In 1927 while walking the proposed course MacKenzie came to a location which is now Titirangi's 11th hole ‘Redan’ and wrote, "This should make a famous hole". A remark based on his belief that the contours offered the opportunity to create a Redan-style hole similar to the original 'Redan' at North Berwick.
Another admirable feature of MacKenzie's genius is that the four par-3 holes face in different directions. And there are few golf courses anywhere in the world where there's four par-3s that can match MacKenzie's four at Titirangi. Indeed and if you're up to it, you can accept Titirangi's ‘MacKenzie Challenge’ to collectively score par or better at all four par-3s.