Oreti Sands - what could be The Next Big Thing

Posted by Michael on 25 December 2010 | 0 Comments | Tags: , , ,

After another sleep in Jucy, surrounded by golf equipment, suitcases and the sweet aroma of golf shoes, I woke not to another Big Blue at Invercargill.   Truly amazing â?? we even needed to put on sunscreen for our early morning game at Oreti Sands.  The lads, who sleep in the bed(s) (plural on this occasion) were slow to wake â?? Iâ??m not sure whatâ??s been going on of late but there have been constant references to top â??n tailing on the blog and so clearly Bart has made an impression these last few weeksâ?¦

Anyway after a spot of brekkie and a farewell to our fantastic hosts,  Russell and Francis, it was a quick drive down the road to Oreti Sands to play the most Southern Links course in the world.  We grabbed a card and dragged Burnsy the 80m back on the first hole to The Black Tees.  Weâ??ve got used to hauling our playing partners back to the tips and generally everything works out absolutely fine, helped largely by the massive advances in technology meaning the ball is going so far these days.  But here at Oreti Sands from the tips with a sea of maram grass before you, the breeze blowing and the course at some 6400m you need to have your ball striking boots on.   We, collectively, did not and after a few holes were down a few golf balls.

Losing golf balls is one story of Oreti Sands that weâ??d heard plenty of time on our travels.  But in truth the fairways are very generous and the course has been designed to cope with the wild wild winds that fly across this links land.   Thereâ??s nothing wrong with some maram grass, kiwis just need to get used to not being able to smash it onto the neighbouring fairway (myself included!!).

Oreti is a seriously good piece of golfing terrain.  Iâ??m going to put it out there that this place could, even should, be as good as Barnbougle / Lost Farm.  The turf is pure, the wind whips across the links land and the dunes extend right along the coast on what must be thousands of acres of World Class Golfing Terrain.  Furthermore, itâ??s only 2.5 hours drive from Queenstown, the #1 golf destination in NZ, therefore making it a real option for golf lovers the world over to come for a week of golfâ?¦ Iâ??d say that between the progressive local council and the NZ tourism board looking to develop golf tourism into NZ that if Tom Doak came along to build a world class course nearby Oreti Sands, it would be very well received.  Perhaps a project for 2011....

The current course is a bit of a mixed bag. First, itâ??s a pure links course, one of 6 in NZ (which incidentally has the most links courses of any country in the world after the UK and Ireland).  The turf generally plays first, the greens are large and wouldnâ??t be out of place on a Coore/Crenshaw layout and there are some really classy uses of undulations such as on the 1st, 7th  and 11th holes. 

But the course is a bit like a patchwork quilt in that it has recently been redesigned (at significant cost) by leading kiwi designers, Turner and Macpherson who have stamped their mark.  What these blokes have done is create a few â??super linksâ?? holes on what otherwise is a very simple, flat links course.  The 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes are entirely new and play through a small part of the sensational dune land I have mentioned above.  I loved the test of these holes, theyâ??re classy holes unlike most other links stuff Iâ??ve seen in NZ (with the obvious exception of Paraparaumu Beach), but there are doubts about how anyone above a 8 handicap would fare with them, particularly in a spot of wind, and particularly the 2nd hole which is just not quite right (I'd get into design philosophy on it but this isn't golf club atlas).  

the 2nd from the tee.  The hole plays in a C around the dune on the right.  

above the 2nd green. Below the 4th green.  

After the first four holes the course heads further inland where the land is flatter and the holes more accommodating for golfers of all levels.  16 and 17 have also been remodeled and are now a short par four, par three combo played around and over the wetlands.  The net result of all this is that the club at Oreti Sands has supposedly lost a significant chunk of members who now find the course too difficult.  

JP was busy enjoying the scottish-esque thistles in the rough.  

One issue we had was with the tee blocks (see below). Clearly no one plays off the tips and the green keeper hadn't trimmed the grass around the tee boxes. Not only was it claustrophobic but hitting a stinging 2 iron was not an option - you had to launch it to get above the grass in front of you!  To be fair to the green keeper I think he looks after the course himself and with the help of volunteers and overall it was in fantastic condition.

The members we met loved the course, as we did.  They embraced the challenge of playing in the wind, and whilst the scoring wasnâ??t flash  (they said that they fared pretty well when out playing the other courses in the region)  Oreti touches those senses within that only a links course in the wind can do. 

I could go on about the course as it is, but Iâ??m more excited about what could be done nearby.  Oreti itself is easily the second best links track in NZ as it is, but oh what could beâ?¦

Photographs and a few captions of the course are belowâ?¦

M

A couple of the local lads

Above, the 7th green - a great par four

par three 10th played blind over these dunes

Looking back up the double fairway (12&13) to the 12th green

13 - another great par four

"Old Tom Morris" played around the wetlands.

Postscript:  golf was the winner of the day.  2 rounds with Burnsy, board member of The First Tee, and I made a grand total of 0 birdies much to his disapproval.  Pressure got to me.  Fortunately once Burnsy bailed on the south (again, the Jafa), the birdies have started up again.  For those still keen to pledge â?? get amongst it â?? as at Christmas Day weâ??re at 94 + 2 Eagles during the month of December.  

Leave a comment

Not logged in - Login
Published Site