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Coromandel Golf Club - Coromandel, New Zealand |
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Golf Links| Play|Rules|Sand Greens |
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If you have photos of Coromandel Golf Course or more information about this course we'd love to hear from you. Contact us Coromandel Golf Course Review There can't be too many courses that have a slaughterhouse on them. Although I'm sure anyone stuck behind slow players would agree that it's an ideal site. The nine hole course at Coromandel has an old slaughterhouse beside its 9th tee. It hasn't been used for years, but there are a couple of handy hooks still hanging there. And a sign on the wall relating the history of the building. Coromandel golf started in 1921. The present course is the fourth home for the club, the land purchased in 1960 and five holes opened in 1962. Mostly voluntary labour cleared the scrub and sprayed the rushes and, in the early days, the members spent more time working on the course than playing on it. Sheep have been run on the course since its opening and do an excellent job mowing the fairways and keeping the subs down. Their main drawback is their lack of understanding of golfing terminology. (Yelling 'Fore' produces no result. Yelling 'Butcher!' produces startling effects.) The Coromandel course has always been famous for the hospitality of its members. Although you go around the same nine holes twice, (the tees for 16 and 18 are in a different spot) the course is an interesting layout. On the first nine you play to the red flags and to the yellow ones on the second nine. Although there was a 30 cm (12 inch) place, I seldom needed it. From the men's tees the course measures 5243 metres (par 70) and from the women's (which I played off) it is 4887 metres (par 71). Not a long course but it can seem so in winter. The day we played, the sheep were off the course and grazing the neighbouring paddocks. The first hole is a par 4, 305 metres, so requires two good shots to reach the elevated green. Wide open fairway, as are most of the holes, so you don't have to hit the ball dead straight. You play to a long green which is sloping gently left to right. The greens were slow - due to maintenance work - but true. The second hole goes back alongside the first. Another par 4, 316m, with a blind green and small bunker on the left. All the greens are surrounded by a low two-wire electric fence. If your ball strikes the wires you have an optional replay - great if you duff your chip. If you're having a diabolical time with your putting, you might want to try grabbing one of the wires - sometimes a jolt of electricity is just what's needed to cure three-putting. Beside the fourth tee is the first of three signs recounting the history of the gold mine (on which the course is sited) from the turn of the century until the golf course took over. They add local flavour and an extra dimension to your golf. The fifth hole has a breath-taking view. The distant hills are varying shades of hazy slate blue while the closer hills become clearer shapes of bush-covered green. Set against a bright blue sky, as on the day we played, there can't be a better spot on earth. This elevated tee also has a sign informing you that you are about to tee off from the top of a gold mining shaft which was an extension of the Tokata Reef. Members filled in the shaft around 1970 and must have done a good job because no one has disappeared there yet. The hole is a dogleg left 420m par 5. A solid tee shot puts you in position to see around the corner and another wood leaves you with a short iron to the green, elevated with a small bunker right but no real trouble. The sixth is a straightforward par three of 123 metres to an elevated green. The seventh is a challenging dogleg right, par 4 of 333 metres. Not easy to hit in two, as it's to another elevated green and the hill takes the sting out of your tee shot. (A different tee next time around turns it into a short 206m par 4.) This is followed by the second par 3, which is 143m, all downhill. Wide open fairway and a large green, with the old slaughterhouse providing a rustic backdrop. The final hole is a short par 5 of 375m, which becomes a 293m par 4 on the second time around. Green fees are $10 affiliated and $12 non-affiliated. Casual golfers can get on the course any day and are welcome to join the members on club days. Click here for maps of the Coromandel More New Zealand Golf Links Click here for a Pasture Golf Course Nomination Form Click for more PastureGolf Courses including Yanchep National Park Golf Course in Australia |
This Page Updated: June 27, 2005 Copyright © 1999-2008 Bruce Manclark & Cory Eberhart |
Play links style Pasture Golf in New Zealand at the Coromandel
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