The Missing Links: Paraparaumu Beach, North Island, New Zealand

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

Paraparaumu Beach, North Island, New Zealand

www.paraparaumubeachgolfclub.co.nz

Red tees par 71 (4714m)
White tees par 71 (5485m)

The first course we have played in New Zealand! Paraparam, as it is nicknamed, was founded in 1949 and is one of only four courses designed by Alex Russell. It lies a short drive north of Wellington on the undulating dunes of the Kapiti coast. Paraparaumu has hosted many New Zealand Open championships and the course record of 62 is held jointly by Bob Charles, Maurice Bainbridge and two others.

Paraparaumu lies on true links land

After a friendly welcome we played the course on a cloudy but warm day with light winds. This is a true links courses winding through sand dunes. The greens were hard and true but tricky with run-offs around most which punished an inaccurate shot. The bunkers were tough punishment for the errant shot as they were filled with volcanic sand which is quite different from normal links sand. The start is particularly tricky and the par threes would test any level of golfer. The 17th is a true risk and reward hole with the more difficult route to the right off the tee being rewarded with an easier approach shot. The 18th is a dog leg from left to right to a raised green and a welcome rest in the clubhouse!

Worth playing? Yes, it is a tough test of golf and the only links experience in the North Island

The view of the 18th from the clubhouse

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The Links Project

There are 246 true links golf courses in the world and this blog is a record of our attempt to play all of them. My husband Ron and I are keen golfers and I came up with the idea of this project after he gave me the book by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell 'True Links' which lists them all.

The commonest question we are asked about our project is 'How do you define a true links course?' This will be debated by aficionados for long after we have (hopefully) completed our quest and there will never be a correct answer. The strict definition is from the British Golf Museum:

1. The course must be beside a river estuary

2. It must offer partial or occasional views of the sea

3. It must have few trees

4. It must have numerous bunkers

5. It must have nines that run out and back, the front heading to a far point and the back returning to the clubhouse

Peper and Campbell defined their list as follows:

Terrain - how close is the course to the sea? Do the fairways run fast and hard? Do the greens favour a run-on approach? How open is the site? How natural? Is there a freedom from trees? Is the invasion of gorse and brush controlled? How light is the environmental footprint on the land?

Turf - is there a sand base? What grasses are dominant on the fairways and greens? Is the rough managed ( creating biodiversity for flora and fauna)? How well does the course drain?

Weather - how exposed is the site to the elements? What are the typical wind conditions? Does the course play hard and fast all year round? Must temporary greens and tees be used in winter? Is the course susceptible to winter closure?

Peper and Campbell included courses which supplied the correct answers to most of these questions. But however defined, to me the poem by Sir John Betjeman encapsulates the feeling of links golf.