In terms of golf club marketing, there are few better tools than being able to credit Alister MacKenzie as course designer. Fortuitously, Titirangi Golf Club is blessed to have hosted MacKenzie during his whistle-stop tour of the Antipodes in 1926-1927 that changed the direction of golf Down Under.
The Good Doctor spent two weeks in Auckland where he tinkered with all of Titirangi’s 18 holes built by the club’s founding members in 1914 and significantly re-routed the course. MacKenzie left an indelible impression on Titirangi, hence the club went to great lengths to restore its original character as part of a masterplan in the 1990s.
“Apparently pleased with the property at his disposal, MacKenzie described the ground as ‘exceptionally well adapted for golf, undulating, without being hilly’,” says course architect and Planet Golf author Darius Oliver.
“Most holes here are laid out nicely across the undulations and cut through tall exotics and native New Zealand bush and rainforest. The property does get quite narrow in places and as most holes run north and south, they do occasionally get a touch cramped. As is the case on many MacKenzie projects, however, his cunning design actually feels more spacious and plays considerably longer than the scorecard suggests.”
Titirangi today is a real hidden treat for MacKenzie enthusiasts. It is also one of New Zealand’s 10 Marquee Golf Courses, as listed by Tourism New Zealand, and for another influential voice within golf-course architecture circles, Tom Doak lauded Titirangi as a ‘must-play’ course in New Zealand in his popular book, Confidential Guide To Golf Courses.
Now fully restored faithfully to MacKenzie’s original sketches and designs, and conveniently located just 15 minutes from downtown Auckland, Titirangi is true to its Maori meaning: fringe of heaven.
THE DETAILS
Titirangi Golf Club
Where: Links Rd, New Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 827 5749
Web: titirangigolf.co.nz
