A year after watching the Open Championship from his couch with chemo in his system for a leukaemia diagnosis, Michael Hendry, offered a medical exemption by the R&A, was emotional teeing up with three fellow New Zealanders in a practice round at Royal Troon.
Gulf Harbour Golf & Country Club, which occupies a stunning isthmus location on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, north of Auckland, is facing an unwelcome fate in a similar manner to several suburban courses in Australia.
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.
With a Trans-Tasman travel bubble in full swing, Michael Donaldson plots a week-long road trip across New Zealand’s North Island before finishing with a South Island surprise.
Perched on sand dunes overlooking the famous black-sand Muriwai Beach, the course features crumpled fairways built on an impeccable sand-base, tricky bunkers and demanding greens. It’s a fierce test of skill but equally a great fun course to play for all handicappers.