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Seaside course. The front nine holes at the Gulf Harbour
Golf Club is slightly hillier course with a more open feeling. On the other
hand, the back nine holes wanders towards the ocean and can be considered
to have some of the most scenic holes in the world. Espicailly a series
of Hole 16 to 18 is superb. An ocean starts to come into play at around
the twelfth hole. The fairways are mostly undulated and many of the holes
have a dogleg design, making this quite a challenging course. The course
can become extremely tough if played on a day with strong sea winds. Although
unfortunately the greens were not maintained at a high level during my play,
according to many of the golfers in Auckland, the greens at this course
are usually maintained at excellent conditions. The course hosted the 1998
World Cup a year after the course was built. This course also staged the
New Zealand Open in both 2005 and 2006.
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The second hole consists of a sharp dogleg that bends to the left. The ball
from the over-the-water tee shot will be received by a fairway that slopes
sharply from right to left. The approach to the green will be an uphill
shot. The green is wide and slopes from left to right. |
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| This par four is a downhill 423-yard long hole with a dogleg
that bends to the left. A large bunker protects the green on its right side.
The green itself slopes from left to right. Players should try to avoid
the bunkers at all cost, as it would be difficult to score a par. |
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A very short par four with a dogleg that bends to the left. A body of water
runs along the entire left side starting from the tee all the way to the
green. This charming par four will tempt long hitters to aim directly for
the green if there is a downhill wind. However, players should be aware
that the green is quite small and slopes from back to front. Accuracy will
be an important factor despite the approach to the green. |
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The ninth hole is a par four with a dogleg that bends to the right. There
is a body of water that runs alongside the right side of the fairway. The
tee shot will require the ball to hover over this body of water. Players
will have the option to choose to land their ball on one of the two greens:
the left or right green. It should be noted that the right green would face
the water on its right side. |
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This relatively neat hole that consists of a downhill tee shot with a dogleg
that bends to the right. There is a bunker that comes into play off on the
right side of the tee. There are also additional bunkers by the green that
players should look out for. |
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| The eleventh hole consists of a dogleg that bends towards the
left. The hole starts off with a slightly downhill over-a-valley tee shot,
followed by an uphill second shot. The third shot will require the ball
to land on the deep double-tired green. |
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The twelfth hole is a short par four and consists of a dogleg that bends
towards the left. A tremendously downhill tee shot is followed by a uphill
second shot. A beautiful sea view can be appreciated from this course. |
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This downhill par three has an absolutely spectacular view as the hole is
surrounded with an ocean view. Bunkers on both sides protect the green.
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| The sixteenth hole is a long and demanding hole that has
a strong dogleg that bends to the right. This hole is known to be the signature
hole as there is a cliff-top setting that looks over the ocean all along
the right side. The over-the-cliff tee shot will need to be accurate and
long, otherwise it would be difficult to reach the green in two shots. The
fairways slope sharply from left to right. The second shot will need to
be hit over a downhill lie. Accuracy is an important factor since if the
ball curves too much to the right, players may find themselves looking down
a rocky cliff to find their ball. This hole is most likely to be the most
dramatic and difficult hole for many players on this course. |
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The seventeen hole is another long and demanding hole that consists of a
dogleg that bends to the right. The tee shot will need to showcase some
distance in order for the ball to reach the down slope. Bunkers on both
sides of the deep and elevated green squeeze the landing area of the second
shot. The US Golf Magazine selected this hole as one of the best 500 holes
in the world in 2000 (the latest version). |
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It is an hour drive to get to the Gulf Harbor
Golf Club from Central Auckland. The course is located inside a relatively
large resort. There is also a hotel that is open to guests.
The Top 100 Golf Courses of the World (top100golfcourses.com) ranks Gulf
Harbour Golf Club as the 11th best course in New Zealand in 2016. It is
also ranked in the top 25 courses in New Zealand by a panel of NZPGA Professionals
and Golf Travel operators. The Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed courses in
the neighboring Australia are The
National GC - Old Course, Joondalup
Resort CC , Hyatt Regency Column GC, Meadow Springs G&CC and Cape
Schanck Resort. |
2nd Par 5 524 yards (2)