Waitangi
Not far from Paihia is the town of Waitangi where we noticed a golf course high in the hills near the location where the treaty was signed. The views were very good, mainly on the back nine near the water, but this course has no fairway reticulation so the tees and fairways were rock hard and were in very poor condition. There were few bunkers and all were very shallow and uninteresting.
The best holes were the par 3, 6th , the par 5,11th and the par 4, 14th. The par 5, 13th was up a fairly steep hill and also played into a strong breeze and played much longer than its yardage. The 11th could be a really good golf hole. It plays downhill and then left to a green that is nestled only a few yards from the waters edge. With so little grass on the fairway it was hard to stop your ball from rolling down the bank to the left toward a hollow and out of bounds fence. Near the green, especially to the right, the grass was very sparce.
The short par 4, 12th is close to the waters edge but the tee area was so unattractive (I found it almost impossible to get my tee into the ground here) that it spoiled the hole.
I don't know their financial situation but the course seemed quite busy. It wouldn't take a lot of money to improve the playability of the course dramatically. I don't normally comment on green fees but NZ$60 seemed excessive for a course in such poor condition and the person in the shop, whom we assumed was the professional, was decidedly unfriendly.
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