Tuesday, March 21, 2006
One more “must” before Cape Kidnappers
We've headed south to Hawke's Bay and arrived in Hastings at a golf course called Bridge Pa.
Image from newzealand.com
Pa being a Maori word for fortified village or redoubt
No this is not the Pa. It's Bridge Pa's very fine clubhouse.
Image from hastings.nzgolf.net
And who said you've gotta go to Scotland to play the old courses.
We've just played one that started over a hundred years ago and now we're about to play one that got going in 1898. However it does appear the trees have grown a wee bit since then.
Here's a good link to the course scorecard and includes some glimpses of the course
And the following piece of information will come in handy when we get there and want to impress the natives with the homework we've done. It comes from the club's web site and is about another great Jones boy.
Not "Bobby" but Stuart Jones.
“THE EMPEROR”
Stuart Jones joined the Hastings Golf Club in 1947 on a 24 handicap. The young Jones, who had taken up golf seriously when a scalding received from a Wairakei geyser persuaded him to cut short a promising rugby career, took a “look, listen and learn” approach towards improving his own game.
By the start of the 1948 season he was on a 16 handicap and by its end he was on three and had won the first of his many club championships. The club has a new No 1 player and the most stellar career in New Zealand amateur golf had been launched.
From success at Bridge Pa his achievements quickly blossomed and he began to be the player to be reckoned with at first provincial, then national and ultimately international level as well.
Image from newzealand.com
Pa being a Maori word for fortified village or redoubt
No this is not the Pa. It's Bridge Pa's very fine clubhouse.
Image from hastings.nzgolf.net
And who said you've gotta go to Scotland to play the old courses.
We've just played one that started over a hundred years ago and now we're about to play one that got going in 1898. However it does appear the trees have grown a wee bit since then.
Here's a good link to the course scorecard and includes some glimpses of the course
And the following piece of information will come in handy when we get there and want to impress the natives with the homework we've done. It comes from the club's web site and is about another great Jones boy.
Not "Bobby" but Stuart Jones.
“THE EMPEROR”
Stuart Jones joined the Hastings Golf Club in 1947 on a 24 handicap. The young Jones, who had taken up golf seriously when a scalding received from a Wairakei geyser persuaded him to cut short a promising rugby career, took a “look, listen and learn” approach towards improving his own game.
By the start of the 1948 season he was on a 16 handicap and by its end he was on three and had won the first of his many club championships. The club has a new No 1 player and the most stellar career in New Zealand amateur golf had been launched.
From success at Bridge Pa his achievements quickly blossomed and he began to be the player to be reckoned with at first provincial, then national and ultimately international level as well.
