On The Road to Schytherbolle

Tom in Taranaki
Images from windwand.co.nz
From Taupo we go west to Taranaki best known to the outside world where Tom Cruise was involved in the shooting of The Last Samurai.
Here's a map of the area.

Taranaki is blessed with some very fine golf courses and per capita must be close to being the province best supplied with golf courses.
For instance Inglewood with Mount Taranaki in the background.

Westown which I'm told is very good

And the jewel in the Taranaki crown - Ngamotu

And here's a link to the page which provided the photographs. It also provides useful backgrounds on what to expect

Images from www.kinloch-golf
The Kinloch Golf Resort
A Jack Nicklaus Signature Course
Some 30 years ago Jack Nicklaus played golf at Wairakei (see previous post) when he came to sample the finest trout fishing in the world at Lake Taupo. He stayed at the very exclusive Huka Lodge where, when he wasn't indulging in another sporting passion in his life, fly fishing, he was banging brand new golf balls into the nearby Waikato River.
Kinloch sounds like the name of a place on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Rannoch But in this case it's a place near a braw braw place called Lake Taupo
Here's a link your opportunity to buy a piece of New Zealand with a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course right on your doorstep
As a man of few words I'll leave it to the pics to tell the story and why golfing in Godzone is good and just about to get a lot better.
Except to add a couple of quotes from the good man himself

"Kinloch on the edge of majestic Lake Taupo is a beautiful tranquil place. A place where you can spend time with friends and family to enjoy experiences and create memories that will endure" - Jack Nicklaus
"The Kinloch site has the views and all the elevation that you need for a great golf course. It will be a very special and enjoyable golf course" - Jack Nicklaus


By the way the young thing in the water wasn't Jack 30 years ago but does have about the same hair length of his younger days.


By the way I've just added a site to my blogroll http://www.thegolfspace.com/
It's a way to network with fellow golfers and could come in handy if you are beginning to fancy a trip to Godzone but can't manage to find anyone to come along for the trip

Image from golfersdream.co.nz who specialize in organising golf tours in Godzone
This is not a photograph of golfer going to his god after a gawdawful round at Wairakei.
We're now in Taupo and on our way to the Centennial Championship course and here's a link.
The blurb says - "The Centennial Championship Course is Taupo Golf Club's inland Links course..."

Duh! Inland links? My old man advised me long ago “Laddie they’re called links because it’s a wee bit of land that links the countryside with the seaside.”
So where’s the sea? Although have to admit that Lake Taupo is a bloody big lake and the turf at Taupo has the touchy feel of a typical links course.

There’s also The Tauhara Course at Taupo which is not quite as good as the Centennial. A funky little course with steaming fumaroles and very few bunkers.

Image from wairakeigolfcourse.co.nz
Leaving Cape Kidnappers wasn't easy especially when feeling like anything else would be an anti climax. But not so.
We’re on our way to wonderful Wairakei.
As mentioned in a previous post
“…the nearest thing to the King's Course Gleneagles that I’ve ever seen or played in, in the Southern Hemisphere.”
The above picture is of the first hole at Wairakei which is like Dun Whinny, the first hole at the King's Course, in that it looks easy. And it is compared to what's in store.
Excuse me while I indulge myself by including a pic of Dun Whinny

Image from gleneagles.com
Now back to Wairakei
If you'll click on this link it'll take you to the score card.
It's not immediately apparent that if you click on one of the holes on the course map then you can see more photographs of this wonderful golf course.
For instance their most famous hole called 'The Rogue'
Here's a pic and description from ausgolf.com.au


Without doubt, 14 ‘The Rogue’ is Wairakei’s signature hole, a 548m uphill par 5 with a huge pine in the centre of the fairway 400m from the tee. The huge kidney shaped green is cut into a steep hillside, and was once protected by a fearsome single ‘hell’ bunker. Alas, constant erosion dictated that it be replaced with three smaller pots.