14 brief thoughts for the day:
1)  Queenstown is the golfing capital of NZ. I may have said this yesterday, but itâ??s worth reiterating. The capital. â??nuf said.
2)  Millbrook has the most amazing ambience of any golfing resort in New Zealand â?? the buildings are stunning, the setting serene and the service first class. I could think of worse places to spend my daysâ?¦ If life goes well for the next 40 years Iâ??m buying a retirement place there.
3)Â Â My 7 iron is not my friend. Â Jamie and his putter have been on better terms.
4)Â Â Greg Turner is a nice chap. He also gave Millbrook some teeth with the new â??Coronet Nineâ??. Â Fairways tarted up with slates of schist; drivable risk and reward par 4â??s; and tricky short par 3â??s made the new 9 an absolute pleasure. Â (It easily pushes Kelvin Heights out of 4th spot in my books, but too early to make a call on how high up the NZ rankings it sits for me.) 460m par fours and 570m par fives are immense. Â And the acres of knee high brown top grass suit their purpose.
5)Â Â Putting on perfect greens is a treat, but it is even better when a couple of 40 footers sneak in (during the first couple of holes, no less). Â Green staff at Millbrook take a bow.
6)Â Â We managed to play the Coronet 9 before John Key officially opens it on Sunday. Â I hope JK also gets slammed by the black tees like we did (although heâ??s more likely to be playing on the woofter tees).
7)Â Â I have the worst golfing tanâ?¦
8)Â Â We have had a fair few photographs from various media taken today. It is hard to keep the smile on, so Jamie says some truly unprintable things to make me laugh.
9)Â Â You can see why golf takes 5 hours when there are million dollar views on every hole.
10) How much better is scoring when you get lucky and find a couple of balls in the long grass! Â Even better when you snap slice it (twice) onto the opposite fairway and make an easy parâ?¦ I am happy to admit I was a bandit golfer today.
11) A huge thanks to Millbrook and Tourism NZ for hosting us, along with the international media contingent, today.  The service, facilities, golf course and meal were all first rate. Day couldnâ??t have been any better.
12) Jamie and I are now level on the matchplay scores at 14.5 each. We are going to play stableford next month (as it promotes playing the course as opposed to each other). Â Thus there are only two days of matchplay left, for the winner to take out this monthâ??s award (oh if we had sponsors to offer some golf balls, gloves, (or even food) to the winner).
13) There may be a few punters walking around The Hills with sore heads tomorrow, it sounds like Queenstown is already going off.
14) Go Tataurangi!  Two more good rounds mate! Â
Â
Posting comments has been disabled.
Jamie,
Great to hear you played Jacks Point today. Isn't it awesome?!! Keen to hear your thoughts on the 5-6-7 stretch of holes there. Some of the best holes anywhere.
BTW, Phil Leishman and Peter Alliss mentioned you guys on the NZ Open broadcast today.
Looking forward to the detailed review on Jacks Point!!! I love the place. Playing there again in a couple of days, so can't wait!!
Cheers,
Dan.
Posted by Dan, 31/01/2010 7:20am (3 years ago)
Dan, just played at Jacks Point. Off the black tees. It's a monster. And it's probaby the most stunning course I've played. Shot 88 and somehow feel OK about it!
Posted by Jamie, 31/01/2010 2:00am (3 years ago)
Hi fellas,
Great work on the blog and the adventure. I've really been enjoying reading your daily updates.
Especially interested in your comments about Kinloch (agree with everything you said) and re the new Coronet Nine at Millbrook.
Are you playing or visiting Jacks Point while you're in Queenstown? I think you'll be blown away. It's got better scenery than Kelvin Heights and a layout up there with Kinloch.
All the best with your travels.
Cheers,
Dan.
Posted by Dan, 30/01/2010 8:33am (3 years ago)
Chisholm Park
12 holes bart cape kidnappers christchurch christmas doak ed bayley hawke's bay heretaunga jane poole napier golf club new zealand puregolf2010 rangiora rarangi gc royal royal wellington the first tee the interislander waiohiki
