Day 41 - Royal Auckland GC

Posted by Michael on 10 February 2010 | 2 Comments | Tags: , ,

I have just woken from a mid-afternoon nap. Thinking about having a late afternoon nap as well. I am tired.

Today started very early. After another great night of banter at the Patersons’, who kindly hosted us for dinner, we woke bright eyed and bushy tailed to tell our story on national tele on TV1 this morning.  The interview went OK, apart from me having a howler when I said we will ‘keep in touch’ with Gret and Ange, which as Jamie suggests is what one might say to an obscure work colleague… I think next time I will say something along the lines of “we speak with the girls daily, miss them dearly and hope to see them a couple of times along the way before we get back to NZ in December.” Check out the link on our media portal above to see the footage.

We rushed from TVNZ to the newly renamed Royal Auckland Golf Club at Middlemore for our 9am tee time. We were joined by two members, Mike Benjamin and Bryan Hannan who were charming chaps and gave us some crucial local advice. First impressions is that this club is a golfing sanctuary. Peaceful, with mature trees and a classical clubhouse.  It had an atmosphere, like Millbrook, where you just relax and enjoy your walk. Just what we needed after the adrenaline of appearing on TV!

We played off the blue tees, which was a good option as we saw the golf courses teeth. At 6200m it is a stern walk, and with a bit of a breeze today the course played its full length.  One of the best features of the course was the couch fairways. These fairways were completely redone a few years back (which I am sure caused some consternation at the time) and now they have come up an absolute treat. Couch grass requires less water and so the fairways remain in their immaculate state year round.  Unfortunately I missed most fairways today, and instead was pitching the ball out of the trees (each hole is tree-lined) and scrambling to make par.  My scrambling was helped by the greens which were quick and rolled incredibly true. Some local knowledge also helped on the greens, and my partner in the four-ball match, Bryan, was quick to point out the severe swales on a number of the greens.  From the fairway, the greens looked generally quite flat but they weren’t! The last par three, the 13th, had a green that was so severe I lagged a 25 foot putt three feet to the right to prevent it being catapulted 30 feet left and off the green.  The greens require thought, creativity and subtlety to have a good day with your short game.  And they are the kind of greens that you just don’t get tired of putting on.

Bryan and I were put to the sword by Jamie and Mike who combined to beat us 5/3 in the four ball match. A real thrashing led mainly by Mike who hit the ball like a dream and barely missed a fairway – great golf to shoot an impressive 80. Both the locals also shared with us their war stories about golfing holidays through the UK.  Mike, off an 8 handicap, managed a 73 first crack around Dornoch which he described as his finest golfing moment – that is the kind of day we all long for!

The day finished with JP having 3 weetbix as a punishment for losing by more than 5 stablefords. Scores 82 (33 points) and 90 (26 points). Check out the vid below for some good snaps of the course, and to see Jamie with his new mate.  Thanks again to Royal Auckland GC for hosting us for another perfect day on the road.

M

P.S A huge thanks to Mike for his generous donation to the First Tee today.

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  • I wouldn't say that either MG, the tone might come across as slightly sarcastic... which i am sure it's not.. :)

    Posted by Gretta, 11/02/2010 1:56am (1 year ago)

  • Great plug for Royal Dornoch - used to be in top 10 courses in the world. You need to get up to the highlands and play this magnificent links - Tom Watson & Greg Norman are members!!

    Posted by Colin Sutherland, 11/02/2010 12:05am (1 year ago)