Royal Wellington is one of New Zealand’s most beautiful and ancient golf courses. Founded in 1895, the club moved to its current site at Heretaunga, just north of Wellington, in 1908 and hosted its first of many NZ Opens four years later. It was here in 1954 that 18-year-old Bob Charles became the youngest player and first left-hander to win the Open.
The layout at Wellington, which was granted the ‘Royal’ charter in 2004, went basically unaltered for 64 years. Then in 1972 the club, having bought some adjoining land, laid out a new 18-hole course plus a nine-hole inner course. Both opened for play two years later.
A round at Royal Wellington is not simply a game of golf. It’s like wandering through a botanical garden. A rich variety of native and exotic trees line every fairway. Autumn, when the many oaks, maples, elms and macrocarpas greet the cooler weather by bursting into vivid shades of yellow, brown and orange, is a glorious time to visit.
Yet as it has evolved and grown, this par-72 has become a victim of its own heavily treed landscape. While the trees are beautiful, their growth has dramatically narrowed the playing lines. In 2006 the club commissioned Mike Clayton to devise a masterplan, a document that now forms the basis for all future development of the layout.
‘Royal Wellington is a beautiful parkland setting with streams running alongside several holes,’ says Clayton. ‘Yet none of the water has been used to any strategic advantage. And the narrow fairways really leave it up to the greenkeeper to dictate where a player should aim. Golf is a better game when the player decides for him or herself the way to go.’
This, Clayton believes, is the key to all great golf courses. ‘Our plan is to widen the course by expanding the areas of short grass, and to marry that with strategically designed greens and surrounds that encourage play not from the middle of the fairway, but from the corners and edges. The streams can be part of the strategy-making on seven holes – and our assumption is these holes will prove to be enduringly popular.’
One hole that won’t need much tweaking is the 443-metre 2nd, a demanding par-five even if it isn’t long by modern standards. Your tee shot must carry a stream that cuts in front of the tee then runs down the left side of the fairway, all the way to the green. If you try to bite off too much of the corner with your drive, you will find your ball kicking down towards the water’s edge, leaving you with a tough side-hill lie. For bigger hitters the green is easily reachable in two shots. But first you have to get your drive on the fairway.
The tight driving lines on many holes give accurate hitters an advantage. The 377-metre, par-four 5th is a prime example, with a deftly shaped right-to-left tee shot ideal for finding the fairway and avoiding the tall trees on both sides. Rising out of the corner of the dogleg left is a big totara tree, and a stream flanks the fairway’s entire left edge. Once you have negotiated the tee shot, a long approach – preferably one shaped left to right – is needed if you are to avoid the massive bunker on the right side of the green.
Royal Wellington is a private members’ club. Limited access, mostly on weekdays, is available for visitors.
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MEMORABLE HOLES 2nd, 5th, 8th, 10th, 14th and 18th WHERE TO GO 28 Golf Rd, Heretaunga, Upper Hutt, Wellington BOOK A ROUND (04) 528 4590, www.rwgc.co.nz OTHER 120 GREAT COURSES NEARBY Paraparaumu Beach (46 km), Cape Kidnappers (304 km) WHERE TO STAY Totara Lodge, a few minutes’ drive from the golf club, has 26 suites, a buffet-style restaurant and a welcoming bar. BEFORE/AFTER YOUR ROUND Enjoy the picturesque gardens and outdoor dessert cafe of The Blueberry Farm and Bakehouse. You can wander the farm and pick your own organic blueberries. |