no112.jpgWairakei International GOLF CLUB

Wairakeipar-514th.jpgWairakei International is New Zealand’s original resort course. As recently as 1996, one American magazine rated it among the top 20 courses in the world outside of the United States. And it is little wonder the Americans like Wairakei: it bears a striking resemblance to some of the classic parkland courses of Oregon and Washington.

It was built in 1970 as part of the New Zealand government’s plan to lure international visitors – and golfers – to the Lake Taupo area, less than five minutes’ drive away. Course designer Commander John Harris worked on the layout with Peter Thomson, the five-time British Open champion, and Mike Wolveridge, a US tour player. Wairakei would become the first of dozens of Thomson–Wolveridge design projects.

The course was later sold to a Japanese company. In 1997 a syndicate of Kiwi businessmen, all keen golfers, bought it back. Thomson and Wolveridge were invited to return and remodel the course the way they’d originally planned it. This included adding new bunkers and turning ugly grassed gullies into the water hazards – some complete with waterfalls – that had always been intended.

Wairakei has since matured into a challenging, visually striking layout. Set in a valley surrounded by pine-covered mountains, its immaculate presentation complements a superb design that, even today, rates among Thomson and Wolveridge’s finest works. Away from the clubhouse the terrain becomes dramatic, as holes wind up, down and across the foothills. Bunkers are strategically placed and not overdone. The greenside traps are steep-faced and lined with the trunks of native punga ferns.

One of the few holes Thomson and Wolveridge redesigned just over a decade ago was the 350-metre, par-four 8th, known as ‘Farmer’s Folly’. It is a demanding hole where finding the fairway is even more essential than usual. The fairway is narrow, and it runs out at the 300-metre mark, where a wide creek cuts in front and wraps round the putting surface, which sits 90 degrees to your right on the other side of the water. The back half of the green is a good place to aim. A forward pin placement calls for an accurate approach shot that evades both the creek and two bunkers set into the side of the green.

Wairakei lies in the heart of the Taupo volcanic zone – steaming cliffs, geysers, boiling lakes, bubbling mud pools and floating pumice rocks. Much of the subsoil beneath Wairakei’s fairways is pumice. You certainly know you are in a geothermal zone as you plot your way along the 14th, a 556-metre par-five that is aptly named ‘The Rogue’. It heads up a narrow valley and straight towards a rogue bore hole that sends clouds of steam and spray rising more than 100 metres in the air. And while you might be able to see a fog of sulphurous steam, you cannot see the green from the tee.

Then, as you near the corner of the slight dogleg right, the rest of your journey comes into view. Standing guard in the middle of the fairway is a massive pine tree, ready to fend off any poorly thought-out second shot. The narrow elevated green is nearly 50 metres wide and almost C-shaped; so the pin position of the day dictates which side of the pine you must shoot for. It is strategy-making like this that turns Wairakei into such a fun and enjoyable course to play on.

MEMORABLE HOLES

3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th

WHERE TO GO

State Highway One, Taupo

BOOK A ROUND

(07) 374 8152, www.wairakeigolfcourse.co.nz

OTHER 120 GREAT COURSES NEARBY

Kinloch (24.3 km), Cape Kidnappers (178 km)

WHERE TO STAY

Bayview Wairakei Resort, with its 187 rooms and numerous other facilities, is 1 km from the course. The spectacular, world-famous Huka Lodge is just north of Taupo.

BEFORE/AFTER YOUR ROUND

Visit the Wairakei Terraces – set amid mud pools, geysers and a sacred healing spa – for a glimpse back at traditional Maori village life.