Gulf Harbour - North Island - New Zealand

Gulf Harbour is a challenge for golfer of all levels but more than that, it is a course to come and truly enjoy. Whether you are playing well or not, the course layout has something to admire at every turn. Whilst the back nine will always take the plaudits, the front nine is well laid out with some challenging par fours and three feature holes around the lake.

Moving to the back nine and the course really starts to excel. After the challenging 11th hole par 5 up the hill, you cross the road for stunning views back towards the city and the course gets better as you reach the signature par four 16th - a true challenge and a great photo opportunity.

For me Gulf Harbour is a hidden gem in Auckland's and New Zealand's golfing scene. Whilst past glory may include the World Cup of Golf and New Zealand Opens, the course is still in fantastic condition and should be a must on any golf trip to New Zealand

After a grandiose beginning, Gulf Harbour Country Club went through a period of serious financial difficulties. In 2008 a consortium of members rectified the situation, the club was rejuvenated and is now a most viable, member owned facility.

Located on the Whangaparaoa peninsula, on shores of the Hauraki Gulf, just 30 or so minutes north of Auckland, this superb Trent Jones layout offers a world class golfing experience and is a course I consider worthy of a significantly more lofty ranking position. The club has been a creditable host venue for the World Golf Championships and the NZ Open.

Measuring almost 6,400 metres from the tips. Gulf Harbour boasts a rating of 74.8 and a slope of 136. Playability at this track is excellent. The course offers five sets tee blocks, thereby, adequately catering to the scratch marker and the higher handicap players alike.

Unfortunately, at the time of our visit, the greens and fairways had recently been cored [a necessary evil] and due to unseasonably heavy rain, the course was ‘quite wet’. The conditions, however, did not detract from the outstanding design and spectacular scenery which abounds on this great course.

Your round commences meekly enough and gradually builds beautifully through 7 and 8 and into an outstanding back nine, where the panorama from the short par 4, 12 is sensational.

16, a 394 metre par 4 is index 1 on the card and is followed by a great par 5 of 510 metres. They wend their way along and across the cliff tops in spectacular fashion, where fortune favours the brave, to a grandstand conclusion to the round at 18.

The spacious greens are quite undulating and at their best, [not recently cored] are reportedly, receptive and provide a universally true but testing putting surface.

The fairways are generally wide and accommodating, and typical of Trent Jones design, each offer a variety of risk and reward options. From the tee, correctly selecting a fairway location, in most instances, critical. This said, on many holes, a ‘bail out’ location is at the disposal of the long marker to ensure a pleasurable round for all.

The 19th does justice to the Gulf Harbour experience with a welcoming clubhouse, providing excellent service and typical Kiwi hospitality.

Others have detailed how the course starts easily and builds steadily. However, the overall design by Trent Jones junior and the condition of the course stand out. Frankly, it was in better overall condition than Kauri Cliffs that we played the week before. It is a course that clearly would benefit from some foreknowledge especially holes 16 and 17 where the extent of the landing areas is not fully apparent from the tee. Very definitely worthy of its current NZ rating and well worth a visit. One can see how playing here helped Lydia Komdevelop her all round skills.

I really enjoyed Gulf Harbour. 40 minutes north of Auckland and well worth a visit. As other people have said, the first few start fairly gently, and then as you get down to the 7th, 8th and 9th it starts to get exciting as you play around the lake. On the back 9, the 10th and 11th are well designed holes, but it's not until you get to the 12th where you start to see the beauty of the location of this golf course. With wide ranging views of the Auckland skyline and the Rangitoto volcano, then the main highlight being the 16th and 17th hugging the clifftops and the 16th having to drive over the cliffs. Along with Jack's Point in Queenstown my favourite course in NZ and am definitely going to start playing regularly here.

An excellent course (but beware, our GPS tried taking us down a road that had not yet been built!). The first few holes seem to be a gentle introduction but then the course builds in character. Once on the back 9, from 11 onwards there are some visually pleasing and testing holes with a couple of exacting tee shots over ravines and between stands of trees. Certainly a course that we would relish another go at.

First and foremost, I have to say something that struck me straight off – the conditioning of this place is unbelievable. This is especially true of the fairways – I distinctly remember stepping onto the first fairway, and thinking that I had never seen such a carpet – the grass just somehow seems more densely packed that anything I’ve ever seen before, not a hint of brown earth peeking through from beneath. The course is highly insistent on players carrying buckets to fill divots – there’s stands of full buckets in about 3 places around the course, almost as if they expect you to get through 4 buckets. Well it pays off – the best fairways I’ve ever seen.

As for the course, as the last reviewer commented, it’s a fairly straightforward first 6 holes, cutting a swathe through houses overlooking the fairways. Nice contours, but nothing special in terms of design or difficulty. The remainder of the front 9 takes a clockwise loop round the lake – all excellent tests, but these are the sort of resort-type holes that you can see countless other courses around the world – flat, relying on water as the predominant feature. The second nine is a far superior affair, starting with the par-5 11th snaking its way steeply up a hill to find a green nestled at the top. The stretch from 14 to 17 is the highlight, with the signature 16th being the clear stand-out hole. The drive across the corner of the clifftops stands there looking so inviting, a gap cleared between two huge trees looking like goalposts, tempting the so-called brave – it looks deceptively makeable. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of an optical illusion and it’s actually a 295yd carry from the back tees, so you’re not brave, you’ve actually foolish (when I say ‘you’, I mean ‘me’). It’s a shame there was no course planners available when I went, could have saved myself a few shots.

Overall, I’d be hard pushed to choose a favourite Auckland course between this and Titirangi – Titirangi’s the work of a genius, but it’s made the most of relatively unpromising land. Gulf Harbour has a much more high-flying, expensive feel to it, it rarely leaves you guessing – you see the trouble in front of you, the green complexes are unfiddly – you get what you deserve here. And like most New Zealand courses, a bargain at the price. I’ll be back. Matt Richardson

Gulf Harbour gets a bit of a slow start with the first six holes running through the resort with houses along the fairways. It then slowly builds up around the turn, and from hole 11, a great uphill par 5 there is no looking back. These are both good and very scenic holes.The course is also in a great condition with great fairways and very fast greens.

GULF HARBOUR COUNTRY CLUB - venue for the 1998 World Cup is situated 40 km north of the city at the end of the large Whangaparaoa Peninsula which jutsout into the Hauraki Gulf. This championship course by Robert. Trent Jones Jnr. features five sets of tees, the best greens in the country and spectacular coastal holes overlooking the Hauraki Gulf and it's Islands.The Country Club has all facilities: restaurant, driving range, practice areas, tennis, squash, gymnasium, saunas and spas and a 25 metre indoor swimming pool. The course was in fantastic shape with undulating, fast greens.There are some awesome holes on the back nine with great views of Auckland.

Excellent course just outside Aukland, built for the world cup of golf and the course has some breathtaking views over the harbour and back towards Aukland, greens are slick and undulating with some great short par 4's and long par 3's. If you are in the Aukland area it is a must as it is the best course for miles.