Hastings - North Island - New Zealand

Probably the best course in hawkes bay outside of kidnappers. Always in great condition with some challenging holes. Very friendly staff always keen to ensure you enjoy the round. Anyone visiting the bay would rewarded with great scenery and perfect greens well worth a visit and great value for money

I had arranged for a large group of us to play the course and ended up having one of the worst experiences and embarrassments possible. The course was in poor condition, our times weren't booked in though we had arranged months in advance. Playable to an extent, except for the fact that there were dead birds scattered around everywhere. Very strange environment, not enjoyable, and the staff were rude and abrupt. AVOID.

I have elaborated my disappointment in the archetypal Kiwi tree-lined parkland course in other reviews (see The Grange, Napier, or Invercargill). However, there are a number of courses that, whilst you can see that they may have some elements of that dull penal format, they also clearly have plenty extra to offer. There might be some clear influence of the strategic school, meaning that the course might be played in different ways in different circumstances. There might be some intriguing putting surfaces, bunkers that do more than just penalise, or even some use of visual deception. There may even be something as radical as a semi-blind tee shot (they don’t often like that type of thing in this part of the world, I’m told). One way or another, there has been some consideration and imagination put into the designs that lifts it above the mediocrity commonly found in this country’s club courses.

I think that this description could be applied to a number of our ranked courses, e.g. Kelvin Heights, Rotorua, Otago, St Clair and Wanaka. And I would add Hastings to that list. On the face of it, there’s the flat topography and generic lines of trees that threaten to disappoint, and to be honest, maybe seven or eight of the eighteen are from that mould. But there is plenty of interest elsewhere. There is a much greater sense of space, in contrast to the suffocating tree lines of its peers (has there been a tree culling programme at some point?). There’s a gentle ripple to the ground that always seems to add value. There are some appealing green sites with what looks like new and improved bunkering (according to Google Earth) on the 3rd and the 15th. And the shape of many of the holes (i.e. the positioning and angle of the dogleg) appears to have been planned so that ‘just hitting the fairway’ is not an option – more specific targets need to be hit, or the approach will need to be shaped with considerable skill (I’m talking 3, 11, 12, 14, 15). I also enjoyed the par-5 10th – so good to see a semi-blind tee-shot that visually unsettles without denying the golfer a sight of where he wants to play. And this is also the one hole where bunkers clearly elicit decisions, for both pros and club golfers.

The course was in spanking nick on the day I played (a week after the NZ Amateur) – would be interesting to hear comment from any readers as to whether it is always this good – I suspect it might be.

On the down side, I don’t think this is the type of course (i.e. fairly level, conventional parkland) that can get away with its fairly minimal hazards (there are 6 holes without sand), especially when many of the trap placements are unimaginative.

Still, in my honest opinion, this is the place to come if you’re after a warm-up before you take on Cape Kidnappers. Although it may not blow your mind, I doubt it will disappoint either. Matt Richardson