Located at east end of the Tauranga airport runway, less than a couple of kilometres from the coast, the parkland layout at Omanu Golf Club is an early 1970s design that occupies around 110 acres of relatively flat terrain, making it an easy walk for golfers who play here.
Grant Puddicombe devised a master plan for the club which was signed off in 2022 and the first tranche of work (new greens at #5 and #15) was completed the following year. The overall project (which includes building ten new greens) is not due to finish until 2030.
The course extends to around 5,850 metres, playing to a par of 72, with holes arranged as two returning nines. Highlights include the par three 7th (where the green lies on the other side of a drainage ditch) and the right doglegging short par four 16th in the northwest corner of the property.
Grant Puddicombe told us in February 2024:
“We completed a Master Plan to direct the club with long-range improvements and have completed the first phase of development which included new green complexes for holes #5 and #15 as well as a new tee complex for hole #16.
We added some fairway bunkering to holes #3 and #6 which are both par fives. All these improvements have resulted in added interest and challenge for low handicappers without impacting the average club golfers.
We have also managed to reduce the maintained areas with the introduction of bark mulched areas.
Future phases of the Master Plan will offer a par three playing in the opposite direction as currently all the par threes play in the same general direction.
We have also added some length and varied some of the play corridors for future phases, the result and the brief has been to improve the course for the members, add interest and challenge for low handicappers while keeping the course user-friendly enough to keep the speed of play to an acceptable level.”
