Royal Auckland and Grange (Grange & Tamaki)

Founded in 1894, Auckland Golf Club moved to a new site in 1901 before finally settling at its current location in 1910. The new course at Middlemore was originally set out by club professional F. G Hood then completely revised by Charles Redhead between late 1928 and 1930.

Subsequent modifications to the layout were made by H.G. Babbage (1954), John Harris (1965) and Peter Thomson (1976-1992).

Otahuhu Golf Club was established in 1924 with a 9-hole course laid out on the Otahuhu Trotting Club in Mangere East. Seven years later, the club – which later changed its name to Grange Golf Club in 1956 – was on the move to a new 82-acre site immediately next to Auckland Golf Club.

After World War II, major renovation work was carried out on The Grange layout, with the remodelled course officially opened for play on 25th March 1950.

The two golf clubs, Auckland and The Grange, happily co-existed side by side for many years and each was given the honour of hosting the New Zealand Open on a number of occasions over that time.

A wind of change began to blow early in the new millennium, however, not long after both clubs staged the NZ Open in 2003 (at Auckland) and 2004 (at The Grange).

First of all, Auckland became Royal Auckland in September 2010 then five years later the club merged with The Grange to form a new Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club, with the intention that the new club will bear favourable comparison with the best metropolitan golf clubs in the Australasian region.

Central to that lofty aim was the vision of creating a golf course fit for purpose in the modern era.

“Project Legacy” got under way in 2017, scheduled to be conducted in two phases, the first of which entailed the construction of thirteen new holes on the former Grange course, the building of two bridges across the estuary between the two properties, and a new clubhouse.

Phase two of the development then saw the balance of the holes constructed on the Middlemore property, along with the driving range, with all the work completed in early 2021.

Designed by Chris Cochran of Nicklaus Design and built by contractor Puddicombe Golf, the new 27-hole facility features three 9-hole circuits, named Grange, Tamaki and Middlemore, and all of the greens incorporate state-of-the-art SubAir systems.

Holes on the Grange nine occupy ground that was previously on the 18-hole Grange course. The Tamaki nine is split evenly between the Middlemore and Grange properties – the par three 6th plays over the Tamaki Estuary – while the Middlemore nine is more of a classic parkland design, featuring tree- lined fairways and slightly smaller greens.