Wainui

Wainui Golf Club is the phoenix that rose out of the ashes of the Peninsula Golf Club. In 2009, Peninsula members voted to take the option of selling their Red Beach golf course to developers, who in turn provided them with a new golf course and clubhouse three miles inland. A new identity was also chosen – the Maori word ‘wainui’ roughly translates as ‘big water’.

Grant Puddicombe and his team at Puddicombe Golf were brought in to design the course (their previous portfolio includes Terrace Downs, Lakes at Pauanui, and the gradual renovation at Remuera). They were given a piece of rolling farmland to work with, punctuated by two streams nestled within wide gullies.

The new course opened in 2016, overlooked by the impressive new clubhouse from its perch above the 9th and 18th greens. The adventurous layout works its way around the undulating property, before twice heading back to lakeside holes to complete each nine.

A nine-hole par three course called Orchard opened for play at Wainui in late 2017.