A GOLFERS’ MECCA

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 170, 8 October 1927, Page 18 (Supplement)

A GOLFERS’ MECCA

FASCINATING ROTORUA COURSE WORLD’S MOST UNIQUE HAZARDS all the golf courses in New Zealand that at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua, is the most fascinating. In recent years it has gained a renown that is amazingly wide-spread. No golfer misses a round if he can work one in, and many go back year after year to spend a golfing holiday on the course. The Rotorua Golf Club was founded

in 1910 and has attained its present position from very modest beginnings. No golf course is known to possess such a wealth of natural and unique hazards or such variety of scenic attractions. At its inception the club had no links of its own and a beautiful undulating farm, was leased for the Sheriff’s farm, was leased for the right of play and for two or three years was used as a nine and often a 12-hole course.

There was much enthusiasm and little experience, but the abundance of the former compensated for the lack of the latter. As the club grew in strength and experience it was found

that to expand it was essential to have a course which should virtually be the property of the club. Negotiations were put on foot and the. Government gave a lease over some waste land in an area known as the Arikikapakapa reserve. This generous act of the Government was far-sighted wisdom, for at the present time the links are the principal attraction of the spa. The area is some 97 acres and since the first grant an additional area has been included. The Government also made a cash grant to assist in the work of clearing the land, which was undulating and full of extinct fumaroles and natural hazards. The purchase of a triplex mower and its constant application was the real step toward making Arikikapakapa the magni-

ficent sporting course which it now is. The original effort was a nine-hole course, but it was most wisely laid out and was adapted to the 18-hole lay-out without any difficulty. Two years ago Mr. Chas. Redhead, a noted golf architect, who had settled’ in Rotorua, volunteered to lay out a bunkering scheme. In conjunction with Mr. IT. B. Lusk, of Auckland, plans were made and submitted to the executive and were unanimously approved The work was then put in hand and has proceeded continuously since. The design has received the hall-mark of approval from both amateur and professional. Visitors from the Homeland,

Australia and America have all enthusiastically acclaimed the genius of the creator. The lay of the course is due east and west. The breaks to north and south of the line are at the short 6th and 9th on the outward passage, and at the 11th, 12th and 17th inward. The wealth of contour diversions, intrusions by lake, stream, hot mud volcanoes, and sulphur emitting jets, with furiously boiling pools at intervals, make the course a golfing wonderland, unique in the world of sport. The whole area has delightful clumps of wattle and distinctive pines and in the early spring is a sea of golden bloom. The course is within 10 minutes of every hotel and accommodation house in Rotorua, and a continuous and well-equipped bus

service renders the links accessible at any time to visitors. The fees are extremely moderate.