Golf: Intense work pays off for Te Puke

Te Puke course superintendent, Mike Homer, ahead of Garrard Shield tournament to be played there next week. Photo: John Borren

Te Puke Golf Club will host this weekend's Garrard Shield and Ralph Cup (under-19) competitions for the first time.

It is the culmination of years of intense work and smart strategic planning to reinvigorate the course to reach the standard to host such events.

The picturesque course has always been under-utilised because of its location but the new Tauranga Eastern Link highway is quickly changing that. The major improvements have been since course superintendent Mike Homer joined in 2012.

The Englishman has worked at highly regarded Buckinghamshire clubs Stoke Park and Beaconsfield, where Luke Donald learned to play, and three New Zealand courses.

Every golf course is rated on the quality of its greens, tees and fairways and Te Puke's improvement over the last two years has been remarkable.

Homer, 40, is in sole charge of the course but says it has taken a collaborative effort to get the course in such good order.

"The volunteers have been so important. When I first came here we had a few helping out and I needed more help, so the members came on board," Homer said. "We have some guys in their 80s who come on out to help, cut the rough in the fairways and help out with the bunkers.

"The whole presentation of the course helped with [Garrard Shield] coming here but the greens are what people talk about when they leave here. They have come along leaps and bounds. Slowly the course has gone from trying to convert from brown poa to brown top [grass], which is quite a long process.

"I am doing quite low nitrogen diet on the greens because we grow grass here like probably no other course in New Zealand. You basically have to fight it down."

This weekend, the speed on the greens will be ramped up to an impressive 11 on the stimpmeter, thanks greatly to a new greens roller. The players will be off the blue tees (6151m, NZSCR 71.5), which will be challenging even for some of New Zealand's top amateurs.

Te Puke member Harry Hillier, 16, is in the Bay of Plenty team to compete for the Garrard Shield while Landyn Edwards is away in the US, competing in the World Speed Golf Championship. Shaun Campbell, 15, steps up to the Bay senior team.

Last October, Bay of Plenty won their eighth consecutive Garrard Shield title, the 11th in 13 years, in the highly competitive men's match-play event contested annually by provincial powers Northland, Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.