When the Kaitaia Originals upped sticks and went west

Among those celebrating five decades of links play at Ahipara over Easter weekend earlier this month were several members of the exclusive Originals club who were present when the Kaitaia Golf Club club first moved to the seaside location.

While an estimated 50 or so golfers braved windy and wet conditions to complete a 36-hole tournament designed as part of the Golden Anniversary commemorations, a group of stalwarts relaxed inside the comfort of a well-lit and spacious clubhouse, taking in spectacular views of the west coast and 90 Mile Beach to north and south. Nearby, scrapbooks and faded press clippings were laid out, mostly celebrating the momentous occasion when the club upped sticks and moved west.

"The property was mostly sand dunes covered with tall lupins and kikuya," noted a yellowing report from the Age [November 4, 1986] as the club, established in 1921, celebrated its 65th anniversary.

Peter Currie was one of those present when the decision was made to abandon the previous location on Pukepoto Road opposite the Kaitaia Timber Mill over the summer of 1964/65, because of the course's insurmountable drainage problems. Having arrived in Kaitaia in 1957 and joined the club a year later, Currie still remembers the heaviness of the old course: "Balls used to go in the mud and you'd never see them again."

Another 'Original' holding similar recollections was Clive Thompson, also club president for 11 years from 1968-78.

"

The old course was so wet it was absolutely terrible

," he said, referring to the need to find a new location. He noted a much debated decision was eventually made to purchase 130 acres of well draining land bordering the 90 Mile Beach for 3000 pounds from Frank Masters. However, Thompson said it was thanks to the vision of one Goldie Wardell who envisaged a course virtually on the 90 Mile Beach.

"He [Wardell] could see the first of this. It was all lupins, they were 8-foot high. Where the greens are now, we had to pull it out by hand. There was a lot of hard work but we had fabulous working bees . . . If you had seen this when you first came here. Where you come in, you could only get 75 metres in from there and that's where we mixed the concrete for the floor [the clubhouse now sits on]," said Thompson, noting some of Masters land was sub-divided to help fund development (the sold land has since become the well populated Kaka Street community).

Thompson paused and glance around the clubrooms. "It's fabulous," he said proudly of a facility he had played a major role in establishing.

But he also knew the beloved club suffered financially, "like most clubs," and struggled to attract new members due to the changing times. Other things like the stricter "drink driving laws" had also impacted negatively on patronage which had never been an issue in a different age.

Watching nearby as the old timers reminisced was KGC president Linda Lunjevich. She was very pleased with the weekend's proceedings which included a tournament and a special dinner on the Sunday evening, but having some of the founders behind the club's current location in attendance was the icing on the cake. "It's just been a really good weekend. About collaboration, old people, young people. Golf is full of rules. This wasn't about that, [it was] anyone, anything, come have a hit."