Cyclone Gabrielle: Napier Golf Club almost ready to re-open

The 18th hole at Napier Golf Club was not left in good shape by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Paul Taylor

Members won’t need to bring a shovel and wheelbarrow next time.

No, after months of back-breaking clean-up work, the Napier Golf Club faithful can start packing their clubs again.

Almost six months since floodwater swept through Waiohiki, Napier Golf Club is set to welcome back its almost 900 members from Saturday, August 5.

Only nine of the club’s 18 holes are still playable, but that’s an achievement in itself, given the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

It's a vastly different sight on the 18th green now. Photo / Paul Taylor

“It’s a huge milestone for us,” club general manager Scott Steward said.

“We’re pretty proud of where we’ve got to so far, but the big goal is to get us back to 18 holes.”

That’s still some way off, with December the tentative goal.

“We’d like to do a grand opening - or grand reopening, should I say - prior to Christmas,” said Steward.

“It’s so hard projecting, but we’re pretty confident we can get to that as long as we get some half-decent weather between now and then.”

The back-nine was hardest hit by the cyclone, with just holes 10, 11 and 18 in any shape to accommodate golfers. Under the new composite format of the course, 10, 11 and 18 will become holes one, two and three for the foreseeable future.

Silt on the greens at the Napier Golf Club had to be removed by hand. Photo / Paul Taylor

The fact any of the holes are fit for play is a testament to the work done by greenstaff, members and volunteers from various Hawke’s Bay clubs in the immediate aftermath of February 14.

“The greens were our number-one priority, and we had scores of people with shovels scraping the silt off the greens in that first week after the event,” Steward said.

“We lost four greens so, out of all that, only having to re-sow four of our greens was huge for us. If we had to do any more, that would have put us a long way behind.

“But that was massive and we couldn’t do it with machines. We had to do all that by hand.”

There's still work to be done before every hole at Napier Golf Club is playable again. Photo / Paul Taylor

The course will be walking-only for starters, while it will be “another few months” before the clubhouse is open again.

The pro shop will be operational in a few weeks, though, once club professional Andrew Henare is back from caddying duties at the US Junior Amateur.

Henare is carrying the bag of Napier Golf Club prodigy Zack Swanwick at the tournament in Charleston, South Carolina. Swanwick is tied for 26th after the first round of an event previously won by players such as Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and newly crowned British Open champion Brian Harman.

Hamish Bidwell joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2022 and works out of the Hastings newsroom.