By BOB PEARCE
Eat your hearts out Aucklanders. The Poverty Bay Golf Club is the stuff of your golfing dreams.
The premier club in Gisborne is minutes from the city centre, offers a championship course of national status and with only 600 members is keen to have more players.
During the summer the
area attracts plenty of holidaymakers but there is still fairway room for everyone and the club is keen to boost its green fee income.
This holiday season green fee players will be offered a complimentary drink, either soft or alcoholic, with every round they play. And the course is of the highest quality.
It is on rolling sand-based country with a fair number of trees and some gorgeous views over the ocean.
The 14th, a 308m par-four, may be the most spectacular with its views out to Young Nicks Head.
But a tougher test is the par-five 12th. It stretches to 497m off the blue tees and earns the name Te Kuri for its double dogleg. There is an out-of-bounds fence on the right from the tee and some large trees guarding the right-hand side of the green.
Like many links courses, Poverty Bay's difficulty is accentuated by the strength and direction of the wind. A pleasant stroll can quickly become a battle.
But Gisborne has more than its share of calm, sunny days and the course is on a large site, which means generous fairways and none of the repetitive tree-lined corridors squeezed on to many city courses.
This year, Poverty Bay hosted the North Island men's championship and the country's top amateurs came away full of praise for a layout they rarely get to play.
The club has staged only one national men's championship in its long history. In 1991 the title went to Australian Lucas Parsons, now a regular visitor to this country as a professional. The strokeplay was won by Grant Moorhead from New Plymouth.
Lately, the Poverty Bay district has been the poor relation competitively on the New Zealand scene. But it is fortunate in other ways: few members means plenty of tee time.
As well as the Poverty Bay Club, Gisborne has another easily accessible 18 holes at Gisborne Park and on the East Coast, Te Puia Hot Springs has an 18-hole course.
