Ohope Golf Course-Ohope, Whakatane NZ
Ohope Beach Golf links is at the western end of the Ohope peninsular. Set on a narrow finger of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Ohiwa Harbour.
New Zealand Golf Digest rated the course as number 20 in its survey of the top golf courses in New Zealand. Their description of the course, more than any other words, best describes the experience being offered to the golfer: ‘a hidden gem…a gorgeous seaside links course, with bumpy terrain and incredible sea views, the course is natural, raw and rustic’.
We stayed in Whakatane when we were here so the drive to the course is fun as well. Over the cliff road to Ohope beach township affords you with expansive views of the Pacific Ocean, the town is a typical New Zealand beachfront stretch of cafes, a pub and a couple of gift stores. Then seven kilometres along the coast road which is very densely developed. The fun here is not the ocean views but spotting the original old kiwi baches amongst the mammoth homes that have shot up over the past fifteen years. The last three kilometres is very pretty with the Ocean visible on the left and the Ohiwa Harbour on the right.
Once at the course there was plenty of parking and a short uphill path to the Pro shop and clubhouse which has great views of the course and the ocean.
Weather
A bit overcast, temperature around 17 degrees C when we started our round. A strong breeze that became a wind.
The Course
This is an 18hole, Par72 course with 3 tee positions to choose from. I played off the White tees, slope 125 (vs 119 at home), 4916metres (5376yards). Scott played off the Green Tees, slope 124 (same as 124 at home), 5437metres (5946)yards.
The course was fun from start to finish. It is a true links course, no trees to speak of, rolling sand hills with a strong ocean to land wind.
The front nine are the inland holes so slightly more sheltered with views of the harbour and reserve. Then the back nine is set out on the coast where if there’s a wind everything you thought you knew about which club to use goes out the window. There are three par3’s varying from 101 metres to 149 metres, all three on this day faced fully into the wind and I needed to use my driver on the two longer ones to get close.
The rolling sandy landscape means that virtually all greens were raised with some quite steep slopes so mastering a good chip with spin would benefit your round greatly.
Best holes?
Number 17 is a par three, uphill to the green, facing the ocean so a predominant head wind. Visually it’s fantastic, when you tee off you can see the green but it looks as if it has nothing but ocean and sky behind it. When you get to the green that’s pretty much exactly what’s behind it.
Number 1 because it’s wide open, not a tree in site and as you approach the green you just see the yellow pin, and then just beyond that the next yellow pin of #2. No trees just pure blankness of a links course.
Number 9, a very pretty dogleg and then numbers 14 & 15, two Par 5 holes along the stretch of coast where the challenge is the strong right to left wind. Hint…..hit into the wind even if your brain is telling you that’s the beach.
Post round clubhouse
We were going to sit outside over a drink and do our cards but they were too busy to serve the bar so we didn’t.
The summary – 37/50
