20 TEE BOX The newly opened Tīeke Golf Estate course near Hamilton, New Zealand, was designed by Brett Thomson and Phil Tataurangi. This photograph by Kahu Tataurangi shows the new ninth hole in the centre, with the parthree third (left) and the eleventh (right) alongside the river. Tīeke was established following the merger of two clubs, Lochiel and The Narrows, and NZ Transport Agency’s subsequent decision to build a new expressway through the site of The Narrows course. With a sale agreed for The Narrows’ land, the club has reinvented itself around a complete redesign of the Lochiel course. “The rerouting enabled a simpler and more instinctive flow to the order of the holes,” said Tataurangi. “The old jinked and jived a bit and in doing so had a few awkward holes and transitions. “We now have an interior front nine and an exterior back nine. A handful of new holes were created to enable this but being alongside New Zealand’s longest f lowing river, The Waikato, we could reveal this to golfers later in the round, making it a more memorable experience. “The ninth is one of several holes that plays down through 50-yard-wide valley corridors. It’s a medium-length par four on which, despite all the sandy waste around the tees, hitting the fairway is not as challenging as it appears. We extended short grass as far as we could up the escarpments to enable as much play as possible from short grass. There’s a slight turn to the right with the approach but we pulled the green down into the valley, providing a gathering or ‘members bounce’ from the left side for the running ball.” Read more about the Tīeke Golf Estate course on the GCA website THE B IG P I CTURE
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