Golf: Tour pro a bonus for Te Puke club

Jared Pender has joined the coaching staff at Te Puke Golf Club. Photo / John Borren

Te Puke Golf Club may well be the biggest winners when the new Tauranga Eastern Link expressway opens on August 3. The new road will cut travel time from Bayfair to the golf club to about 15 minutes, opening up opportunities for Western Bay residents to join.

Club manager Scott Evans says the new expressway will be a game-changer for them.

"We are offering 30 per cent off normal memberships, called the Expressway Special, and we sold five in the first week," Evans said. "We are hoping to add 50 members to the just 350 full-time playing members we have. That is why you can always get on out here."

The Te Puke course is one of the best prepared in the Bay of Plenty, renowned for particularly good greens. Course superintendent Michael Homer had two running at an impressive 12 on the stimpmeter last week.

In October the prestigious Garrard Shield, played for between the top male amateurs from Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Auckland and Northland, will be hosted by Te Puke for the first time.

The appointment of touring pro Jared Pender to join resident club professional Nicholas Davy is another positive for the club.

Pender, 32, grew up in Tauranga but is now resident in Paengaroa.

He has been chasing his dream on the Australasian Tour, and further afield, for seven years. There have been good days on tour, with two top 10 finishes at the NZPGA and victories on the Sunshine Coast Tour in Australia and New Zealand Pro-Ams, but it has been tough keeping the bills at bay.

He will keep playing the Australasian Tour tier-two, four round events in the summer and will tee it up at the Isuzu Queensland Open in mid-August.

But now he has the security of building a career at Te Puke.

Pender's life on the road on smaller tours is a million miles away from that of his former Bay of Plenty teammate Danny Lee on the US PGA Tour.

"People don't know how hard it is without someone paying your bills. The money you play for is not big enough and you can't really justify it unless you are winning or coming top five in the big events," Pender said.

"I've been lucky with the support from EZGO but it has not been easy. Who knows what is going to happen in the next year or two, but I am happy to continue what I am doing because I am really enjoying it out here."

Pender started at Te Puke last November and has loved every minute of it.

"I enjoy giving lessons and the people out here are passionate about their golf. I am not playing golf six hours a day but working and doing a bit of practice when I can."