Golf: Kaitaia, one of the north's top clubs

By BOB PEARCE


Ninety Mile is the name of the fifth hole at Kaitaia Golf Club, and when the wind blows in your face it can seem appropriate.

At 463m off the championship tee, it skirts Ninety Mile Beach at Ahipara on a course often overlooked among the proliferation of fine layouts in Northland.

The Kaitaia club was originally based closer to town but moved to the coast 30 years ago to take advantage of the all-weather links.

It is not the northernmost club in the country - Houhora would have that distinction - but it must be the best value for money in the area. Green fees are $25 and with only 250 members, tee times are easy to get.

Linda Lunjevich, the women's president, quotes a leading professional familiar with the popular 18 holes at Waitangi who reckons "Waitangi has the numbers, but Kaitaia has the course".

She is enthusiastic about head greenkeeper Dave Howell, whose work has won praise from golfers of all standards. "I don't think even our members realise how much we owe to him," she says.

"We've just installed a new irrigation system and the greens are as good as any in the north.

"The fairways do brown off at the height of summer, but they are always very playable. It's a true links course, undulating and fairly flat with some fabulous views.

"In summer the best time is the early morning and the evening. It can be a real test when the westerly kicks in, but at other times it is fairly forgiving."

Driver, driver, driver is one member's recipe for playing the fifth hole into the wind, but at any time Lunjevich rates it a favourite hole.

"It's pretty narrow in the middle with a tree on the left and the sea on the right. It demands some very accurate golf."

For vice-president Trevor Irving, a member for more than 20 years, the par-3 sixth, which is a drop shot overlooking Ninety Mile Beach, takes some beating. Some days a sand wedge is enough; on others anything goes.

Many members live close to the course and they welcome visitors to the clubhouse. Auckland representative teams have played there in recent years and come back full of compliments for a course many had never heard of.

In the north, Kauri Cliffs is world famous but beyond the budget of most. Waitangi and Kerikeri are deservedly popular with holidaymakers, but a visit to Ahipara is well worth the effort.