KEY POINTS:
The man who cherishes Gulf Harbour like his big green baby is confident the Whangaparaoa Peninsula layout will be in impressive shape for this week's New Zealand Open.
Course superintendent Tony Jonas believes the surfaces will be at their best for the $1.5 million Blue Chip-sponsored open starting on Thursday.
The trickiest part of his job has been to get over the tribulations of winter. "It's been a really wet winter here and you can see some of the effects on the fairways," he said.
"It's been hard to wake them up because couch grass is a warm-season grass. But we've got them in shape and they look fantastic.
"And by the time the tournament starts the greens will definitely be rolling and putting fairly well."
Rotorua-born Jonas took over the job last December, having spent the past few years in Sydney and at the Western Bay Golf Club's Omokoroa course near Tauranga.
Spend any time talking to greenkeepers and you discover an almost parental love for their grass. Jonas is no different.
"If we didn't, we'd definitely fail," he said.
"To be able to get a course into shape for an event like this is pretty much like grooming your child and getting them ready for adulthood.
"It's always in the back of your mind that you want to have the country proud of your course. That's pretty much the philosophy of what our staff are trying to do."
A former Sydney first-grade rugby centre with the Eastwood club, where his teammates included star Wallabies of the 1980s Brett Papworth and Steve Tuynman - and wouldn't Australian coach John Connolly give plenty for that pair right now - 44-year-old Jonas has a staff of 18 preparing the course, which has been trimmed to a par 71, the 452m sixth hole having been turned into a demanding par 4.
Swede Niclas Fasth won last year's Open at Gulf Harbour, after chomping through the course in a sizzling 22-under par then winning a play-off with Englishman Miles Tunnicliff.
Course bosses traditionally don't like to see their pride and joy beaten up. Jonas is no different.
"I'd like to see the field congested around 7-under to 10-under," he said. "I believe that could be the case this year. More than anything, the rough is going to be a telling factor."
He reckons the rough just off the fairways and greens is "absolutely brutal". He says Gulf Harbour needs the elements to toughen it up. The wind stayed away last year and the layout got eaten up.
The MetService is predicting a wet start to the Open, accompanied by strong winds. The long-range forecast has the skies clearing later on the opening day, the possibility of the occasional shower on Friday and generally fine for the weekend.
There is practice today and the pro-am tomorrow.
* Australian amateur Aaron Pike, the surprise success story at last weekend's Australian Masters when finishing fourth, has withdrawn after initially accepting an invitation.