The north's top golf clubs: Titirangi Golf Club

By BOB PEARCE

Tee off on the first hole of the Titirangi Golf Club and you will be following in the footsteps of one of the legends of the game, Arnold Palmer.

Another United States Open champion, Hale Irwin, pushed his drive to the right on this hole and amid the big gallery managed to hit his mother, who inadvertently kept his ball in bounds.

You get the idea. This is a course with history round every tree and famous putts holed and missed on every green.

The club was formed 95 years ago and has been on this site for about 75 years. The course was sketched out by famed designer Alister MacKenzie in 1926 and its essential character has remained intact during its latest upgrade.

Titirangi golf course is an island of peace surrounded by the sea of suburbia. Native trees, native birds can be seen. Recently a seal found its way up the Portage Stream. Yet there is industry within walking distance and cars clog the surrounding streets.

Like so many Auckland courses the club has had to fell the ubiquitous pine trees, which have passed their useful life. The 300 felled have been replaced by 3000 natives.

The four par-three holes stand out. Each offers a different experience and challenges a different wind direction. The seventh, 170m off the blue tees, produced a hole in one for yet another US Open champion, Curtis Strange. The $5000 he donated to the club from his winnings still funds junior golf.

Titirangi attracted many of the leading golfers of the 80s and 90s through the Air New Zealand-Shell tournaments, which were played there each year.

Bob Charles won one, sealing his victory with an immaculate iron to the dog-legged 18th while the TV cameras were switched away for the 6pm news. Despite the course's modest length at that time, nobody butchered par over 72 holes. The best scoring came from Aussie Bill Dunk, who shot a 62.

The most remarkable scoring at Titirangi never made it to the record books. One summer evening in 1938 Scots-born professional Alex Murray set out for a few holes before dark.

He holed his teeshot on the short par-four first, holed his second on the par-four second and repeated the feat on the par-five third.

He holed a putt for birdie on the par-three fourth and also birdied the fifth and sixth.

In almost total darkness he tapped in for birdie on the par-three seventh. When he called it quits, he had taken just 16 shots for seven holes.

These days there are 1200 members - and room for a few more - optimistically teeing off to try to emulate him.