Te Arai Links

I left Tauranga airport with my tail between my legs but also full of excitement and nervous energy as after leaving the airport in Auckland I was driving 2 hours north to Te Arai Links, the premier golf resort in New Zealand for 2 rounds before jetting back across the world.

The drive up was full of anticipation and a little bit of dread after my poor performance on tour but that all disappeared when i drove through the gates and got on property at Te Arai. This place really is something else.

After a quick bite of lunch in the awesome Rick's restaurant/clubhouse and a warm up on the top quality driving range I was feeling good and actually hitting the ball well, turns out staying up late, drinking way too many beers and being hungover is not the best thing for my golf game.. who knew?

I was scheduled to play with a much older American couple but when i got to the first tee on the North course I was told they had gone off early and that I had the place to myself and that I could tee off whenever I liked. I had a few practice putts on the firm fast greens and headed to the first tee. The location and quality of the course hit me on that first tee, it was late afternoon, there was no wind and the sun was shining - what more could you ask for.

Solid pars on the first 2 holes and a birdie on 3 meant I was off to a great start, which to my great surprise continued for the rest of the round, after a perfect drive on 9 to the crest of the hill and a crisp 5 wood down the hill to the heart of the green on the Par 5 meant I was starting to think I was in for a great round. After spending 30 mins in the halfway house just to give the couple in front even more space, it was out and into the second 9. I absolutely loved the loop of holes from 11 through to 15 through the clearing in the forest and it felt like I was the only person out on this incredible Top 100 in the world course on a perfect afternoon. After cresting the hill to the 16th tee, the final 3 holes take you back to the coast and home to the clubhouse and after a 3 putt par on the Par 5 18th I signed for an 81, my best round in 2 years - I was absolutely thrilled and the beer out on the deck watching the setting sun was just perfect. I rounded the night out with a great meal and a couple of cheeky glasses of Rose at the Ocean restaurant - an incredible first day.

Day two dawned early for an 8am tee time on the allegedly more beautiful south course, although after yesterday I'm not sure how that is possible. It was grey and rainy as we teed off on the first hole but the rain cleared up and we were off and running. There are quite a few more ocean side holes on the south course and the views are incredible, but the overcast rainy weather took a little of the shine of them for me compared to the day before. To my great surprise I was playing well for the second day in a row and some highlights were an excellent blind uphill approach to 10 feet on the 3rd, the drive and view on the 4th tee, a birdie on 5 and some great tee to green play all round the course - I didn't putt as well as the day before but carded another great score, with an 83 that I was so happy with. I also managed to tick off a 2026 golf goal and managed to play the round without a double bogey.

All in all an absolutely amazing 24 hours at Te Arai, my favourite golfing experience in NZ by some distance.

From Te Arai it was back down the motorway to meet up with Deanna to grab a few things out of storage for Joan and the girls followed by a great catch up Natalie, Andrew, Mehtap and Tara some of our nearest and dearest while we were in Maraetai, and then dinner a a couple of beers with two of my best mates Cat and Sven in Howick. Great times.

From here, rather than heading back to Saudi for a week as planned before heading off to Ireland for the school holidays I was on my way to Ireland via LA and Munich, to do a weeks work remotely before relaxing with the girls again. By the time I get back to work I will have flown right round the world, which is mental but had to be doneRead more