Ohope Beach Golf Links

Pure Peninsula Linksland

The Round Up

Location: Ohope, Bay of Plenty

Green Fees: $70

Kiwi Caddy’s First Tee Advice: Consider a mid-iron to place you in the middle of the chutes

The Takeaways: Some of New Zealand's purest linksland, Beautiful use of mounting and undulations around greens, Strong variety in golf holes

Signature Holes:

The 3rd is the toughest hole on the course, a tight tee shot leaving an approach to an elevated tabletop green
The par 3 11th is a classic links-style short par 3, playing 100m to a large double-tiered green protected by bunkers
The 2nd is an excellent mid-length par 3, playing downhill with a large kicker to the right of the green

From the moment you turn up to a golf course, sometimes it becomes imminently clear that the land was made for golf. Laid out on a finger of land between the Pacific Ocean and Ohiwa Harbour, Ohope Beach Golf Links falls perfectly into this category. Playing golf along the coast always feels as if it’s how the game is intended to be played, and with Ohope’s rugged coastline all but circumnavigating the layout, the sea breeze is always in play with incredible views just around the corner to take your mind off it.

From the clubhouse, Ohope’s character reveals itself front and centre – rippling fairways, towering dunes scarcely seen in New Zealand’s golfing landscape, black sanded pot-bunkers and crafty green complexes – traces of UK genetics littering New Zealand’s East Coast. Despite boasting the traits of pure linksland and strategically utilizing them to great effect, the front nine has a distinctly more parkland feel with more significant tree-lining of the holes, whilst the back 9 presents a purer test of links golf opting for longer rough in the absence of trees.

Ohope’s most distinctive features are the greenside surrounds, and with an unknown architect, it’s hard to believe just how well the integration of strategic mounding, steep drop-offs and deep swales has been executed from an enjoyment and challenge perspective. For a course which is linksy in nature, Ohope utilizes less than 20 bunkers to protect the greens, and due to the expert shaping of the surrounds, their absence takes nothing away from the test. In its greenside surrounds, Ohope also offers opportunities to utilize the backstops and kickers to get closer to the hole making for some extremely engaging and fun approach shots. The long par 3 second is the epitome of this, with a large kicker mound at the front right of the green offering the best opportunity to get it close.

Overall hole layouts are interesting, asking plenty of questions on most shots- particularly in approaching greens, and offer variety in their length, shape and land contours. This is particularly evident across the set of five par 3s, ranging from 102-200 metres, all demanding different club selection and shot shapes to score well. Tee shots offer a nice balance of demanding targets and strategic placement- testing both execution and creativity. Driveable par fours, reachable par fives, drop shot par threes and everything in between offer excellent balance in challenge and potential scoring.

Conditioning of the course is excellent, and the greens run as true as any I have seen in the country- a huge testament to the work being done by the green staff.

Ohope is a golf course which leans into fun with it’s heavily contoured land, wild green sites and the wide variety of questions it asks golfers over the course of a round. There are no boring shots and plenty of opportunities to make memorable plays throughout.The wild terrain fits seamlessly into the rugged coastal surrounds, offering something highly unique to New Zealand’s golfing landscape. I can’t help but feel that Ohope is severely underrated and from an architecture and pure enjoyment standpoint it could go toe to toe with all of the second-tier courses in the country- Ohope shouldn’t be missed in the search for New Zealand’s most enjoyable golf.

Booking a Tee Time

Easiest way to book a tee time is to send them an email at office@ohopegolf.nz and request one. Probably avoid Saturdays which tends to be club day, but outside of that, a week's notice should be plenty!