Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club

• The 13th is a long rolling par 4 splitting dunes with an approach to a severley elevated tabletop green.

• The 16th is a postage stamp short par 3, measuring at 110m, playing to a long narrow green with a dune kicker left and a deep drop-off short and right

• The 5th is a bunker-less par 3 which functions as an island green, with dramatic run-offs from the green at every angle

​Paraparaumu Beach is the perfect collision of word-class quality and golfing soul. It’s a place that oozes character, intrigue and an incredible sense of place. With holes routed through towering dunes, deep mounding and rumpled fairways, Paraparaumu is the home of New Zealand’s purest linksland. An endless variety of crazy landforms scatter the property and as you move deeper into the property it’s rugged, natural and wild tones have the feeling of a traditional Irish or English seaside links- New Zealand’s golfing heartbeat.

Paraparaumu offers golf in its purest form, firm turf conducive to the ground game- there’s always something special about watching the ball bound over mounds and through swales. In true links fashion It forces players to consider the land between you and the hole, and offers width in the right places, creating strategic angling with clearly better sides of the fairway to hit approach shots.

Dunes are utilized impeccably to create blind shots if you find yourself in the wrong spot and on most tees it pays to figure out where the flag is and work backwards from there- a mark of strategic excellence. This is a thinking players’ golf course and one that absolutely could eat you up if you try to bully your way around- just the way it should be.

Paraparaumu offers plenty of variety across the round, driven by the ability of course designer Alex Russell to thread a number of holes between the dunes and route a number over the top of them. With only 34 bunkers across the layout (Expertly positioned I should add), it would be easy to assume that greens are relatively unprotected, however Paraparaumu’s character is built around its greenside surrounds- some of the most dramatic and bold land formations you will see on any golf course around the world. Sharp cut edges, giant drop offs (Some exceeding four metres!), large kickers and deep swales guard a wide variety of green sites and make for some thrilling approach shots! The lack of bunkering offers wide entry points to greens, but the natural greenside shapes demand execution of whatever path you take. Offering plenty of options, Paraparaumu is a shotmaker’s golf course and one which demands strategic thinking and creative execution.