Waimairi Beach Golf Course

Origins

Waimairi Beach Golf Club was established in 1932 near the coastal Christchurch suburb that gives it its name. In the 1960s and 1970s the land was owned by the Canterbury Education Board, which had local schools plant pine trees through the property; over the following decades those pines matured into tight, tree-lined fairways that gave the course a reputation as a demanding test of accurate driving, aided by fast greens. The club bought the land outright in 2000 and spent 2007 to 2012 progressively clearing the pines.

Design Philosophy

The 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes damaged the back nine and left the clubhouse beyond repair, forcing a rethink of the whole site. Architect Kristine Kerr of Kura Golf Course Design and a golf contractor proposed relaying the course around a new, centrally located clubhouse, consulting hydrologists on the liquefaction that had caused much of the damage. The plan raised the golf features — greens, tees and fairways — while leaving lower-lying ground as waste areas and wetland able to absorb the effects of any future earthquake without damaging the playing surfaces.

The redesign also cleared most of the remaining pines, exposing dune sand bunkers and opening the site up to reflect its position close to Waimairi Beach, turning a pine-lined parkland course into a links-style layout.

Development

Sandy soils meant contractors could move earth just once, and thirteen holes were rebuilt and reopened within about a year, with at least nine holes kept playable throughout construction. The new course opened in May 2013. Over the following two seasons the club redesigned two more holes, while the remaining three were repaired rather than substantially altered.

A new clubhouse, with bar and café facilities, was completed in February 2014.

Today

The course now plays across four tee blocks, from 3,005 metres off the forward Purple markers — intended for beginners — up to around 5,700 metres from the Blue tees. Distinctive holes include the par-4 2nd, a sharp dogleg left guarded by bunkers on both sides of the green; the par-5 13th, which doglegs three times before reaching a green protected on the left by a large bunker; and the par-3 17th, which plays around 158 metres over water to a raised green. The clubhouse café is open to the public and is also used for functions and meetings, and the club runs a driving range and two practice putting greens.

As of 2023, membership was being managed at around 730 to avoid overcrowding amid a broader rise in New Zealand club membership.