An extensive golf club renovation project in Karaka has been completed.
Pukekohe Golf Club general manager Tim Vaughan said the $2 million renovation project began in September last year.
“We’ve managed to stay open throughout, with a limited offering for members – especially in terms of food. It’s all been a moving beast.”
Parklands Cafe, Bar and Eatery has opened, and Vaughan hopes the new social memberships will go well. Launched this year, social membership allows non-golfers to access member-only pricing.
“It was very much people coming here only to play golf. Now that we’ve spent a lot of money on the clubhouse and done it properly, we’ve seen other brave clubs open their restaurants to the public.
“There are a lot of people across the road in Paerata. We want to become known as an all-inclusive place, your local pub, but also a good spot for you to take your mother or mother-in-law out for Sunday brunch. More of a country club than just a golf club.”
A golf simulator, The Golf Studio, has also arrived on site and is open to the public to book.
“You can play just about any course in the world on that. It’s pretty high-tech. The top two that I’ve played on it would be Augusta and Jack’s Point down in Queenstown. It’s pretty amazing how good the graphics are.”
When the Pukekohe Golf Club started in 1912, it had a nomadic existence for the first 25 years.
It went from place to place, from dairy farm to dairy farm, to the A&P Showgrounds and onto the Franklin Racecourse.
The Pukekohe Golf Club opened its current (and permanent) Karaka site in 1939.
Vaughan said the golf course now is considered to be one of the most challenging golf courses in Auckland, with well-established trees throughout the course and three lakes with fountains alongside wide open greens.
