Titirangi

Hold on, haven’t I seen this before?

After the exciting but very modern designs of New Zealand’s most-acclaimed courses, Titirangi was like stepping into old-world golf.

The taste of home comes through classic architect, Dr Alister MacKenzie. The course, in the heart of Auckland, is believed to be his only design in this part of the world, complementing his fabulous portfolio in Australia.

It is said he was also invited to Rotorua, but they were less keen on his ideas there.

I digress. Titirangi may have an up-to-date clubhouse and car park, but it maintains a traditional golf club environment where the members' experience is paramount.

That is not to say visitors aren’t welcome; our reception was every bit as warm as that shown to the regular players.

We were lucky to be hosted by a scratch player who was great company and played some sublime golf. By the back nine, his quality had even rubbed off a bit.

I loved the variety of Titirangi – there is a lovely combination of short and long par-fours and stellar par-threes.

The par-five 13th was out of action because its green is being replaced, so the par-five fifth was split into a very tricky par-four and a testing par-three.

The opening hole is a tempter – a short par-four with out-of-bounds on the right, a big bunker in the middle of the fairway, and a drop-off towards rough on the left.

The huge putting surface is framed by lush vegetation, so going long isn’t an option, while finishing short will likely result in a three-putt.

Fiendishly placed bunkers, intriguing green complexes, and native flora became recurring themes.

The par-four 2nd has a sequence of bunkers down the left, but my effort to avoid them saw the ball drop into a dip on the right.

 Fortunately, the rough isn’t deep at Titirangi, so I was able to fly my blind second shot towards the target, only to find a greenside trap.

Having been in the sand on five of the first six holes, I can vouch for its fluffiness. Indeed, I was able to chip so close this time that I scrambled a par.

The raised green on the 3rd, combined with a left-to-right slope, gave Mrs W and me nightmares, but our host scored a gem of a birdie. His drive had been pulled, but his approach was magnificent, landing ten feet from the pin.

The par-threes start with the downhill fourth, which requires a perfect draw to avoid sand on either side.

The quirks of MacKenzie are evident on the par-four sixth and par-three seventh. A drive down the right to avoid trees is the best plan for the sixth, but that leaves an almost vertical, blind follow-up to a perched green.

We had seen the perils of the 7th from the clubhouse; I took my driver to try to find a multi-tiered surface so treacherous that it is almost impossible to stop the ball near the flag. Bogey is no disgrace there.

My best golf had deserted me during the early holes, but was starting to flicker into life by the eighth.

This bending par-four requires an approach shot past a stream on the left and a deep bunker on the right. I had a chance of a birdie but was happy with a tap-in par.

This was the prelude to the 400-yard, par-four 10th, where my drive went straight down the middle.

My five-iron approach zipped up the false front, between the bunkers, and looked bound for the cup. It stopped two inches short, leaving a nudge-in three.

It is followed by another sumptuous par-three over a chasm of vegetation to a green barely visible beyond four bunkers.

The drama shifts up even further on the short 14th, which has a longer carry, more sand traps, and the sort of vast, bamboozling green typical of MacKenzie designs.

Another long carry causes consternation on the dogleg 15th and again on the 16th. The latter is most memorable for a green perched above a significant dip.

My ability to putt had deserted me on this New Zealand trip… until now.

I followed a tricky downhill finish for par on the 16th with a much longer success on the heavily undulated 17th, after negotiating a blind drive and an avenue of trees.

I had fought back from a 12-point front nine to sit at 31 Stableford points as I stood on the final tee.

But there was no grand finale on this curving par-four; I was freaked out by the scale of the sandy obstacles guarding the hole.

It left me to confirm that Titirangi is indeed a belting course, and one certainly worthy of the MacKenzie name.