Celebrations continue for Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary, having turned 50 years on Friday 21st February, exciting news of the opening of the refurbished greens has been confirmed.  The new Pure Distinction bentgrass greens, thanks largely to the superb efforts of Sinclair and his green keeping staff, will be open for play from Saturday 14th March.  Wairakei's new greens will offer an exceptional putting surface all year round and lift Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary back to one of New Zealand's iconic golfing properties.

Any bookings in place from Saturday 14th March will be on the new greens.  Green fee prices revert back to the regular rates, please click here.

If you are not aware of the damage inflicted upon our greens and our green restoration project please scroll down to the next article to read Green Restoration Project - November 2019

Reduced green fee rate for the green restoration project/ provisional course layout (18 temporary greens and 2 temporary tees):

NZ registered player $95 per person

NZ registered player replay round  (within 7 days) $75 per person

International registered player $120 per person

International registered player replay round  (within 7 days) $95 per person

Please note that the provisional course will not be NZ golf rated therefore rounds here are not eligible for handicapping.

These rates include GST and are valid until our new greens are in play, date to be confirmed but we anticipate sometime in March 2020.

We were deeply affected by the damage inflicted upon our greens in May, the messages of sympathy and support has been overwhelming, thanks to all our faithful customers. During these months we have intensively researched a variety of remedial plans, focusing on the best solution for the future of our greens and we have decided the right choice is to resurface.

This restoration project will involve substantial earthworks to every green, so we have designed a provisional course layout with 18 temporary greens that will be similar in length to the existing course. Preparations for this alternate course have started and will be in play from Wednesday 6th November 2019 until mid to late March 2020.

Although we don’t want to disrupt any bookings the nature of this project will necessitate closing every Monday and Tuesday from 4th November until 3rd December. Once the groundwork and contouring are completed, we will sow with Pure Distinction bentgrass. Unlike typical bentgrass species, Pure Distinction is not grainy, produces a smooth and true putting surface that has exceptionally strong resistance to diseases, heat, cold and wear.

Well known golf courses such as Royal Auckland GC(NZ), Cypress Point GC(USA), Bel-Air CC(USA), Oakland Hills CC(USA) and Adare Manor(IRL) have recently changed their greens to Pure Distinction with remarkable success and tremendous feedback.

We are confident that once our greens have recovered, we will be able to offer an exceptional putting surface all year round.

It is with great regret Wairakei Golf + Sanctuary need to issue the following statement:

We have had a sudden decline of the putting surfaces at Wairakei, signs of a problem with the greens became apparent during Easter weekend. Extensive soil and foliar tests conducted by the NZ Turf Institute have returned clear results. We are awaiting further turf analysis tests but have been advised that the cause of the damage is due to the inadvertent application of a herbicide. We suspect that the introduction of this substance was intentionally done so by a third party.

Like most courses we monitor the greens on an ongoing basis and regularly get the NZ Turf Institute to analyse them. We were informed that prior to this incident they were in an extremely healthy state.

Unfortunately given the onset of winter and lack of growth over this period there is no realistic chance of recovery until the Spring.

As valued customers we need to inform you of the current state and condition of the greens. We have decided to reduce the green fee, effective from Saturday 11th May, to a flat rate of $100 green fee per player.

The owner and staff are deeply devastated by what has occurred, we take great pride in presenting an exceptional product and experience.

The situation will be continually monitored and assessed as to their recovery.

UPDATE as at 18th June 2019 - we have reduced the green fee to $75 per player until further notice.