PHOTO: Gulf Harbour Country Club – in better days. FILE
The neighbours of the abandoned Gulf Harbour Country Club have taken matters into their own hands. Some have bought ride-on mowers and used weed whackers to maintain the overgrown greens.
The golf club, located on Auckland’s Whangaparāoa Peninsula and once a host for the World Cup of Golf and two New Zealand Opens, closed abruptly in July 2023 due to financial difficulties.
Since then, the course has fallen into neglect, becoming overgrown and housing several squatters as its future remains uncertain.
Jason Knapp, who has lived near the 11th hole for three years, became frustrated watching the grass and weeds grow out of control. He initially started with a push mower but eventually spent $4,000 on a ride-on mower to keep the area near his home trimmed.
“I initially planned to just clear the paths because the paspalum was about a meter high and the weeds knee-high. I mowed all that down flat. I’m just trying to help everyone out,” said Knapp.
Other residents joined in the maintenance efforts, making it clear which holes had received attention from the locals.
Despite some donations for fuel and a bottle of whiskey from a neighbor, Knapp has mostly funded the maintenance himself. He remains optimistic that the course will one day be playable again.
“I don’t want to see it in ruins. If someone buys it, at least they have a head start,” Knapp added.
Two fires gutted the pro shop and the club house at the Gulf Harbour Country Club. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
Recently, two fires gutted the pro shop and clubhouse, which had already been vandalized. Twisted, charred metal is all that remains as diggers demolish the remnants.
Bill Bell, 75, who moved to Gulf Harbour nearly 30 years ago in anticipation of the course opening, watched as 27 years of history was torn down. Bell, the original club captain who once held the course record of 64, reminisced about the course’s glory days.
“The tees were better than most people’s greens. They were so pure and fabulous,” Bell recalled.
He, like Knapp, hopes for the course to reopen under new ownership.
Plans to redevelop the land into housing have been uncertain since Long River Investments purchased the club in 2021. An application to liquidate the owners was abandoned earlier this month after hearing delays.
Former real estate agent Karen Franklin, who lives near the 9th green, highlighted the 999-year covenant established in 2006 with Auckland Council, ensuring the land could only be used as a golf course.
“Should the council decide to let the covenant go, it could set a dangerous precedent for covenants across New Zealand,” Franklin warned.
Lisa Cruse, a member of the Keep Whangaparāoa’s Green Spaces group, argued against a housing development due to the geographical constraints of the area.
“You can only build so many houses because it’s bordered by sea on either side, with one narrow road in and out. We are restricted in terms of density,” Cruse explained.
SOURCE: RNZ