Bright sunshine for our first golf day and a public holiday for the locals as well. Our itinerary said we should be on the road by 8am to reach the course for our booked tee off time. No chance for breakfast so we thought we would just get something on the way. Didn't realise that they took holdays this seriously as nothing was open. Eventually found a bakery open & grabbed a couple of sangas.
Off down the highway to Rakaia. Unfortunately our tour company did not see fit to provide us with directions on how to get there or give us a map. All we got from the itinerary was that we were to travel across Cantebury Plains, that the course overlooked the Rakaia River & gave us the tee off time (which was wrong anyway). Some directions would have been of help. Arrived at Rakaia and turned off at the sign to the golf course. Thought we would check with some joker walking his dog to see we were going to the right place. No way - told we were in the wrong place & that we would have to go back across the river and take some backroads on a further three quarter hour drive. The backroads soon turned to gravel and then to corrugations. Poor little car - yesterday pulled its guts out going up vertical roads and today on to the Dakar Rally gravel tracks.
Finally found bitumen again and we headed toward Rakaia Gorge but still no sign of the course. Pulled in at a farm house and got some new directions. Back the way we had come, over the bridge to take the first turn to the left. Should have heeded the warning signpost - "Zig Zag Road". Aptly named & corrugated gravel twisting vertical travel at its finest. At least we were going up though as going down that road would have been horrendous. Eventually found our way back to bitumen again and at last saw a sign to the golf course.
Arrived about 10am & were still able to get on the course OK. Everyone else was probably still out there trying to find the place. At last off to what we had come all this way to do. The course was different to anything we had played before. Grass was kikuyu like Mt Tambourine, the greens were tricky and the rough unplayable. We are not big fans of links style courses but Terrace Downs is at least 80% + links with undulating fairways and grass gripping rough that refused to let you hit a full shot. To wander off the fairway was a genuine penalty of 2 to 3 shots (as my score card showed on many occasions).
The second nine is the more challenging & spectacular with the 10th hole a striking 177m par three from an elevated tee over scrub, treacherous bunkers with water behind the green. A comfortable 8 for me and a genuine par for Jean. A couple more holes and we were on the rim of the Gorge a couple of hundred feet below - absolutely stunning. Definitely the highlight of the course.
My original idea was to try and rate the courses on a ten point system where Laguna Whitsundays was an 8 out of 10. Having said that, it was very hard to compare this course to Laguna. If it wasn't for the spectacular Gorge view holes I would have rated it lower but these holes certainly increased its rating & we agreed on it as a 6 (though as I said we are not big fans of links courses). Jean didn't wander too far from the fairways which gave her a distinct advantage. Jean leads one nil.
We found our way out on the 3rd go headed for the grand metropolis of Twizel. Stopped at the Gorge bridge and watched a couple of dare devil boys jumping from the bridge into the racing waters about 100 feet below. Fearless - obviously future motor bike riders for the road between Sumner and Lyttleton.
The road through to Twizel was a breeze. Passed through Geraldine and then down through the lake district which included Tekapo & Pukaki Lakes. Traffic was heavy ( because fo the public holiday) with scores of cars towing boats and jet skis. Stunning scenery with the mountains and Alps as a back drop to the lakes. A boater's paradise. Features included the Church of the Good Shepherd (a little church on the bank of Lake Tekapo and a regular on the postcard stands) and Mount Cook (NZ's highest mountain).
Just as before, every corner a new vista and another stop for a photo or two. Quite a bit of travelling after a game of golf and we were a bit weary by the time we reached Twizel. Drove around the town (not recommended) till we found our motel - the MacKenzie Country Inn. Decided to eat in that night and they presented quite a decent buffet. A couple of drinkies before dinner. a beer or two and a glass of wine with dinner and I was in a coma while it was still daylight.
Visit: www.terracedowns.co.nz
www.tekapo.net.nz/
Terrace Downs Golf Club
TDGC
Rakaia Gorge TDGC
Rakaia Gorge TDGC
Raikai River
Jumpers Raikai Gorge Bridge
Lake Tekapo
Church Of The Good Shepherd
Lake Tekapo Mount Cook
Lake Tekapo Mount Cook
Lake Tekapo Mount Cook
MacKenzie Country Inn Twizel
Photos.
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