Picturesque golf course suited to all levels of players

After a sharp look down the fairway, the golfer addresses a ball, arches their driver back, powers it through, connects perfectly, sending it like a tracer bullet towards the green.

It’s a great start to a round at the friendly Kāpiti Golf Club, situated over the railway lines in Paraparaumu.

The nine-hole course is ideal for people learning the game and keeps those who have been playing longer on their toes too.

“There are a lot of good players through the country who learned their golf here,” reflects Stan Williams, who has been a club member since 1973.

The club has come a long way since it was formed over half a century ago.

It all started when Tom and Judy Gillman bought the land from the Howell family and continued to farm it until the end of the 1960s, when the town milk supply ended for them, so they transformed it into a golf course, open to the public, with green fees only 50c.

By the early 1970s, a small group of players formed a club, with a woolshed used as the clubhouse. The first AGM was on Sunday, July 25, 1971.

A history booklet of the club says the Gillmans maintained the course, paid a greenkeeper and collected green fees from casual players, and the golf club was levied by the couple in lieu of green fees.

By mid-1974, a lease was agreed with the new owners of the land, which saw the club take over the course and collect green fees.

Spirit among club members was strong, the clubhouse was developing, but managing the course, machinery and equipment, and keeping up with the $8000 annual lease was difficult and not helped by poor playing conditions in the colder months.

The financial situation towards the end of the 1970s was so dire that committee meetings were held in the McKenzies department store “to save using power for lighting and heating the clubrooms” and alarmingly “had just about reached the point where the club could no longer continue”.

The pressure was eased a bit when a new reduced lease was agreed, but problems persisted with the course being unplayable for lengthy periods and high machinery costs.

Then the Crown bought the land at auction and planned to use it for an electricity substation.

In 1980, the Crown trimmed the lease to $2000, which meant a brighter financial outlook, but a tractor and gang mowers couldn’t operate during a bad winter, which led to the greens being fenced off and 400 sheep used to graze the course.

But better weather, course and machinery improvements, growing membership and big increases in green fees were cause for optimism at the club’s 10th anniversary celebrations a year later.

When it became clear that owning the course could be a distinct possibility, a range of fundraising activities were organised, which made it easier when the club entered a sale and purchase agreement with the Crown in mid-1993, and didn’t make paying off a bank debt too daunting.

The dedication of club members who went beyond the call of duty shouldn’t be underestimated.

“In the hard old days, I voluntarily mowed the fairways for 18 months with a little Fiat tractor pulling three sets of mowers,” Stan recalls.

The club has gone from strength to strength with new clubrooms built in 2004, healthy membership, a dedicated committee, welcoming front-of-house, a professional greenkeeper and team of volunteers, strong interclub teams, continued course improvements and more.

“The course has improved greatly throughout the years with very good green fee management.”

Stan loves getting out on the course and playing golf – his best round is 70 and his worst 114.

February 5, 2006, is etched in his memory – because that’s when he got a hole in one on what is now the fourth hole.

The club is also renowned for coming up with novel ideas like the inaugural shoot-out championship.

“When we started it, in October 1991, we opened it up to all the clubs in the Wellington zone, and had 90 people.

“There were 10 on every tee with a referee to keep the score.”

Some other popular competitions that were introduced and have raised lots of funds are the business house and joker jackpot.

When club days are held on Sunday mornings, players are divided up via a disc draw, which helps everyone to get to know each other more.

“There’s just a friendly atmosphere to the whole place.”

– This story is featured in the latest Celebrating Kāpiti magazine.