“I loved it instantly. We had nothing like it in Australia, which must have struck Alex Russell, who did the layout. Course designing approaches an art form, especially done in a perfect modelling medium like volcanic sand. When we all turn to dust, Paraparaumu the golf course should be still lying there as it was when the first golfers came by, with Kapiti an off-shore island standing guard to see that no one steals it away. And the winds will ever blow to test the golfer’s will and integrity. Paraparaumu will be famed for a century yet.”
Peter Thomson, Australia, 5 time winner The Open
Courses / Wellington
Paraparaumu Beach
Established in 1949 and designed by Alex Russell, Paraparaumu Beach remains one of New Zealand’s most important and enduring courses. It has hosted the New Zealand Open on multiple occasions and continues to hold a central place in the country’s golfing landscape.
Built on true links land, it reflects the traditions of classic Scottish design, with firm turf, natural undulation and minimal intervention. Positioning, trajectory and use of the ground are central to scoring. It is a course of restraint and quiet authority — one that would feel entirely at home among the traditional links of the United Kingdom.
"The Unseen may be the best-named golf hole in New Zealand. For me, Paraparaumu’s par-three second lives up to its name—and is the country’s best long par three. An intersecting dune 15 yards short of the green marks the beginning of a Redan-style complex extending some 40 yards from front to back. Fall-offs on both sides demand a precisely executed shot". Mat Perry, Golf In New Zealand, PGA Professional host
The par-four fourth is a fine example of strategic design. Three pot bunkers guard the front-right of a typically firm green, making the angle created from the tee the key to the approach.
“The northern end of Paraparaumu contains some of the property’s largest dunes. Alex Russell used them confidently, placing green sites high among them. The 13th, 15th—pictured—and 16th are fine examples.”
