The Dunes Golf Resort Matarangi

Overview: The Dunes at Matarangi is an 18-hole, par-71 course between Whangapoua Harbour and the four-kilometre Matarangi beach. Sir Bob Charles’s design uses sand-based ground, sea and harbour views, the Coromandel Range and Castle Rock as a broad visual frame. The blue-tee course measures 5,947 metres, while the playing character comes from firm approaches, water on selected holes and out of bounds that can make a generous fairway feel narrower than it first appears.

History: The course began as a nine-hole layout designed by Sir Bob Charles and was expanded to full 18-hole championship status in 2006. It has hosted a New Zealand PGA pro-am and developed into one of the main golf attractions on the Coromandel Peninsula. The sand base and coastal setting have allowed the course to remain playable through much of the year while the club continues to maintain the resort identity.

Did You Know? Water affects holes 3 through 8 and the 17th, while nearly every other hole has some out-of-bounds influence except the 12th and 16th. The result is a course where the safest direction is not always the shortest line to the green.