NZ: Mount Golf Club unveils new state-of-the-art short game practice green, ‘The Dunes’
Mount Golf Club, officially opened its brand new short-game practice green, known as “The Dunes.”
The practice facility, one of the largest in the world, offers members a state-of-the-art space in which to perfect their short game.
The launch of The Dunes is merely one part of a broader set of ideas for the club’s future, including a series of upgrades designed to enhance the golf experience as a whole.
The latest upgrade follows an extensive rework of the whole golf course, which kicked off in 2021 with the commission of Kiwi golfing legend Phil Tataurangi.
Tataurangi was challenged to develop a ‘Master Plan’ for Mount Golf Club that was the target of a 2022 member consultation exercise, with the new surface opened as phase one. The resulting member-approved and member-voted plan outlines a course improvement and facility upgrade long-term strategy to help the club remain a top-quality golfing facility.
As another addition to the club facilities, a new $2.8 million driving range will open next June, with construction currently underway and will open as phase two of the project.
Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale had the honour of formally opening The Dunes on Tuesday, and this brought about what is set to become an impressive new era for the members and Mount Golf Club.
In line with its continued growth, these developments demonstrate a long-standing dedication to growing the game of golf while creating a world-class facility for all who are lucky enough to play there.
Mount Golf Club General Manager Mike Williams says he is proud to have a facility that is comparable to other elite courses in New Zealand and worldwide.
“We saw the opportunity with the construction of our new driving range to re-use the old driving range land and make it something special.
“With a club of 1,400 members and almost 60,000 rounds of golf played a year at the Mount, our existing practice facilities were too small for that amount of golf so the freeing up of that land allows us to create The Dunes which is one massive green, one of the biggest in the world.
“We’re truly proud of what we’ve managed to put together and to be compared to other greens such as the one at Te Arai or the Himalayas in St Andrews, size-wise, is a mighty accomplishment for the golf club.
“We look forward to all our members enjoying it over the many, many years to come and visiting golfers getting to experience something quite special when they play a round at the Mount Golf Club.”
The inclusion of The Dunes and the new driving range is an enlightened step by the club to improve facilities for golfers of all abilities and further enhance its standing in the world of golf.
The facility will first be made available to members of Mount Golf Club and selected supervised groups.
