About Us
Alexandra lies in the beautiful Manuherikia valley at the
confluence of the Manuherikia and Clutha rivers. Surrounded
by the high mountain ranges of the Old Man, Dunstan and Hawkduns,
and with the barren Knobby Range as its background, this is a
special part of Central Otago featuring stunning scenery, great
history as well as plenty of things to do for golfers and non
golfers alike.
Course history
The following brief history of the club has been taken
from the "History of Alexandra Golf Club" written for the centenary
celebration in 2001.
"The golf club was established in 1901 when a small group of
prominent local men gathered at the old Bendigo Hotel, we still
play annually for the Bendigo Trophies. The gold rush some 40 years
before had grown the population to the point where Alexandra was
recognised as a municipality in 1867. In 1882 the first Alexandra
bridge across the Clutha was built near the old punt site and
this gave easier access to the town further promoting the town's
development.
The first course was a 9 hole links layout established just
North of the town at the time in an area close to the cemetery
reserve and running down toward Brandon Street. It was not
necessary to construct artificial hazards because gravel pits,
water races, rabbit warrens and lupins all contributed to the
natural hazards! The course consisted of sandy, dry fairways with
mainly weeds, tussock and lupins growing in the sand. Holes were of
similar length to those used today but the course conditions and
equipment used meant they played much longer, number 9 hole,
"Racecourse" was 480 yards and a par 10!! Opening day on 30 May
1901 was played as a Medal and the best score on the day was
88-17-71, over nine holes.
The club moved to its second location at the top of Bridge Hill
(the current "Old Golf Course road" area) in 1917. The new course,
also of 9 holes, was developed on an area of land considered
unsuitable for agricultural or pastoral purposes. The conditions
proved just as challenging as those on the first course. Devoid of
grass, the fairways consisted of scabweed and rock, the greens of
rolled clay. In spite of this an interesting, and unique, golf
course was established. Over the years much work was done by
members and even depression era subsidised workers to create grassy
greens, provide irrigation supply from various sources using
ingenious methods and establishing rabbit proof fencing. The first
hole in one recorded on this course was achieved by Miss N O'Kane,
later a life member, in 1935. The club held its first tournaments
in 1936. Two trophies still in existence today were donated in this
decade - the McGrath Cup for the Single Knockout, and the Fenwick
Memorial for the Mixed Foursome. Equipment and balls had
significantly improved by these times and the first record round on
the Bridge Hill course was by Ian Mclennan who recorded a 66 on the
par 68 layout. Ian won a record number of eight Senior
championships an achievement equalled by Nigel Hinton in 1999.
Popularity, player pressure, and unsuitable terrain for
expansion on Bridge Hill forced the club to consider another move
to the current 18 hole course location alongside the
Alexandra/Clyde highway and this happened in the mid 1960s. The
land was Domain Reserve and was made available to the golf club
by the Alexandra Borough Council. Messrs GD Taylor, WF
Pedofsky and EH Smith comprised the committee to design the layout
of the eighteen holes. Once again many years of work by members
commenced to complete the layout, implement irrigation (with
numerous upgrades over the years) and plant the many trees we still
enjoy today eventually turning a virtual wasteland into a green
oasis. 1970 was another important year with the building of the
present clubhouse starting. In 1974 club professional, John Roche,
accepted the role of course developer and tabled a plan for a new
layout introducing some new holes, changing the order some were
played in and resiting some greens. The overall effect was to make
the course more interesting and a still greater challenge
Development is far from finished. It is likely it never will be.
But, without doubt, what has been put into this club's third course
has given its members a country course of quality that puts it
among the best such courses in New Zealand."