new zealand Manukau on the Move

     After several false starts, a financially struggling, 80-year-old golf club in suburban Auckland, New Zealand is moving forward with plans to relocate.
     Manukau Golf Club won’t be going far, as its new, 152-acre home -- currently a potato farm -- will be only about five miles from its existing property in Manurewa. An Auckland-based home builder, Fletcher Residential, has reportedly agreed to pay nearly $42 million (U.S.) for the club’s 112-acre property.
     With Fletcher’s money, Manukau plans to build an 18-hole, “international-standard” golf course, a multi-purpose clubhouse, a banquet center, and a short-game practice area. The club expects to pocket a surplus of $11 million or more after the construction is complete.
     Club officials believe the new course will be Auckland's best golf venue. The 6,807-yard track will be designed by Brett Thomson of RBT Design, a former associate in John Darby’s golf design firm. While working for Darby, Thomson helped to design a pair of courses on the South Island, Clearwater Golf Club in suburban Christchurch and Hills Golf Club near Arrowtown.
     The course will carry the “signature” of Phil Tataurangi, a touring pro who was born in Auckland.
     Manukau has been contemplating the move since the late 2000s, when a decline in membership compromised its ability to cover its debt and operating expenses. The club’s more than 700 members approved the deal with Fletcher in early 2013, by an overwhelming margin.
     “The traditional membership model is broken,” the club’s general manager, Stewart Halligan, told the New Zealand Herald after the vote. “We’ve got to have additional revenue streams, and we must also establish a pipeline to build membership.”
     Fletcher plans to build roughly 600 houses on Manukau’s property.
     Manukau’s new digs aren’t expected to be ready for move-in until the fall of 2016. The club will remain in place until the new facilities are built.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the February 2013 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.