Omanu is on a railway line, the par-5 13th – the hardest hole on the golf course – runs parallel with the tracks — a little ode to Royal Adelaide in New Zealand’s North.
Drains? There are open canals for stormwater running throughout the course. They are a hazard unique to Omanu, and look no different to creeks.
And planes? The golf club hugs the airport. It is a unique experience standing on the closing holes on the back nine and seeing how low the aircrafts fly. You genuinely feel as if a high draw could find the exterior of one of Air New Zealand’s ATRs.
The Bay of Plenty and Mount Maunganui, in particular, have been tourist hotspots for visitors making their trip to New Zealand for as long as I can remember.
Beautiful beaches, world-class surf, and conquering the summit of Mount Maunganui are always on the punters’ hit list when they come to town.
But the Bay’s golf scene is quietly bubbling along.
There is an excellent collection of layouts within short drives of each other, with Omanu being one of them. You get a fairly classical, Kiwi, parkland layout with a collection of quirky doglegs to keep you on your toes, not to mention some of the slickest putting surfaces going around.
The 1st hole is a steady, par-4 hole drivable for the massive hitter. It is pretty straight up and down. What the opening hole of the day does is teach you a lesson when you get to the green. The putting surface slopes moderately from back to front. Here, you learn not to leave yourself a putt from above the hole because the greens are as slick as they come. So, it is important to leave yourself in the right spots. It isn’t an overly strategic layout; you see what you get, but there are subtleties you will learn. Being above the hole – although not impossible- is a good two-putt.
The par-4 2nd hole’s fairway narrows closer to the green, where you are playing to another back-to-front sloping green.
You can settle into your round at Omanu, and hopefully not find too much trouble. But the course comes to life on the final stretch of the front side.
The 10th hole is a scoreable par-5 along the road. PHOTO: Armand DeVillers.
The 7th is a solid one-shotter, you are hitting into a large green, there is a bunker short, and you have to hit a tremendous shot to access any flag tucked on the left. If you pull it off, you will have a decent look at birdie. If not, you’ll likely have a filthy short-sided chip to a green that falls away from the flag. The bailout is to hit one well right of the flag to the fat of the green and back yourself to knock in the two putts.
The 8th and 9th are two of the better par-4s on the golf course, both of which dogleg to the right and put a premium on positioning off the tee. The 8th is longer, tipping the scales at 344-metres off the Matuku markers (the championship tees), missing left here is jail. Right is slightly more manageable, but you will have to get a lucky break to have a line to the green. Less than driver to the corner is the calculated play, or rip the big stick over the trees on the right if you have some minerals.
9 is a quality hole that offers plenty of reward for a good tee shot. It’s 305m off the tips, and when this coastal gem browns off and quickens in summer, the green is especially reachable. Hitting a pitch into a long green, where the flag is positioned, can change how the hole is played entirely. A great short par-4.
Updated and brilliant. PHOTO: Asset Homes.
The back nine offers a fantastic mix. No.10 is a scorable par-5. But the signature hole is the 13th, a 514m par-5 with the famous railway running along the right-hand side and Mount Maunganui as the backdrop to a tricky green. This is a three-shotter for most; the closer you get to the green, the more likely you will encounter a lie above or below your feet. The fairway begins to roll and slope at roughly 120-out, which makes the wedge shot a tad more difficult, so your ball striking needs to be on song; it also provides you with a canvas for some creativity, which this scribe believes is always a credit to the designer.
The next is a 158m par-3, with “the valley of doom” to the right, which could possibly be the worst miss on the golf course. A steep drop off and finding the valley of doom will leave you needing to open the face of a wedge and get something airborne. You can barely see the flag from down there, and this miss would be a card ruiner on a comp day.
No.16 is another hard dogleg right, which requires accuracy from tee to green.
The updated clubhouse is a hive for entertainment. PHOTO: Asset Homes.
There is a local rule, which was explained to me by one of my playing partners, a local chippie called Jimmy, when I teed it up in the Friday competition: If you miss the front tees at Omanu or hit one out-of-bounds on 18, you owe your playing partners a shot of Drambuie, club rules, no arguments.
Shortly after explaining the penalty, Jimmy fanned his drive off the property, the bell was rung in the clubbies as he went to the bar. Soon enough I was chasing an Export Gold with a fine dram of Drumbie, and talking through a thoroughly enjoyable day on the links.
It’s an example of what I like about playing golf at Omanu: it’s a high-class golf course with an easy-going feel. You’re getting the chance to play a fantastic track at a reasonable price, but don’t get the stuffy dress codes and turned-up noses you might get at courses of similar quality. There is nothing but open arms for everyone who books a tee time at this up-and-coming beauty, which isn’t everything, but it goes a long way and is ingrained in the club’s fabric.
The Mount Maunganui is a brilliant backdrop, but a slog of a climb. PHOTO: Armand DeVillers.
The Bay of Plenty-based club has built its reputation as one of the region’s most forward-thinking outfits, underpinned by a bold vision and meaningful progress across multiple areas. Its key strategic tool is a well-structured Course Master Plan (CMP), currently in phase three of a five-stage rollout. In an era when upgrades often mean reduced holes, this plan’s clever staging has allowed the complete 18-hole layout to remain playable throughout construction – something visitor surveys continue to praise.
The club’s commitment to high-calibre design was formalised in 2021, when Omanu conducted a detailed review of the layout and operations and appointed Grant Pudicombe of Pudicombe Golf to oversee renovations. Construction began in mid‑2022, and the early outcomes reflect a sophisticated balance of function and playability—always mindful of greens and sightlines during ongoing improvements.
A good tee shot will be rewarded on the 9th. PHOTO: Armand DeVillers.
When I toured the course with the GM, Neil Weber, I was highly impressed with the neatness, considering that it is a course undergoing change.
You could see fresh greens and tee boxes that were receiving attention, but there were no mountains of soil in eyeshot, let alone areas of the course roped off like an inner-city crime scene; all the improvements are happening in the background. This means that the members and green-fee players get the lion’s share of the layout to enjoy while it continues to get better.
Tauranga’s golfing numbers are rocketing; in fact, Omanu reports around 73,000 rounds played in a single year, making it the second-busiest club in New Zealand.
Underpinning all this is a unique and emphatic response to the demand.
The board and GM undertook a two-year review into how best to grow the game. The result is Omanu Golfing eXperience (OGX). A purpose-built facility centred around TrackMan bays was designed to introduce golf to thousands of people each year at accessible price points without disrupting the club’s day-to-day operations.
Enjoy Omanu when the sun goes down thanks to the Omanu Golf Experience. PHOTO: Asset Homes.
A key aspect of the expansion is to elevate the golfing and Omanu experience. The new driving-range bays overlook the first tee, which opened in June this year for after-hours access (6pm–10pm), alongside a full-length balcony, training rooms, social areas, and conference space. These broader clubhouse upgrades are funded in part by the legacy of Nori and Ken Deakin, long-time instrumental figures of junior golf at Omanu.
When Neil gave me the tour, I was instantly impressed, and thought: Why don’t more clubs bring initiatives like this to life?
“We have the number two golf course in New Zealand for rounds-played at about 73,000, and we were struggling to put more people on the golf course. So, you can either just sort of plateau at that or you can look for alternative means,” Weber told Golf New Zealand.
PHOTO: Asset Homes.
Junior development now has its own champion in Customer Relations Manager Taylor Rose Perrett, who is coordinating a renewed junior pathway with the integrated TrackMan and PuttView technologies. The aim is to nurture golf and life skills in school-aged members, a continuity of Nori Deakin’s vision for youth development at Omanu.
Rounding off the upgrades, a new website and online booking system is expected to launch soon, providing easy access to information on the club’s expanded facilities—including OGX, membership options, and upcoming events.
Omanu Golf Club has done brilliantly in blending its bold ambitions with execution. Its intelligent CMP, pioneering OGX initiative, and facility upgrades position it as a phenomenal 18-hole layout and model for what a community-centred, future-ready golf club looks like.
FACT FILE
LOCATION: 98 Matapihi Road, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand 3116
WEBSITE: www.omanugolf.co.nz
CONTACT: manager@omanugolf.co.nz; +64 27 253 6848; 07 575 5957
COURSE: 18-holes, par 72, 6,007 off the Championship Tees.
GENERAL MANAGER: Neil Weber.
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