Shandon is home to a wonderful 18-hole championship course that will be loved by golfers of all abilities.
Bordered by the Hutt River on its eastern side, there are other natural water hazards to contend with. The bunkering is not severe, but there are trees to avoid, and the player wishing to shoot a good score is best served keeping their ball on the pristine fairways rather than trying for extra distance.
One of the features of Shandon is the beautifully-manicured greens, whose true-running qualities draw many complimentary remarks from first-time visitors. Some, though, are quite undulating and will test your green-reading skills to the full.
The course is well irrigated and also has excellent draining qualities, making it very playable all year round.
With the new Millennium approaching, Shandon commissioned leading course designer Graham Marsh to draw up a masterplan that would ensure the club remained one of Wellington’s leading layouts for many years to come.
The club keenly adopted the Marsh Plan, which featured several new greens and teeing areas, the addition of several fairway bunkers and mounding along the flanks of many fairways that added considerably to the character of many holes.
The course measures 5642 metres off the men’s blue tees, playing to a par of 70. There are three par-3s and two par-5s going out and two par-3s and one par-5 coming home.
Ladies enjoy a course measuring 5,155 metres from the yellow tees. While they enjoy extra shots on three of the tougher par-4s, the 5th, 13th and 17th, the par of 73 is no pushover, evidenced by the fact it is more than three shots below the New Zealand Course Rating.
Golfers have to be on their mettle from the start, because the round opens with a par 5,followed by the 2nd,currently rated stroke hole 1,the hardest hole on the course.
When you tee up on the par-4 18th picture visiting American Tim Dougherty, who wrote himself into club legend back in 2010 by scoring a hole in one from the white tees, a distance of some 360 metres!
Should you not shoot your best score here first time can we make two suggestions: enjoy the abundance of birds and flora as you make your way around the course and check the diary for the earliest chance you can get back: Shandon will leave you eager to return for more!