Is Golf A Good Walk Spoiled?
- Julie James
- Jul 10, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 12, 2024
Featuring Crosland Health Golf Club, Huddersfield, UK and Whangaroa Golf Club, Northland, New Zealand
‘Golf is a good walk spoiled’
As a passionate hiker for many years, I have imagined this quote to be true. However, this year, for the first time, I was given the opportunity to challenge this view.
I picked up a golf club for the first time and tried my hand at golf. Truthfully, it was not the very first time; there has been a few crazy golf sessions, pitch n putt on childhood holidays and a memorable ‘hole in one’ at an adventure golf course. I was, however, told not to mention the ‘hole in one’ at the golf club!
So, at 58 there I was, a new member of a golf club in New Zealand, a new country for me and a new hobby, lots of ‘new’.
Six months later and I have ‘played’ golf as a member at Whangaroa Golf Club in Northland, New Zealand and more recently at Crosland Health Golf Club in West Yorkshire, UK.
First, a look at the golf courses.........
Both golf courses encapsulate stunning features native to their respective location and are as different as they are similar.
As my first experience on a golf course, Whangaroa Golf Club and its members did so much to dissolve my pre-conceived view of traditional golf clubs. It is such a friendly, relaxed country club where everyone warmly welcomes visitors and new members.
Tucked away in the serene and scenic Northland region of New Zealand, Whangaroa Golf Club is located near the picturesque Whangaroa Harbour and is surrounded by the stunning natural landscape characteristic of this area.
The club’s location provides panoramic views of lush green hills, vibrant flora, encircled by mature, native, and exotic trees, creating a beautiful environment.
The walk around the 18 holes is stunning, nestled in a lush, rolling landscape, the golf course stretches across undulating hills that rise and fall gently. The course is surrounded by dense clusters of mature trees, including; Manuka, Pohutukawa and Totara all adding to the scenic terrain while giving an ever-changing experience as the seasons change.
Between the fairways lie the roughs, covered in longer, more natural grasses. These areas are dotted with wildflowers and smaller shrubs, providing a contrast to the manicured fairways and greens and creative landscaped areas alongside the pathways.
The course is designed to create challenges for the players which, in turn, adds to the beauty of the walk; passing over the charming, winding creek at hole 5 and reaching the tee boxes of holes 13 and 14 where the views across the landscape are far-reaching and stunning, the perimeter of the course here is lined with vibrant canna lilies adding to the glorious view.
As you walk the course you are accompanied by the wonderful New Zealand wildlife. Wild turkeys cross the fairways, the distinctive call of the tui can be heard, small energetic fantails flit and follow you around the course and the striking colours of the rosella are a common sight.
I walked the course and played golf here during the New Zealand summer months, and the start of autumn. The wide blue skies contrasted with the rich greenness of the landscape and the course was equally beautiful in the early morning sunshine or as the sun was going down at the end of a warm dry day. As the summer months gave way to autumn the early mornings would be shrouded in a light mist before giving way to more lovely sunshine.
Whangaroa Golf Course is the perfect course for an introduction to golf for a keen walker like me; picturesque, lush rolling hills, far-reaching stunning views with a kaleidoscope of colours and textures, and a rich, varied landscape.
Returning to the clubhouse at the end of 18 holes, there is always a warm welcome and a lovely, relaxed atmosphere to enjoy a drink and some light hearted golf talk with the other club members who quickly made me feel part of this community.
Returning to West Yorkshire in May, it felt important to carry on my golf journey and, after looking at a few local to my hometown of Holmfirth, we found the perfect course.
Crosland Health Golf Club is on the outskirts of the industrial town of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Built on what was once an unused quarry and farmland, the wide stretch of rolling terrain is full of natural beauty and again a course that artfully changes along with the seasons.
The course has everything I love about the countryside of West Yorkshire, a countryside that is wild and resilient. While the fairway and greens are meticulously maintained, manicured and smooth, the surrounding landscape contrasts beautifully, with a wildness characteristic of the Yorkshire Moors, rugged heather covered banks tumble down into deep ravines, seeded grass and dense shrubs create the rough and weathered stone, remnants of the quarry, nestle amongst the rich shrubbery and natural greenery of the landscape, a historical reminder of a bygone industry.
Wooden steps are built into the undulating terrain of the course and winding paths direct the players to each hole as the course meanders around the natural slopes following the natural contours of the landscape.
The course is one of the highest in the country and offers truly spectacular, panoramic views taking in distant rolling hills, woodland areas and far-reaching views across Huddersfield town and beyond from North to South. Looking across from the tee-box at hole 10, two iconic Huddersfield landmarks, Castle Hill and Emley Moor mast stand tall, appearing to the eye to be side by side against the skyline.
Stand out holes give the course areas of beauty and interest; in summer, the picturesque pond at the green on hole 10 is covered with vibrant pink water lilies floating along the top, the quarry holes of 9 and 17 are as stunning and dramatic to the eye as they are challenging to the golfer.
Walking across the course it is clearly a gem of a club in the heart of West Yorkshire, a course that is designed in harmony with its rugged, natural, wild landscape. Its heathland setting, with rolling fairways, panoramic views, and dramatic deep quarry ravines, offers a fabulous country walk even for a non-golfer and public footpaths wind through the course.
I walked and played this course in the UK summer months, which were a dramatic contrast to the New Zealand summer I had just experienced! The natural wildness of this course was regularly intensified with grey, moody skies and rolling clouds. The poor summer weather; cloud, wind, drizzle and threats of bigger downpours did not always show the course at its natural best, but its beauty and potential for gloriousness was clear to see. We were, however, rewarded on some of our early morning starts with lovely sunshine and the course was just beautiful.
Hole 18 leads the player back down fairway towards the clubhouse. A fabulous relaxing clubhouse, with seating outside giving views of the first and last holes and again, as in New Zealand the welcome is warm and friendly and one of the reasons we chose to join this club for our summers in Yorkshire.
Two golf clubs, two hemispheres, two summers and 6 months of golf ......
I am still passionate about hiking; a distant hill and a winding path give me joy, reaching the top of a hill after a challenging, strenuous climb gives me even greater joy and I doubt I will ever loose that feeling. Putting one foot in front of the other and walking for pleasure, without a golf trolly, will always be my ‘sport’ of choice.
However, and I am surprised at this, I am starting to get golf. It is frustrating, difficult, and unnatural; I am consistently bad to varying degrees and always inconsistent in my game. Both courses have challenges I have yet to meet and overcome – the creek at Whangaroa and the quarries at Crosland Health, my golf balls still nestle there, buried deep, still waiting to be retrieved. When my drive is unexpectedly ok, my putting is spectacularly bad and vice versa and I long for the day when I par a hole. However, after each disastrous hole I look forward to starting again on the next hole and small wins on the course spur me on to do better.
A good walk without pushing a golf trolley will always be a good walk to me, but, I am starting to embrace the 'walk' across a beautiful golf course, the peaceful, early morning tee-offs, the physical and mental challenge of the sport and the joy when the ball occasionally lands in the perfect spot.
If you have been inspired and want to visit either of these fabulous golf courses, their websites are below:
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