Tākaka Golf Club tees up new members and mower

Tākaka Golf Club is celebrating a surge in new members, being dubbed the best course in the South Island, and upgrading its gear with a brand-new mower. The club’s membership has grown by 70 in the past 12 months and now sits at around 200.

“We’ve gone from six ladies to around 30, and we now have 22 juniors,” says president Alan Bradnock. “They’re all just having a great time out there.”

They have also been named the best nine-hole course “by a mile” in the South Island on The Yardage Book podcast, which Alan reckons is also something to be proud of.

To top it off, the club has also just purchased a $24,000 mower which was secured by fundraising efforts and grants. The old mower was over 15 years old, and it was spending “more and more time” in the workshop.

“This was a large investment by our club, and we are very grateful to our very community-minded local businesses and the Network Tasman Trust, who assisted with a generous grant,” says Alan.

“Without this, we would have had to wait several months, and the price of machinery was going up.”

The club has also embarked on several other projects, such as a new deck and working towards becoming accredited as a sustainable golf course.

They have also planted thousands of native trees around the estuary with assistance from Motupipi Primary School students and a comprehensive trapping programme that surrounds the entire golf course. “The aim is to use less fossil fuels and bring back the birds and lizards,” says Alan.