A golf club in Northland, on the verge of closing, has made history in Aotearoa after installing artificial greens.
When the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle followed each other earlier this year, the Tapora course was nearly destroyed, which was when they looked into an unconventional design.
"It had fallen over, and we kind of thought maybe we should look to resurrect it, and we threw around a silly idea of putting down artificial greens," investor Greg Inger said.
Now, Tapora Golf Club is about to mark its 60th year, making history as the country's first golf course with totally artificial greens.
Inger said it was challenging.
"The challenging part with replicating grass is that if a golf ball hits it, it generally stops, whether that will be spin stopping it or softer surface stopping it, trying to replicate that is the hard thing."
He found an American company that specialises in synthetic grass.
At a cost of $500,000, the turf was shipped to Tapora — where over four months, the course underwent a major redevelopment.
Hamish Dobbyn and his team added a multi-layer system of aggregate, then foam padding, then grass and loads of sand.
"I would say the easiest way of describing it is very similar to what a road's built. So basically your prep work and base underneath is very similar to a tar seal asphalt finish," Dobbyn said.
Stretching 6000m, the 18-hole, par-72 course is open for business — and just an hour and a half away from Auckland.
With 100 members, they have room to grow.
"It's only $200 a year, and even the green fees are only $25," Inger said.
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