One of the first things that strikes you when you play 18 at Raglan is the obvious and surprising difference between the front and back nine.The first tee sets you up with a par 5 and a deceptively wide fairway. Its deceptiveness is apparent when you go to hit your second shot and find yourself tucked under the branches of the bordering pine trees which tower at the side of the sloping fairway.

As you lose sight of the clubhouse this first nine starts to roll with the landscape and take on a ‘wild feel’. Challenging drives and demanding contours reward the accurate and conservative golfer until eventually you climb the hill on the 9th to once more catch sight of the clubhouse. After a welcome refreshment break the back nine stretches out to border the inner harbour and immediately feels more like a parkland course with wide welcoming fairways and a flatter contour.

The back nine starts with a sharp dog legged par 4 which invites the long hitter to ‘take on’ the trees and try for the green but many a golfer has regretted the choice after their partner has taken the more traditional route and ended up with an easy par.The 11th hugs the estuary, which gobbles up slices before the rest of the course opens up in front of the clubhouse.

On a calm dry day the course can give up some excellent scores but a windy day can add shots to a card with alarming regularity. It is one of the characteristics of a coastal course that weather can change it from one day to the next and Raglan is no different, it is however one of the few courses that you can play in the morning and after a lunch break be surfing in the afternoon without putting more than a few kilometres on the clock.