The 15th Hole at Thames Golf Club

Thames Golf Club

The 15th hole at Thames Golf Club is a unique hole in many ways. You play off an elevated tee which has a great view over the Hauraki Plains. Off the Blue Tees it is a Par Four and is the number 1 stroke hole on the scorecard. But off the Red Tees it becomes a Par 5 and is number 16 stoke hole. It plays 396 metres off both tees. It was originally designed as a par 5. But when JP(Course Convener) at the time in 2004 decided to create a Blue Tee course, he decided to turn it into a Par 4 off the Blue Tees.

 It is a dog leg left to right and at about 200metres from the tee, the fairway narrows from 10 mower lengths wide to 6 mower lengths wide and it has a severe slope from left to right, meaning that in the summer months, a well hit tee shot that lands in the middle of the 6 mower lengths cut fairway can land and bounce into the trees on both the right and left hand sides of the hole. In my Opinion this is a touch unfair. Because if a lower handicap player hitting a good drive right down the middle of the fairway can land right behind a tree meaning, they may just have to chip out back to the fairway. In fact if the good player misses his drive way left or right, he may well have a clear shot to the green.   

Well the 2nd shot can be a difficult one to control at the best of times. In the summer you need to hit the green on the full to be sure the ball is going to stay on the green. But a big advantage in the summer is a good drive will only leave a Wedge to the green. But in winter the hole can be out of reach in 2shots just because of the holes length and the ground is so wet. And wind conditions play a huge part in this hole. If the wind is quartering out of the north then the hole plays a lot shorter. With a good drive you can hit as little as a pitching wedge for the second shot. But playing the hole into a strong south westerly wind and you can hit a Driver and a long iron or fairway wood and still come up short of the green. Plus if you miss to the left, you will face a tough chip up the hill over the small trees on the left hand side. And if you go long you will face a very tough chip up the slope at the back of the green. The green slopes from front to back.

Once on the green the challenge is far from over. Depending on where the pin is placed, you will either have a putt that breaks from left to right of right to left. So in my opinion the Par 4, 15th hole at Thames Golf Club is a worthy number one stroke hole of the Blue Tees and a relatively easy par 5 of the Red Tees. But a Par is always a good score and fine achievement off the Blue Tees.