The 3rd Hole at Whangamata Golf Club – Titoki Course

The 3rd hole at Whangamata Golf Club – Titoki Course is a great hole and is worthy of being the number one stroke hole off the Men’s Tees and the number 3 stroke hole off the Women’s Tees. It plays to a length of 403 metres off the Men’s Blue Championship Tees and 340 metres off the Ladies Tees. It has sharp dog leg left at about the 220 metre mark which can cause some problems to the single figure player if you hit the ball too straight. Hence the name for this hole is “Devil’s Elbow”!

The perfect shot off the tee for the right handed player is a slight draw off the right hand side of the fairway to the middle of the fairway. And the left handed player it would be a slight fade. But it is not to say that the good player with a fade can’t take the ball down the left hand tree line and fade it back to the middle of the fairway. Or the Left handed player can’t play a draw down the Left hand tree line and draw it back to the middle of the fairway. But it is just a little more risky. 
  



From behind the 3rd tee looking
towards the fairway

There is a tidal creek that runs down the whole left side of the fairway right up to the green. It is a Lateral Water Hazard, and any ball hit in there is almost certain to need a penalty drop. So my advice is to avoid the left side completely. To the mid to high handicap player the tee shot off the 3rd tee is very intimidating. But to the Professional or very low handicap player it is just a good challenge. And if you miss it on the right side of the fairway the trees are too high to hit over so you will more than likely be just chipping back to the middle of the fairway.



From the 3rd fairway looking
towards the green

The 2nd shot is everything from a mid iron for the low handicapper to a rescue or 3wood for the higher handicap. And sometimes the higher handicap won’t even be able to reach the green. And into the Northerly Wind even the lower handicap player may have trouble reaching the green. Like every course the hole plays a lot different from winter to summer. In the summer the lower handicapper may have as low as a 9 iron in off a huge drive, but in the winter it could be unreachable even with two well struck shots. 
 

Looking from just short of
the 3rd Green


 Once near the green you will see it is sloped from back to front. So leaving the ball underneath the hole for an uphill putt is a must. And that will ensure you are able to have a real go at making your putt whatever it is for. It you do have the unfortunate experience of having a downhill putt you will just have to be extremely careful and hope it doesn’t get away on you. And a side hill putt on this green is just as hard as well.

This hole can be mastered with a well placed drive, to give yourself the best chance of hitting the green with your 2nd shot. And if you leave your 2nd shot underneath the hole you could even make a birdie 3, if you hole the uphill putt you left yourself. But they are extremely rear. A par is a great score and you should never be disappointed with it. A bogey is even okay.

The 3rd hole at the Whangamata Golf Club – Titoki Course is just another example of some of the great holes the Thames Valley, Greater Waikato and South Auckland Regions have to offer.