ALPG launches ALPG Travel holidays with September Auckland trip
The ALPG will be taking another exciting new step in 2017, for the first time we will be dipping our toes into the world of international golf travel tours in conjunction with Golf and Tours (G&T)
Our first official international ALPG Travel Tour will be a fabulous five-day golfing trip to Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island in September this year, hosted by the ALPG with exclusive access to our ALPG tour professionals.
The tour will head to Auckland to play some of its outstanding golf courses, and will include the unique experience of participating and playing alongside an ALPG tour professional in one of our official ALPG Order of Merit events, The Anita Boon Pro-Am.
The Anita Boon Pro-Am is held annually in honour of former NZ player Anita Boon, a very fine player herself and a passionate proponent of women’s golf, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2009.
Not only will the tour group experience some magnificent and picturesque golf courses, they will have a fabulous opportunity to experience everything that this vibrant cosmopolitan city has to offer including upmarket bars in restored historic buildings, and world class restaurants featuring locally sourced produce.
The tour and all the fun begin will begin on Tuesday 19th September, when the group will meet up at Auckland airport and head into the city to their base for 5 nights, the Adina Apartment Hotel Auckland Britomart for welcome drinks and canapes.
The hotel is located in the Auckland CBD, just a short stroll from the waterfront, Queen Street and the Britomart Precinct which includes the fantastic La Cigale Market.
It is the perfect base from which to explore Auckland, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the energetic urban area, all within walking distance of the hotel.
After golf, you can eat and drink your way along the waterfront at exciting bars and restaurants or catch the ferry to explore some of the harbour islands, or if shopping is your preference the shopping in Auckland is fantastic!
The golf begins on Wednesday 20th September at Wainui Golf Club, a thirty-minute drive north of Auckland set in an iconic New Zealand rural back drop. The breathtaking 18-hole championship course is cut through rolling hills and natural water ways and is framed by 80-year-old statement pines and precise bunkering.
The Puddiecombe designed course offers challenges for players of all levels, and boasts pristine surfaces and five different tee options on each hole.
On Thursday 21st September, the group will head across the harbour to North Shore Golf Club for round one of The Anita Boon Pro-Am, where they will have the opportunity to warm up on the driving range alongside the professionals, and enjoy lunch before the afternoon round of golf.
Amateurs with a max handicap of 28 are welcome to play (All competitors must hold a valid handicap).
The format for each of the two days of the event will be a team competition with best two stableford scores combined on each hole to count (pro’s stableford score can contribute).
Amateurs may elect to take the pro’s drive up to 6 times in the round on any par 4 or 5 hole – and play the hole out from there!
Each team will comprise 3 amateurs and 1 professional which will either be an ALPG Pro who may be escorting your group on this tour or a “future pro” (an elite NZ amateur) that you are drawn with.
The Professional players will be competing in a 36 hole stroke play competition over two days for a share of the $NZ40,000 prizemoney on offer, which will count for the official 2017/18 ALPG Tour Order of Merit. The pro-am will also be official qualifying event for the following week’s McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open and the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open to be held in February 2018.
Another great day awaits on Friday 22nd September when round two of The Anita Boon Pro Am will be played, this time both men and women amateur players will be teaming up alongside professional women golfers as they battle it out for their share of prizemoney on offer.
Following play there will be a glass of bubbly, as well as raffles, a charity auction, light buffet dinner followed by the official prize giving where the 2017 Anita Boon Champion will be crowned!
On Saturday 23rd September the golf clubs will be left behind for a Wine Tasting Tour of Waiheke Island, with lunch at Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant
The group will leave the city behind for a 35-minute ferry trip to Waiheke Island, known as the `island of wine` for its many wineries and vineyards.
In landscape, lifestyle and experience, Waiheke is a world away from the city, with a haven of beautiful vineyards, olive groves and beaches.
The island boasts more than a dozen high-quality vineyards, where the group will enjoy local wine while looking out over vine-covered valleys to the blue sea beyond.
Lunch will be served at the world famous Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant, which is a little bit of Tuscany on Waiheke Island, a unique mudbrick restaurant and prize winning wines combined with olive trees and lavender.
This is an experience certainly not to be missed!
The last day of the tour will be on Sunday 24th September 2017, and the group are in for a real treat when they will tee up at the stunning Muriwai Golf Club on the North Island’s west coast, just a 45-minute drive west from the city.
Muriwai Golf Club is the region`s only authentic links course, and with the heather and pines, open environment, sand dunes and pot bunkering you could definitely be forgiven for thinking you’re in Scotland or Ireland playing a traditional seaside links course.
The only give away would be the unique black sand in the bunkers and on the dunes which will be the only reminder that you that you are actually playing a round of golf in the southern hemisphere!
The group will then depart after golf to Auckland airport to fly home from what will be a memorable 5 days of golf and fun!
Why not take the opportunity to extend your Tour - For those who may wish to stay on in Auckland the following week to attend the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women`s Open and watch Lydia Ko and the stars of the LPGA play, tour extensions are also available.
If you are interested in this fantastic golfing getaway to one of the world’s most beautiful cities please email Lee Harrington at leeh@alpg.com.au or call on 0413 163312
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