Golfers continue to use abandoned Gulf Harbour Country Club course after sudden closure

Golfers blindsided by the sudden closure of a prestigious club on Auckland's Whangaparāoa Peninsula are taking matters into their own hands and continuing to use the abandoned course.

In July, the Gulf Harbour Country Club - a former training ground of world champion Lydia Ko - closed with immediate effect, leaving some members who had already paid hefty fees feeling short-changed.

As the course gradually falls into disrepair, some members are getting their last shots in, while also coming out swinging at the club's owner and director.

Bird life quickly reclaimed this park where people in polo shirts and sweater vests used to chase birdies. Families ride their scooters around the paths while kids use the green spaces to play football.

Young adults were making the most of the newly free course, which normally had a price tag of $75 for 18 holes for affiliated members. Makeshift flagsticks had been placed in the holes by some golfers keen to keep playing as long as possible.

Country club member John was in the middle of a round when he heard the news of the closure.

"They said the course is closed as of now," he said.

"They sent an email out saying it wasn't viable, but then they said there'd be another email coming. Well, it hasn't come."

Despite the closure, John was still playing a round with friend Len when Checkpoint visited.

He said it was a shame to see the club - a former host of the New Zealand Open - go to waste, but he planned to continue playing until the greens were too overgrown.

"This is a beautiful golf course and it's been left to wrack and ruin, when it's been such a championship course.

"It's affected a lot of people's lives that were members here and people that have bought houses around the course."

John saw the writing on the wall when developer Greg Olliver bought the club two years ago.

"When I found out that he was the new owner I started paying monthly, because his track record wasn't good."

That track record was a series of failed businesses that led to Olliver being disqualified from running a company until 2025.

In his stead, chartered accountant Wayne Bailey took over many of his operations. It was Bailey who sent out the email about the closure.

Another member out on the course, Dae Kim, said that was the only communication he had received to date.

"Just [an] email, one single email - closed down, bye, that's it... I don't know how he gets away with it."

Kim had paid his fees at the end of January, so he only had half a year of golf - some of that during severe summer weather - before the club's closure.

Membership did not come cheap, at $3000 a year, he said.

"[It's] quite a bit, but it's gone now. No refund or anything."

In his email, Bailey said the club had been losing money for years, and although fees had been raised, costs continued to outweigh revenue.

He said the best possible way out of the shortfall was to sell off land to reinvest in the course.

"The nature of the course layout meant that this was only possible with the acquisition of other neighbouring land as well.

"Negotiations to date have meant that this is not only unviable but ultimately a worse outcome than the status quo.

"Thus, we have no option but to cease operations."

Throughout its history, various developers had attempted to turn parts of the golf course land into housing - and members were scared Olliver would try to do the same.

But the land had an encumbrance on it, meaning it could only be used as a green space until the end of the millennium.

Keep Whangaparāoa's Green Spaces president Nigel Varey, whose house backed onto the ninth hole, said residents around the course were strongly opposed to more large-scale development at the end of the already congested peninsula.

"People can start building tomorrow; across the road, they can build seven-storey apartments," he said.

"If all that as-of-right development happened, there would be a huge increase in traffic. Then to take away the green space and turn that into more housing, it's chaos."

Varey said the golf club was one of the main reasons people bought property in the area.

"It's not having to commute for your leisure activity, and we believe we paid a premium for the property on that basis.

"If you were on the back of a Pak'nSave, the price would be lower, and if you're here, you pay accordingly."

Varey said his property had dropped in value by about $200,000 since the club's closure.

He hoped the course would find a new buyer to restore it to its former glory.

But in the meantime, he did not mind people playing it for as long as they could.

"It's meant to be a golf course, so good on them."

Checkpoint made numerous approaches to club owner Greg Olliver and director Wayne Bailey but did not receive any reply.