Awapuni Links is the home of the Poverty Bay Golf Club.

The club was established in 1893 and can claim to be the fifth oldest in New Zealand and the second oldest in the North Island. Awapuni Links ranks among the country’s top provincial golf courses and has played host to numerous prestigious events in its 131-year history.

The links-style course presents a fair but testing challenge for golfers of all abilities, and is enjoyed by all who play its sand-based, watered fairways which follow the undulating contours of a sand dune system running mostly parallel with the nearby beach of Turanganui-a-Kiwa, also known as Poverty Bay. Excellent drainage means the course is almost never closed due to bad weather. Its greens are often praised as amongst the best in New Zealand.

In 2012, Golf Australia listed Poverty Bay among the top 25 golf courses that New Zealand has to offer. The reviewer said: “In terms of value for money, Poverty Bay is not expensive (compared to other courses ranked here) but it punches well above its weight in presentation and the enjoyment it provides.”

The on-site One Stop Pro Shop can take care of all golfing needs and stocks a wide range of the latest equipment. We have a dedicated NZPGA-qualified Professional providing coaching and accompanying practice facilities enabling aspiring golfers to become as good a player as their talent, determination and time permits.

The club welcomes individuals and golfing groups, with our friendly staff and membership committed to creating a golf day to remember both on and off the course. Corporate clients can also benefit from sponsorship opportunities and we provide a great venue for meetings and special occasions. The spacious clubhouse of the Poverty Bay Golf Club caters for social functions of all kinds, from birthday celebrations and wedding receptions to meetings and conferences.Free draining sandy soils allow play in even very wet weather. Dry summers produce long runs.

Gisborne’s two prevailing winds are north-westerly (warm and dry) and southerly (cold and wet), so the wind direction can be completely about-face from one day to the next – and even in the course of a match.

Immaculate in its presentation, thanks to the work of the course superintendent and his dedicated team, the playing surfaces are second to none. The greens are amongst the best in New Zealand. The fairways are reticulated and have an undulating topography. 

While links golf courses traditionally have few trees, Awapuni has a number of strategically placed, very old and very large pine trees that give the course its particular flavour, adding to the challenge of staying on the straight and narrow.

Awapuni Links is a 6029-metre par 72 test for men, with two par 3s and two par 5s on the outward nine and one par 3 and one par 5 coming home. Women play a no less enthralling par-74 layout measuring 5309 metres, benefiting from an extra shot on two on the tougher par-4s for the men, the long 9th and the 17th.

Recognised as one of New Zealand’s golfing treasures, our nationally-ranked course has often been host to championship events and challenging golfers for more than a century.

The Poverty Bay Golf Club is proud to have been selected to host the prestigious New Zealand Amateur Championships in 1991, 1996 and again more recently in 2020. The Freyburg Masters Rose Bowl Interprovincial event was hosted here in November, 2023.

As a testimony to the credibility of the course, Australian golfer Stuart Appleby's blue tee card of 66 in 1991 stood for 21 years until his score was bested by a trio of professionals on the same day – Ryan Fox, Richard Lee and Troy Ropiha – who all carded 65 in the 2012 Pro-Am Event.

A year later Peter Zwart fired an 8-under 64 in the 2013 Pro-Am – which has remained the target to beat for the last 11 years.

While the course has welcomed many premier national events, the everyday golfer will find the experience equally rewarding and invigorating.

New Zealand's leading PGA and European Tour professional golfer Ryan Fox says:
"I have fond memories of playing the venue. It's a strong but fair test and the name Awapuni
Links reflects the true nature of the venue."