Coromandel golf club raffling $20k Masters trip for course repairs

The good old Kiwi raffle is a staple of the fundraising drive in Aotearoa community sports.

Usually there is a bit of food, alcohol or a hamper on offer for those buying a ticket, but that isn’t the case at Whangamatā Golf Club; for just $50, punters could be jetting off to one of golf's most prestigious tournaments at none other than Augusta National.

The trip to the Masters, worth around $20,000, is all in aid of helping the club recover from substantial rainfall recently which has left the golf course looking more like a water park.

“You can see that road level is over the top of the green so at its worst, this whole area has been under water,” club general manager Richard White said.

“You could just see the top of the flag.”

The 850-member Coromandel club was been battered by 2.5m of rain through 2022 and has taken on another 350mm already this month.

For contrast, White said the average for the area is about 80mm. “I think it's been our second-wettest year on record,” he said.

“And now it looks like January will be our wettest January on record.”

Head greenkeeper Simon Askey said the wet weather is starting to feel like Groundhog Day.

“We finally get the course up to a standard where the members are happy and we come back and it's completely under water.”

The rain has caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage with the worst of it being to the course’s bridges but the club’s insurance is refusing to pay out.

With another 100mm of rain forecast this weekend the club has opted to raise funds through their Masters raffle, with 2000 tickets up for sale.

Anyone can buy a ticket with sales available at the club or on their website, although less than 800 are left already.