The Otumoetai Golf Club has a wonderful history.
In 1956 a block of land (25 acres) originally a town supply dairy farm, was converted by the Tauranga Borough Council into the Bureta Park Public Golf course. The Council were in favour of creating a general reserve with a lake on the land but the local residents won the day and in 1964 the otumoetai Golf Club was formed. There were 25 financial members, 11 women and 14 men. In 1967 the club affiliated with both the NZLGU and NZGA. The clubhouse, originally comprising a small wooden hut with outdoor ablution facilities was extended in 1967 to include kitchen facilities. In 1968 the ladies club was formed and began Tuesday competitions. In 1969 the club was granted a lease by the City Council and took over responsibility of the course and employment of a Green keeper.
Founder members inherited a piece of swamp on which rough grass thinly covered what had once been a shallow estuary of the harbour. Players learned to drive the ball long and low - a high shot would almost certainly be swallowed up in the sticky mud! Working bees were the order of the day with the men digging drains and the women picking up stones and raking the surfaces. The lateral drain across the 4th and 5th fairways turned into a mammoth task with 22 truck loads of logs being excavated and carted off to the borough dump. When the 9th green was originally shaped it was perfectly flat but the undulations now seen are the result of rotting timber below ground level.
The men's vets section was formed in 1975 and the lady vets section was formed in 1984.
In 1976 plans were placed for the building of a substantial new clubhouse. Foundations were laid in 1977 and the $60,000 project was officially opened on April 22 1978.
In 1970 permission was granted to install a bore but it wasn't until 1986 that pop up automatic sprinklers were put in place. The bore was upgraded in 1993.
1988 saw the boarding of the drain on the 2nd fairway but permission was not granted to board the drain right though until 1998.
One of the biggest improvements seen on the course was the change from gang mowing machinery to hydraulic mowers which occurred in 1991.
The first honours board was erected in the clubhouse in 1983.
The 25th Jubilee was held on March 24-27 1989. in 1999 the clubhouse underwent a complete refurbishment at a cost of $214,000.
Gratitude on behalf of all the members is extended to all past Otumoetai Golf Club founders, committees, greenkeepers and working bee contributors for their efforts and progress established last century.