Our Proud History - from the beginning......
Manor Park has a proud, traditional history, tracing its beginnings to 1913 when the Karori Golf Club was first formed in Wellington City.
An equal-opportunity role model from the beginning, club records show that almost half the original 96 members were women.
Steve Scahill & Michael Campbell. The original members on the official Opening Day 13 June 2013
The Shift to a New Site
Keen members overcame the sale of the golf club land by shifting the club to its present site in 1926 - initiating a change of name to Manor Park honouring the gentleman leaseholder of the land.
The frequently-flooded land was harsh, and members found themselves clearing gorse, gravel and boulders to enable the first four holes to be built. An early committee meeting proposed that "club members must work clearing stones for one hour on Saturdays and Sundays after playing 18 holes".
First 18-hole Course
An eighteen-hole course was in play by 1936, the year Manor Park tasted golfing success when it won the Watt Cup for the first time. The women members were also performing with distinction, winning the Mary Alward Cup on four occasions from 1933 through to 1940.
Women to the Fore Again
During the war years of 1940-45, the club was kept going mainly by the efforts of the women, who were also involved in sending parcels to members overseas, to the Moore Park Golf Club in England, and raising money for the Patriotic Fund Board. The course was also popular with members of the NZ Armed Forces and a number of US Marines based in the area.
Major A Club
In 1946 the Wellington District Golf Association classified the club as a Major A Club, and accepted a team from Manor Park in the Arthur Duncan Cup Competition, which was won by the club in 1948. A Women's Mid-Week club was affiliated to the Ladies' Golf Union in November 1956. The foundation membership of eight generated so much interest that this was extended to twenty-four within a month.
Since then the club has gone from strength to strength, producing many prestigious players and hosting many National and Provincial golfing events, such as the National Interprovincial Championship, New Zealand Mixed Foursomes Championship and the pre-qualifying rounds for the New Zealand Open Championship.
The Birth of A Certified Sanctuary
In 2010 the club decided to utilise and enhance its natural surroundings and following 3 years of preparatory work, achieved in early 2013 an enviromental planning certification from the Audubon International organisation based in New York and is now a designated Sanctuary under its Co-operative Golf Sanctuary Programme. The Programme is an on-going and continuous process involving management and enhancement of wildlife habitat, water resource management, reduction in water and chemical use, a commitment to recycling of waste and a plan to involve the community and the club's membership in these activities and initiatives.