Along with leaving huge amounts of mud and silt on the golf course, intense flooding in August washed away the bridge that links the golf club and car park with the holes on the other side of the Maitai River.

By mid-October, holes 1 – 7 had been repaired and reopened, but without a bridge, golfers had to either wade or drive across a concrete ford to be able to play, and the ford was only passable at low river flow.

However, by mid-December, gum boots and trailers to ferry equipment across the river were no longer needed. Four months on from the August floods, work to install a temporary bridge was complete, and the Waahi Taakaro Golf Course was once again fully open to the public, just in time for summer.