Magazine - Kauri Cliffs & Cape Kidnappers

By Rob Jenkins in Golf on 28th May 2008 6:00

As a lover of great golf courses, I now have a few notches on my belt having seen some of the most beautiful and famous courses around the world. There are the old greats in Scotland, the mind blowing courses in America but there will soon be another great golfing destination, New Zealand.

I have been gradually crossing off courses from the top 100 on my working holidays around the world. Sadly I haven't been to New Zealand for over four years. Since my last visit, there are four golf courses there that are becoming monsters.

I speak of Kauri Cliffs, Cape Kidnappers, The Hills and the Kinloch Club.
These four courses alone have the potential to propel New Zealand into the golfing stratosphere. That's not  selling any other golf course short in New Zealand, there are an abundance of  beautiful courses, but I think these four are something special. Now I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t been to any of these four courses. "Well bloody hell Rob !" I hear you say, "how can you go blowing air up these four, you haven’t even set foot on them."
To this there's no argument, but I look forward to seeing them perhaps with more anticipation than any other course I have visited so far, and I have a feeling that I will be far from disappointed.

Anyone who has seen photos of the mind blowing cliff courses Kauri Cliffs and Cape kidnappers would have to agree with me. They look as if they may have been created by golf loving Gods, or maybe a twister picked up Pebble Beach Golf Course and dumped it on the 200m high cliffs in New Zealand! They are a credit to the designers and anyone who has worked on them. We all know New Zealand as one of the most geographically diverse places in the world, and to not change the land but instead design the course to naturally encompass the land it around it, is what has made these two courses so stunning.

Both Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers are owned by New York hedge fund guru Julian Robertson. Robertson bought a 6,000-acre sheep and cattle farm in Hawkes Bay in 1995, he didn't know what to do with it until a golf designer said he could create a course without moving any dirt.

Kauri Cliffs was designed and built by David Harman of Golf Course Consultants, Orlando, Florida.
The par 72 championship golf course measures 7,119 yards/ 6,510 metres, and offers five sets of tees to challenge every skill level. Fifteen holes view the Pacific Ocean, six of which are played alongside cliffs which plunge to the sea. The beautiful inland holes wind through marsh, forest and farmland. The golf complex includes a world-class practice range, putting and chipping greens, a well stocked golf shop, and ladies’ and mens’ locker rooms.  The course is also featured in the famous top 100 golf course list.

Cape Kidnappers is a par 71 championship golf course measures 7,119 yards or 6,510 meters that will challenge every skill level. Designed by Tom Doak, Cape Kidnappers opened in November last year to accompany the Kauri Cliffs golf course. Kidnappers is designed on a 2,428-hectare sheep and cattle property. Built to resemble a cluster of farm buildings with a red silo at its centre, the Farm is set back on a ridge overlooking the course. Golf Magazine ranks the course number 41 in the world and it is easy to see why. Cape Kidnappers straddles massive chalk cliffs and every hole has a view of Hawke's Bay. The land leans toward the sea as a series of ridges jutting toward the rim of the earth. What's distinctive is that you get to the edge of the course and peer over cliffs, it takes your breath away. On the 6th and 15th holes, you have to navigate across a ravine to reach the greens. Miss and your ball will plunge into the ocean 200 metres below.

The results the greenkeepers achieve at these courses is a stunning feat in itself, as everyone knows we don't have anything like the numbers down here as they do in resort courses in the States. What Oceania lacks in staff numbers, they make it up by well trained passionate greenkeepers and groundsmen. It would be a rare top golf course that hasn't seen the service of a travelling kiwi/aussie, we are known to get around a bit after all! Travelling Oceania greenkeepers have never had  much hassle attracting work, as we are recognised all over the world as hard working turfie's who know their stuff, be it warm or cool season grasses we are always fast to adapt.

This will be the last time I rave on about these these two courses until I'm lucky enough to set foot upon them and have a beer with a few greenkeepers, I'm sure the challenges they face on the wind blasted cliffs make for interesting stories on these unusual links courses.

As for The Hills and the Kinloch Club, I believe I have already mentioned the great courses on more than one occasion. These two courses are less than a year old, and they'll aiming to double New Zealand's highly under rated contribution on the flawed top 100 list, surely the folks in America can't ignore the splendour of them. 

Check out more on these great courses.
www.kauricliffs.com & www.capekidnappers.com

Read more articles in Golf, by Rob Jenkins or from May 2008.