NEW ZEALAND
CAPE KIDNAPPERS Sensational views await golfers playing this Tom Doak design in Hawke’s Bay. This is the par-5 fourth.
peak season. Your golfing budget in New Zea- land needs to factor in prohibitive in- ternational pricing, by South African standards anyway, but there is a silver lining. Green fees at the traditional members’ clubs are a fraction of that. Golf is possibly more affordable in New Zealand than even South Africa, cer- tainly when it comes to membership fees. 10 EXCEPTIONAL LAYOUTS My visit took me to a surprisingly di- verse range of golf clubs and attractive courses. The North Island is home to about 10 exceptional layouts, which will have you drooling in anticipation of playing them, yet below that is an un- told number of gems which rarely earn a mention when golf in New Zealand is discussed. Doak himself was captivated by a country course in Taranaki which has since become a YouTube curiosity. Waverley Golf Club was as memorable an experience for me as Cape Kidnap- pers, and the green fee was $NZ30, notes which you place in an envelope and post into an honesty box. Waverley is one of many rural clubs primarily kept going by members, and the only paid member of staff is usually a solitary greenkeeper. The North Island is smaller in size than the Western Cape, but the popular- ity of golf is such that it contains almost as many 18-holers as there are in South Africa. Every town has a golf club, prominently advertised on roadside
Dubai, in a Dreamliner or an Airbus 380. It took me two days of travelling to get there, flying from Johannes- burg via Hong Kong. This involved two flights of between 12-13 hours each, and a time change of 11 hours in summer. A lengthy enforced stopover in Hong Kong on the way there was a blessing in disguise, enabling passengers to re- cover from any jet lag. And the second leg to Auckland was a night flight where you mostly sleep. CAPE KIDNAPPERS Tom Doak first visited New Zealand in the early years of the new millennium, to view an unusual design prospect on the east coast, part of a sheep ranch atop towering seaside cliffs in Hawkes Bay. Cape Kidnappers opened in 2004 and immediately entered World 100 rankings everywhere, its jaw-dropping appearance, deep ravines to cross, and evocative name the focus of feverish excitement among golfers. Who hasn’t been mesmerised by the aerial photo- graphs of this course and the desire to play there? The back nine holes on their plateau are twice the height above the ocean as those at Pinnacle Point, measured at 170 metres. The scale of the layout and the views are sensational to experience on a clear, sunny day, but on other days clouds can roll in and spoil everything by reducing visibility to a hundred me- tres. Kidnappers is not worth playing in those conditions. Certainly not when the green fee is $NZ950 or R10 000 in
"DOAK REWARDS BOLD TEE SHOTS THAT FLIRT WITH RAVINES AND THE DEEPEST BUNKERS HE HAS BUILT."
signs, and worth a look when you’re leisurely cruising in a campervan and keen on a break. Some are busy, oth- ers quiet, although often crowded with sheep. You get used to sharing fairways with these woolly animals. Waverley’s 18 holes are on a working farm. Several golf clubs outside the cities unofficially welcome campervans, al- lowing the use of clubhouse facilities, which was handy. Staying on site at Hastings Golf Club (Bridge Pa) where we were playing was a bonus. There was a time when “freedom camping,” as they call stopping overnight wher- ever you like, was permissible, but no longer. Inconsiderate behaviour turned
He opened the exclusive Tara Iti Golf Club in 2015, and then in 2022 and 2023 the South and North courses at Te Arai Links, a public resort, on the same Pa- cific Ocean shoreline. Doak was Kayne’s go-to designer for Tara Iti, and this sur- real masterpiece is the No 1 ranked course in the country: likely Doak’s own personal No 1. It has been No 2 in Golf Digest’s World Top 100. Tara Iti is unlike any course I have played since a memorable round at Cypress Point some years ago. Com- parisons can be made with Alister’s Mackenzie’s own triumphal creation. The occasion, and this was a calm day, was intimidating, even though the
people against it, and it became unlaw- ful. Essential then to plan your route in advance, sourcing sustainable places at where to camp. If you cannot find a designated “freedom camp,” with basic ablutions, then you head for a com- mercial campsite. These offer a range of luxuries, where you can fill the water tank, and flush away toilet waste. TRUE LINKS EXPERIENCE New Zealand is a rare destination in having some of the best true links ex- periences outside the United Kingdom and Ireland thanks to a luxurious devel- opment by Ric Kayne on the east coast a 90-minute drive north of Auckland.
WATCH ONLINE Golf Digest Every Hole at Tara Iti
fairways at Tara Iti possess relatively generous landing areas. But I was con- tinually conscious of the vast tracts of sand framing each hole. Enormous bunkers with incredible shapes and slopes to them. Aerial views of Tara Iti expose their true scale. From high above the course resembles a sandy wasteland, with strips of green fairway snaking through the low dunes. As a first-time visitor your
CAPE KIDNAPPERS The clubhouse resembles an old barn.
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MARCH/APRIL 2026
MARCH/APRIL 2026
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