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The par-3 7th hole at Kauri Cliffs looks across Waiaua Bay to
the Cavalli Islands.
Dramatic holes perched on the sea cliffs above the South Pacific
have helped Kauri Cliffs
rocket to 25th on the Golf Digest's list of top 100 courses
outside of the USA.
Kauri Cliffs Golf Resort Photo. |
Kauri Cliffs
Golf Resort
MATAURI BAY, NORTHLAND, NORTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64
(9) 407 0060
Web Site: KAURI CLIFFS |
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“Julian
Robertson has made his challenging vision of a New Zealand
paradise for the wealthy into a reality during the harshest
world economic climate since the Great Depression of seventy
years ago.” |
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FLUSH WITH
AMBITION
We first reported the existence of Kauri Cliffs Golf Club in
June 2001 with the course freshly open and many elements not yet
finished (e.g. the lodge) or even decided (who would be the target
clientele?).
In early 2001, Kauri Cliffs was flush with ambition, but had
not yet earned any accolades. We were certain its owners and developers
couldn’t themselves be certain: that the course would play to a
world-class standard, that golfers would come so far to play the course,
that the isolated course in a far northern corner of New Zealand would
even draw New Zealanders to play (with a citizenship discount), or that
any (let alone enough) international golfers would happily fork over
NZ$400/round (more than US$200/round) to play an unknown and unranked
course.
At the Millennium we were also certain that high-end resort
golf was riding a wave around the world. The wave had already washed
across the three nations with the greatest golf course per capita:
Ireland (Adare
Manor,
Doonbeg,
K-Club,
Old Head
of Kinsale,
Fota Island),
and Scotland (Gleneagles,
Turnberry,
St. Andrews Resort & Spa),
and had made landfall in New Zealand, too (Gulf Harbour, Formosa,
Wairakei
International,
Millbrook).
Pre-9-11, international golf was experiencing a golden age: the world’s
economy was strong and flying was cheap, safe, and uncomplicated.
You needn’t be told the world changed dramatically in
September, 2001, and again in 2007-8. Golf’s golden age is in recession
along with the rest of us, and international travel — high-end, low-end,
or middle — has yet to recover to levels common to the 1980s and 1990s.
Some golf courses/resorts — planned or operating — have gone the way of
Swissair and Sabena in the last decade. We are naturally interested to
see how Kauri Cliffs Golf Resort — with a history that parallels the
calamitous first decade of the 21st century — has fared facing the
unexpected challenges of its first ten years.
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Norfolk
pines, common throughout the North Island of New Zealand, lend
an exotic touch
to a golf course with ambitions to be a New Zealand paradise. .
Kauri Cliffs Golf Resort Photo. |
REMARKABLE
SUCCESS AGAINST STEEP ODDS
Kauri Cliffs resort has continued to evolve since our first
visit nine years ago. The vision of owner (and wealthy New York hedge
fund manager) Julian Robertson for his first New Zealand golf resort is
now completed. (Robertson didn’t wait long to plunge into a second, even
greater challenge: the development of
Cape Kidnappers
Golf Resort in the
Hawkes Bay
region of New Zealand’s North Island. In 2010 Robertson plans to open a
third resort — this time without a golf course—in the Queenstown area of
the South Island.)
The late David Harman and his firm Golf Course Consultants of
Orlando, FL, saw their course achieve worldwide acclaim in a remarkably
short time. Harman, who got his start working for Jack Nicklaus’s design
firm before going independent, died of cancer at the age of 51 in
late-December 2009. He believed Kauri Cliffs his finest work, an opinion
backed up by Golf Digest. The publication named Kauri Cliffs
“Best New International Golf Course” — tops in a field of 600 in the
course’s first year 2001. By the end of the decade, Kauri Cliffs had
rocketed to #25 on Golf Digest’s “100 Best Courses Outside The
United States”, ahead of such famed British Isles tracks as
Royal Liverpool,
Walton Heath,
Portmarnock,
North
Berwick, Royal Porthcawl,
Waterville, Western Gailes,
Old Head
of Kinsale, St. Andrews
Links (New, Castle, and Jubilee Courses),
Prestwick,
Tralee, and behind only one other Kiwi course, its sister course Cape
Kidnappers (rated #13).
Rival publication Golf Magazine created its own list,
nominating its top fifty “Greatest Courses of the Last 50 Years”
(1960-2010). Kauri Cliffs makes #18 on this list, while sister Cape
Kidnappers is the first non-USA listing, at #4.
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Kauri Cliffs offers great challenge to top pros, but welcomes
high handicap players, too.
Four tee boxes at each hole make Kauri Cliffs playable by all
ages, genders, and skill levels.
Kauri Cliffs Golf Resort Photo. |
AND THE
GOLF IS OPTIONAL
Kauri Cliffs Golf Course has settled upon a length of 7,119
yards (or 6,510 meters, which is the measurement of choice in New
Zealand). Each hole offers a selection of four tee boxes, making the
long course from the blues play a short 5,185 yards (4,741 meters) from
the yellow tees. Aiming for an upscale international clientele means
amenities, on and off the course. Kauri Cliffs has a full practice area
with a driving range — unusual for non-American courses — as well as
practice greens for chipping and putting. The course has a
fully-equipped pro shop with all the top brands of golf equipment and
clothing, and rents Callaway clubs, as well as shoes, and — importantly
for many Americans — electric golf carts. Caddies are available as club
carriers and course guides, or as fore caddies to location landing
positions of golf balls and help around the greens and generally speed
up play.
As a resort, Kauri Cliffs sells much more than golf. And,
while golf’s the lead activity at this leading New Zealand resort, it’s
certainly possible to come to Kauri Cliffs and not play golf. Indeed,
most of the awards Kauri Cliffs has collected have little to do with
golf. Rather, Kauri Cliffs has led the charge to put New Age, New
Cuisine, New Zealand on the list of lands offering superb hospitality to
those who needn’t ever ask about price. Sample awards from the Kauri
Cliffs trophy room include: Travel & Leisure magazine’s #17
rating in the “World’s Top 50 Hotels” (2010), Condé Nast Traveller’s
top rating for food in Australasia and Pacific (2010), Travel &
Leisure’s “Top Resort in Australia, New Zealand, & South Pacific”
(2009).
The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs is neither particularly large nor
over-the-top opulent, but its attention to detail — service,
furnishings, style, and dining — have earned it top points. Price not an
object? Kauri Cliffs Resort offers a failsafe resort experience complete
with tennis, spa, pink beach picnics, private helicopter services
(arrivals and departures, and flightseeing), horseback riding, surf
fishing, sea kayaking, guided bird watching, boar hunting, possum
shooting, mountain biking, nature walks, basketball, swimming pool, and
hot tub — all this without leaving the resort’s secure 6,000 acres of
isolated coastal cliff land, native bush, and working farmland.
Want more adventure? Kauri Cliffs arranges for off-site trips
to places of interest across New Zealand’s Northland region: to the
country’s northernmost capes, to 4-wheel the dunes of its west coast
90-Mile Beach, to ogle New Zealand’s largest trees — kauris that rival
America’s great redwoods — to explore the Bay of Islands with its
important Kiwi history by boat, swim fins, on foot, or by chauffeured
car.
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The 16th green at Kauri Cliffs presents more challenges than
golf. The spectacular native scenery of
New Zealand's South Pacific coast in the remote
Northland region is certain to vie
with golf for one's attention.
Kauri Cliffs Golf Resort Photo. |
THE
GOLF RESORT AS THE ULTIMATE UPSCALE VISION NEW ZEALAND
Notice the last three paragraphs contain no details about
golf at Kauri Cliffs? As we mentioned early on, owner Julian Robertson
has completed his vision. An enthusiastic New Zealand fan, Robertson has
optimized and to some extent sanitized his adopted second homeland in
creating Kauri Cliffs. Guests can heli in and heli out, play golf (or
not) on a world-class course (and play from the yellows if they
themselves are not exactly world-class golfers), and sleep under
world-class sheets after dining in a world-class restaurant. The weather
should be exquisite: island weather, subtropical with a convenient
late-day shower to keep things glistening. The wine and fruit and cheese
and fish and produce and much of what you eat at Kauri Cliffs will be
fresh, local, organic, and delicious. Kauri Cliffs resort — which, like
its sister resort at Cape Kidnappers eight hours drive to the south —
had to overcome native Maori resistance when its planned construction
was first announced. Now Kauri Cliffs makes sure that Maori concerns are
addressed, and that Maori culture is included in the Kauri Cliffs
presentation of the story of New Zealand. But Kauri Cliffs is not the
Maori New Zealand, any more than it is the New Zealand of Auckland, of
Wellington, of Queenstown, of Manukau, of Hamilton, or of anywhere else.
It’s Julian Robertson’s New Zealand and as unreal as any über-rich
enthusiast’s fantasy or folly ever is.
My point is that Kauri Cliffs golf course and resort are
splendid, leading trendsetters in the world of upmarket sport and
hospitality. Julian Robertson has made his challenging vision of a New
Zealand paradise for the wealthy into a reality during the harshest
world economic climate since the Great Depression of 70 years ago. Go,
if you can. Play golf. Enjoy the superb location, service, dining, and
choice of activities. Don’t ask the price. If you do, as the old saw
goes, you can’t afford it.
My second point is that New Zealand prides (really prides) itself
on being the greenest nation on earth. I mean wears its pride like a
badge of honor, like some Christians promote their unquestioned
self-assurance that they have got it all figured out. But I’m a Yank and
a writer from big city East Coast America, where the problems are all
complicated and there are zero easy solutions. I’m not so sure about
anything, except this: I have good reasons and bad to be cynical when I
meet someone who is absolutely sure. Yes, New Zealand is green. But,
more and more, I see that the green of New Zealand is the color of
money.
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LENGTH &
PAR:
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Blue Tees: 6,510m (7,119 yards), Par-72.
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White Tees: 5,865m (6,414 yards), Par-72.
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Red (Ladies’) Tees: 4,741m (5,185 yards), Par-72.
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Yellow Tees: 5,481m (5,994 yards), Par-72.
GREENS FEES:
High Season: October through April:
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18 holes: NZ$400
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36 holes: NZ$600
Low Season: May through September:
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18 holes: NZ$300
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36 holes: NZ$450
FACILITIES:
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Electric Golf Cart rental:
NZ$35/person
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Trundler (pull cart) rental: NZ$10
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Golf Club rental (Callaway): NZ$75
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Shoe rental (soft spikes)
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Caddies: NZ$70/single bag;
NZ$130/double bag
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Forecaddie: NZ$30
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Clubhouse with Bar, Café, Restaurant
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Pro Shop
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Practice Area: driving range, putting green, & chipping green.
VISITORS WELCOME DAILY, YEAR ROUND:
Advance reservations
strongly recommended.
Note:
Appropriate Golf Attire Required. Soft spikes only.
PLACING RESERVATIONS:
Make Golf tee-times via:
• Pro Shop Tel: +64 (9) 407 0060
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Automated Form
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Or, let
HOME AT FIRST
pre-reserve your golf tee-times
at Kauri Cliffs Golf Course as part of your
independent, fly/drive vacation to New Zealand.
HOME AT FIRST
adds no booking charge for this service.
LOCATION:
Kauri Cliffs Resort Golf
Course is located on an isolated 6,000 acres tract that includes the
golf course, a working farm, and private ocean frontage on Matauri Bay,
South Pacific Ocean, in Northland Region of New Zealand. The golf course
is within reach of
HOME AT FIRST
lodging locations throughout
NORTHLAND.
ADDRESS & TEL.:
Kauri Cliffs Resort and Golf Course, Matauri Bay, Northland, North
Island, New Zealand.
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Lodge & Restaurant Tel: +64 (9) 407 0010
• Pro
Shop Tel: +64 (9) 407 0060
DIRECTIONS TO KAURI CLIFFS GOLF RESORT:
FROM
HOME AT FIRST’S
NEAREST NORTHLAND LODGINGS in KERIKERI:
take the Heritage Bypass from Kerikeri to its end intersection on Rt. 10
at Waipapa. Turn north on Rt. 10. Follow Rt. 10 north 8 miles to the
turnoff on the right for Matauri Bay Road. Follow Matauri Bay Road 7.5
miles to the sign for “Kauri Cliffs” at Tepene Tablelands Road. Turn
right on Tapen Tablelands Road and follow the road 2.5 miles to Kauri
Cliffs lodge.
Total distance from Kerikeri to Kauri Cliffs: 22 miles.
OTHER NEARBY
GOLF CLUBS:
•
Kerikeri Golf Club – Kerikeri, 5min W of
Home At First’s
Kerikeri lodgings.
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Waitangi Golf Club – Waitangi by Paihia, 5min N of
Home At First’s Paihia lodgings.
THE REGION:
NORTHLAND
— New Zealand's northernmost region — basks in
its subtropical climate. Wedged between to oceans, Northland has two
coasts separated by hills, native forests, and some of New Zealand's
most productive farmland. The Bay of Islands, on the east (South
Pacific) coast harbors two resort towns (Paihia and Russell) and the
Waitangi Reserve, location of the founding of modern New Zealand. Thirty
minutes north of Paihia is the town of Kerikeri, a lively, upscale
combination of agricultural market town and visitor center. Both Paihia
and Kerikeri offer several exceptional restaurants, as well as shopping
and other visitor services. Besides golf, activities in the region
include
walking,
swimming, boating, deep-sea fishing, and snorkeling. The region has a
large native Maori population which invites visitor interaction at
Waitangi Visitor Center, at the site where European colonists convinced
Maori representatives to sign the treaty establishing New Zealand.
Tourist operations in the Bay of Islands offer
dolphin encounters,
island hopping, and other guided water and land excursions. With a low
populations density, Northland offers excellent opportunities for car
touring to discover New Zealand's great kauri tree forests, spectacular
hidden beaches, and Cape Reinga, at the far tip of New Zealand.
TRAVELING TO NEW ZEALAND, AND WISH TO PLAY GOLF
DURING YOUR VISIT?
Let
HOME AT
FIRST make your advance tee-times at
Kauri Cliffs Golf Resort and many other golf courses as part of
your pre-reserved independent New Zealand fly-drive
itinerary. There’s no extra charge for this service.
MORE RESOURCES:
•
New Zealand Golf Course Guide
• Home At First's
NEW ZEALAND travel program
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Want to learn about other courses throughout New Zealand
including some of the greatest tests of golf in the world?
See our NEW ZEALAND Golf Course Guide for more
information.
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