So, God was a Golfer…
Make available a block of land with superb sea views and most people would dream
of building a little holiday home, planting a stand of fruit trees and perhaps
putting in a pool or tennis court, depending on the budget.
But when the budget isn’t an obstacle, you’re a golf fan and you like to make
your dreams come true - there’s only one outcome once you own such a block of
land. Create your own golf course, then make sure you have somewhere comfortable
to sleep after a day of playing golf.
The most stunning example of a golf course fantasy realised, sits perched in
a remote area at the top of the North Island in New Zealand. Matauri Bay in Northland
is the home of Kauri Cliffs Golf Course and Lodge, a quite spectacular development
by New York financier Julian R Robertson. There was Robertson, having a perfectly
happy family holiday in Northland, when he espied the 4000-acre property. Where
others were awestruck by the breathtaking cliff top sea views, secluded beach
coves and rugged coast, he was spurred to action. He saw a golf course. That’s
the thing with golfers - they can’t go for a casual stroll across anything green
without fantasizing about making par.
The course itself is hot, never mind the sub-tropical Northland weather. Designed
by David Harman, Kauri Cliffs features six holes testing the nerves of the acrophobic
golfer. It is carved into the land as naturally as though it was meant to be here
all along. Robertson is a religious man, and it seems God must be a golfer.
‘Julian will say ‘we didn’t really do anything - it’s God who has given us this
beautiful land; we just enhanced it,’ explains Kauri Cliffs’ general manger Richard
Nauck. ‘He feels very strongly about it. He just looked at the natural lay of
the land and that’s how the golf course is cut out. It’s not just plonked there
after earthmoving - it’s carved into the land. That’s how he wanted it.’
That natural element pervades Kauri Cliffs in many ways. What could have been
the stomping ground of the affected, wannabe golfer with a wad of cash in his
plus-fours and a swagger to match, has retained a laid-back Kiwi feel the countrymen
are renowned for. After all, this is a place where cellphone coverage isn’t great
and no-one cares how nifty your Wap phone is. Sure it’s New Zealand’s most expensive
golf course on which to play a round - but even the Kiwis are coming to play.
In 2000, most of the visitors to the course were New Zealanders, and there’s a
group of Aucklanders who travel north every weekend to play.
Now that the luxury lodge is open - that was wife Josie’s inspired part of the
dream - people can play and stay, which has made it an attractive proposition
to golfers from all over the world. Americans, in particular, are coming thick
and fast. An American guest writes in the log guest book: ‘Pebble Beach is boring’.
Another guest writes: ‘I’d much rather play this than Pebble because it’s more
scenic and more challenging.’ Lucky to have the choice, of course, especially
at opposite ends of the earth.
Nauck says it’s difficult to compare the two when Pebble Beach has been there
for many years, but he says Kauri Cliffs does have at least one advantage.
‘At Pebble, you have to book a month in advance to play - and you pay a fortune
to play there. Here there are times when you’ve virtually got the course to yourself.
Yet, you have the same quality as what they have there. Sure you do need to book
in the high season, but we don’t overbook the course. If we did, we would lose
our identity and lose what we really want to give the people.’
Nauck is happy with the numbers of American visitors already making the trip.
Matauri Bay is four hours from Auckland by car, or 40 minutes by plane to the
nearest airport Kerikeri; but golf is the lure. The other lure to be had is fishing,
in the bountiful seas of Northland. Visitors see exactly what Robertson himself
first saw in the area when he visited it around 30 years ago.
Locals - even in the hospitality industry, theoretically competing for the accommodation
dollar - are astounded by what Robertson has achieved. They say he has enhanced
the area, unlike large conglomerates that often develop and decimate the land,
having no consideration for the environment so treasured by New Zealanders.
‘It’s very important to Julian to enhance the environment,’ says Nauck.
‘We have only planted native trees here. We have a few citrus trees but Julian
said ‘if you want them put them in a pot, but I don’t want them in the ground’.
He’s very strong about that.’
More than 300 kauri trees have been planted - a type of native tree that has
played a big part in the history of the Northland area, once a gum diggers’ paradise.
A 1300-year old kauri sits on Robertson’s land and harks back to that past. In
a typically conservation-minded approach, it has been gifted to a trust by Robertson,
to ensure its preservation. Native birds abound, and there are even kiwi living
on the land that Robertson is determined to protect.
The attention to the environment extends to the care given to the golf course.
‘The golf course itself is a living creature,’ says Nauck. ‘You have to nourish
it and work with it and groom it to make it even better. That’s what we’re doing
to constantly maintain it. Even though it’s already beautiful, we’re trying to
improve on its beauty.’
Further information:
Kauri Cliffs Golf Club & Lodge
PO Box 800
Kerikeri
Phone +64 9 405 1905
Fax +64 9 407 1901
General Manager
Richard Nauck
Email daniel@kauricliffs.com
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